Dealing with hypertension naturally!
The human body has a wonderful system of supplying oxygen and other vital ingredients to all parts and organs through medium of blood. The heart pumps fresh blood into arteries. During each heartbeat, the pressure of blood varies between the maximum and minimum values, known as Systolic and Diastolic pressure respectively. The values of 120 and 80 are in general taken as normal for healthy adults. Values such as 140/90 and 160/100 indicate Hypertension or High Blood Pressure.
If you are worried with hyper tension and want to know how to reduce and maintain it naturally, then first you need to understand causes of Hypertension.
There are many factors which cause hypertension. Work stress, emotional turbulence, dietary imbalance, etc. are some major contributing elements. There are ways and means to reduce the stress & blood pressure without the use of medicines. However, the efficacy of such treatments must be studied and evaluated to suit individual cases. A word with personal physician would help.
Hypertension can be controlled by Dietary change, Behavior and Lifestyle change and by Meditation.
Dietary Change:
- Control on sodium intake: 1500 mg of daily sodium intake is sufficient for human body functioning. Anything excess would contribute to susceptibility to hypertension. It is recommended to eat whole food and to avoid processed food.
- Increase in potassium intake: Potassium helps in reducing effect of sodium on hypertension. Bananas, skinned baked potatoes, orange juice are some of the easiest choices to increase potassium in the body.
- Avoidance of rich carbohydrates: Rich carbohydrates, such as refined sugars and grains, sweetened beverages must be curtailed. The presence of these rich carbohydrates tends to shoot up blood pressure in the human body.
- Consumption of high nitrates: Beet juice consumption helps in reducing blood pressure. Other natural foods high in nitrates are, parsley, cabbage, lettuce, spinach also has similar beneficial effects on the human body.
- Use of Herbal Tea: Experiments have shown that consumption of certain herbal tea reduces high blood pressure.
Lifestyle Change:
- Exercise: A morning / evening workout for about 30 minutes helps reduce blood pressure. A brisk walk or swimming or cycling everyday would help stay fresh. Consistency in this work regimen is important.
- Tobacco avoidance: Smoking is a hurdle in reducing blood pressure. Hence, it must be given up at once.
- Alcohol moderation: Excessive consumption of alcohol results in increased blood pressure. Moderation would always help. What is moderate is to be decided by individuals.
- A reduction in caffeine intake: Consumption of coffee enhances blood pressure. Hence it is imperative to reduce caffeine intake for desired effect.
- Loss of excess weight: Extra mass results in putting pressure on heart function of pumping, thereby increasing blood pressure. Efforts must be made to shed extra mass.
Meditation:
Meditation is a process to De-stress. Everybody is exposed to varied situations in daily life, resulting in worries, anxieties and stress. This situation finally ends up in manifestation of physical disorder of hypertension. Spending about 20 minutes in meditation, greatly helps in reducing the causes of hypertension. Listening to soothing music also helps.
Simple steps listed above can prove to be helpful in achieving control over hypertension. Thus you can lead to a healthy life. One can always calibrate individual response to each step and make necessary changes to suitable level.
