How to Control High Blood Pressure Without Medication

Nobody wants to have high blood pressure. A major cause of discomfort and further ill-health for millions of Americans, high blood pressure leads to a variety of ailments, including heart attack, stroke, blindness, memory loss, kidney failure, heart disease, and many other problems. Yet, blood pressure medications can also have side effects that are less than desirable. Diuretic medications lead to excessive urination, severe cramping, and erectile dysfunction. Beta-blockers can lead to depression, insomnia, and symptoms of asthma. Calcium channel blockers may cause constipation, dizziness, and palpitations.

While a person should never stop taking blood control pressure medications without consulting their doctor, it is fair to say that there are other ways to control your blood pressure. That includes living a blood pressure friendly lifestyle, and while that requires more discipline than taking medication, the rewards of doing so are well worth the effort.

Cut Your Vices

This may be as big a problem for you as high blood pressure is anyway. But if it is then all the more reason to make a change. Drinking large amounts of alcohol and smoking cigarettes has an adverse effect on your blood pressure. While a small amount of alcohol is not harmful and can even lower your blood pressure somewhat, ongoing, everyday drinking will raise your blood pressure substantially over time. Cigarette smoking, on the other hand, causes a person’s blood pressure to spike immediately after every usage, and your risks are compounded the more you smoke.

You already know that you should not be smoking and drinking more than a very moderate amount, if at all. If you can master these habits and dramatically reduce or eliminate them from your lifestyle, you will find your blood pressure being much less of a problem as well.

Exercising

Exercising is an important part of naturally regulating your blood pressure. You can motivate yourself by using a blood pressure monitor, tracking your progress after a week of working out 30 minutes a day the same way you would track your weight loss. By the way, weight loss is an important part of reducing your blood pressure, and exercising, in addition to improving your blood flow and heart strength, is a useful part of weight loss as well.

Transforming Your Diet

Arguably the most important part of reducing your blood pressure without medication is transforming the way you eat. This primarily revolves around eliminating excess sodium from your diet and eating blood pressure friendly foods on a consistent basis.

Really it’s just common sense. Fast foods, TV dinners, bag soups, excessive hot sauce, and also coffee (though not a high sodium beverage) are all foods that will raise your blood pressure. Food that will lower your blood pressure tend to be foods that are high in magnesium, calcium, and particularly potassium. These would include items like white beans, sweet potatoes, fruits like kiwis, peaches, bananas, avocados, and of course all of the dark, leafy vegetables you can find.

You don’t necessarily need medications to solve your problem with high blood pressure…changing the way you live can do that, and make you a healthier person all the way around as well.