June 6th, 2017 | Updated on March 2nd, 2024
Hypertension (high blood pressure) also recognized as a silent killer victimizes nearly a third of adult American population.
In other words, there are nearly 67 million adult American victims of hypertension and the number is growing.
An estimated 90 to 95 percent of those suffering from hypertension are affected by the primary type, while a smaller percentage is under the grips of the secondary type caused by conditions such as kidney disease.
Here We have 10 Natural Remedies to Reduce Hypertension.
You may recognize the importance of blood circulation to transport important nutrients and oxygen to your cells and to eliminate waste and carbon dioxide out of your body.
The rhythmic beat of the heart creates pressure on the wall of your veins and arteries.
If the pressure goes beyond the normal range causing blood pressure, the condition attracts medical attention. Here are 11 natural remedies against blood pressure.
1. Reduce your salt intake
It is not salt, but its chemical component, sodium that is problematic for high blood pressure. Too much salt in the body disrupts the fluid balance in your body compelling the system to draw water from the surrounding tissues to flush the excess salt. Therefore, the heart is required to pump harder so as to circulate the higher volume of fluid in your blood causing blood pressure. The amount of table salt you consume is not the real problem to account for the high blood pressure unless you add too much table salt to your food.
Nonetheless, you need to watch out for the processed food you consume because extraordinary quantity of salt is added to the processed food. For instance, a single microwave “roast turkey” meal can have excess salt to the level of 5,400 milligrams of sodium due to salt content in the meat, the flavoring, the gravy, the stuffing, and the potatoes. So the question is how much salt should you consume? The maximum daily limit according to health experts should be 2300 mgs. If you are an African-American and a man over 51 years, you need to consume much less than this number. Ideally, you should consume less than ½ tsp salt per day.
Don’t be fooled by low-fat, low-sugar labels as these too have boatload of sodium. Food companies design these labels to attract consumers who get hooked on low-fat content or flavors such as sweet, sour etc. You will need the will power to resist the temptation.
Here is how you can do it.
- You can begin adding less and less salt to the food in your cooking gradually over days. Whenever you purchase food don’t forget to read the labels carefully. For your daily intake scrupulously maintain the limit under 2300 mgs. Preference for home cooked food has the advantage that you control the salt content in it.
- Research has shown that when you begin consuming more salt, you begin needing more salt in your body. However, when you eat less salt, you will not only need less salt. With less salt built in your habit, you will be naturally repulsed by more salt.
- We are not born with craving for salt, unlike sugar as a baby does not find any taste or craving for salt till at least 6 months of age. However, craving can be created where none exist. Our eating habits are determined for years with the cravings we have for junk food stuffs like fries, sauces, pizza, crackers, chips, soups etc when even the young generation is today easily hooked to high salt content food.
2. How About Sipping Some Hibiscus
Cultures internationally have used hibiscus to manage high blood pressure, but it wasn’t until the recent decades that research had been undertaken to show that there has been more to the treatment than just folklore. First, hibiscus acts as a diuretic. It attracts sodium from the bloodstream, thereby decreasing the pressure on the arterial walls. Chemicals in hibiscus can mimic angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. ACE inhibitors are commonly used pharmaceutical tablets used to treat excessive blood pressure.
The mechanism they work is by hampering the angiotensin-changing enzyme, which plays a important role inside the renin-angiotensin system- a hormone system that regulates blood pressure and fluid stability. As a result of this inhibition, blood vessels relax and blood volume is reduced, lowering blood pressure. It may not be as effective as the prescription ACE capsules, it is nonetheless quite effective.
Here’s how you can use hibiscus.
- All you need is one/two tsp of dried hibiscus, a cup of fresh piping hot water, honey, lemon or one/two cinnamon sticks (if you desire)
- Boil the water, add then add the hibiscus and cinnamon sticks, if you are using them. Allow the concoction to steep for about five minutes. You may add honey or lemon to appeal to your taste and drink the mixture twice or thrice every day. If you love iced tea in summer, you have the hibiscus drink that you will enjoy.
3. Coconut Water Can Be Therapeutic
Coconut water is pretty much commonly used in Southeast Asia as a soothing summer drink. The water content in the coconut water is found within the shell of green, unripe coconuts that keeps its natural blessings in organic and raw shape. It contains potassium and magnesium, both of which control normal muscle movement, and the heart is a large giant muscle. There have been a few limited studies on the impact of coconut water on high blood pressure, but many people have claimed that it helped them lower high blood strain. In research too systolic blood pressure was found to have been controlled with the use of coconut water. The systolic blood pressure occurs due to the force caused when the heart pumps the blood out. Coconut water not only tastes wonderful but has therapeutic value too.
You can take 8 ounces of fresh, organic coconut water for the best results and choose morning time if you drink it once every day. Otherwise, you can choose to drink twice, morning and night each day.
4. Fish Oil Remedy
It is nearly proven that fish oil which is bounteous in omega-3 fatty acid is considered extremely healthy for your heart, while studies may not have confirmed beyond doubts whether the use of omega-3 fatty acids can reduce the risk of heart attacks or strokes, Nevertheless, it can surely reduce the level of your blood pressure, triglycerides and increase the level of good cholesterol known as HDL. As it is fish oil is recommended to patients who have undergone transplant so as to reduce the risk of hypertension.
You can take it either in a pill form or can take liquid fish oil in orange juice. The appropriate amount is recommended at the back of the bottle.
5. Hawthorn is Healthy for Your Heart
Hawthorn, the staple herb is rich in oligomeric procyandins (OPC’s) and quercetin found in flavonids acclaimed in many studies as extremely healthy for your heart. It is useful in a number of heart related diseases. It is helpful in arrhythmia, and palpitations. It helps improve the function of capillaries, regulate glucose metabolism and, of course, reduce arterial blood pressure and the risk of hypertension. Flavonoids undertake different kinds of mechanical actions in blood, but the most important action it can perform is widening of the blood vessels which helps reduce the pressure of the blood. Hawthorn can be taken either in the form of a tea or in the solid form shaped as balls which with the addition of cinnamon and ginger helps circulate blood smoothly. Once you learn how to make this wonderful herbal balls, you will enjoy your herbal medicine.
All you need is 4 tablespoons of powdered hawthorn berry, 1/2-1 tablespoons of cinnamon powder, Raw honey, Water, and Cocoa or carob powder.
First, place the cinnamon and hawthorn powder in a bowl and mix them. Then add just enough honey and water to form a paste. Add cocoa powder or carob powder until to thicken the mixture so it forms a dough that you can cleanly roll into small balls no bigger than your index fingernail. You will now dry these balls in an oven at a very low temperature (not more than 150 degrees Fahrenheit) until dry. Finally, store the balls in a glass jar in a cool place out of direct sunlight.
6. Regular Exercise Can Do Wonders
Diet and exercise should ideally come at the top of the chart in any form of heart related therapy. Exercise can do wonders for your body and is needed more today when the society is increasingly taking to the sedentary way of life. If you have high blood pressure, try exercising to see the results for yourself. As you exercise, your heart muscles will grow stronger and in consequence it will take less effort for your heart to pump blood. This will keep your heart healthy and less force will be exerted on your arteries keeping your blood pressure under control. In fact, in many cases exercise alone will keep your blood pressure on track.
In reading blood pressure, you have two numbers, one at the top and another at the bottom. The systolic blood pressure is indicated by the top number, that is, the number recording the pressure caused by the heart pumping blood away from it. Regular exercise can reduce this number by about 4 to 9 mm, which is nearly the same as performed by some prescription medications. An important outcome of exercise is weight loss which is highly beneficial to your heart and blood pressure on arteries.
Will power is all you need to begin a successful exercise regimen.
On average, a 30 minutes of exercise everyday is the recommended time, and the best thing is you don’t need to run a marathon. Something as simple as scrubbing the floor counts as an exercise because it raises your heart rate and respiration rate. Once this forms into a habit, you will not only enjoy it but find it difficult to give up.
7. Garlic, The Best Home Remedy
Garlic is well recognized for its beneficial properties that address a wide range of ailments including hypertension. However, garlic when consumed raw is not beneficial. Here is why. Garlic’s health benefits come from Allicin, the organosulphur-sulfur containing- compound. The relatively unstable Allicin gets deactivated as it comes in contact with a substance with less than 3pH value as found in stomach acid. In a pill or tablet form, however, allicin works properly to give you a guaranteed benefit by lowering the blood pressure.
The only thing you need to ensure is that when you purchase tablets/pills, they come from a reputable company with proven results and also ensure to stick to the recommended dosage.
8. Try Melon Each Morning
Watermelon is not just a summer fruit, but a fruit with great therapeutic value for blood pressure. A critical compound in watermelon that does wonders in lowering the BP is the organic compound citrulline, an amino acid. It was first isolated in 1914 from watermelon.
Once you eat watermelon, the body converts citrulline to the amino acid L-arginine and this compound is a precursor to nitric oxide. In other words, arginine is essentially a chemical building block that is an outcome of citrulline-found in watermelon and it leads to the production of nitric oxide, which interacts with various cells and systems in your body and thereby regulates how hard your blood gets pumped through your entire body. That is to say, this compound helps widen blood vessels and thus lowers vascular resistance and consequently brings down the blood pressure. When blood circulates through wider blood vessels there will be less pressure
All you need is 1-2 cups of fresh water melon. You can eat your melon on an empty stomach every morning. You can monitor your blood pressure on a day to day basis.
9. Homemade Blueberry Syrup For Health and Vigor
The benefits of herbs and spices can best be accessed through syrups. The word syrup conjures the image of sweet sticky liquid which is quite unlike the ingredient needed for a healthy heart, but it is different here. It is not the syrup you see in the grocery stores and they may not be best for your heart, but it is homemade syrup we are talking about to get a natural boost wonderfully. Flavonoid quercetin rich blueberries can do wonders to your heart as you already read above. For best results you may like to add elderberries to it for additional healthy benefits to your heart and you will be surprised to learn that this syrup is good for eliminating cold and flu as well.
You can make this syrup using 8 tablespoons of dried blueberries or 4 tablespoons each of dried blueberries and elderberries, 4 cups of water, 1 cup of honey, and you will also need a pot, strainer, and glass jar with an airtight lid to preserve the syrup.
Dried berries and water should be brought to a simmer over low heat. Let it simmer until the liquid is evaporates to half of the original content. Strain the solids out. Press them to extract any extra juices which can be poured back to the pot. Now you can stir the honey and the mixture can be warmed so that they blend together thoroughly. At this stage, you can do one of the following two things. If you want thicker syrup, you can heat the honey and berry juice over medium-high heat for 20 minutes. You can skip this step, if you want thinner syrup. Your syrup is ready. You can bottle the content, label and store it in the refrigerator to last several weeks. Ideally, you can take one tsp twice a day.
10. Indulge in dark chocolate
Dark chocolate varieties contain flavanols that make blood vessels more elastic. In one study, 18percent of patients who ate it every day saw blood pressure decrease.
Studies show that eating a small amount of dark chocolate two or three times each week can help lower your blood pressure. Dark chocolate improves blood flow and may help prevent the formation of blood clots. Eating dark chocolate may also prevent arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Dark chocolate is loaded with antioxidants. Antioxidants help free your body of free radicals, which cause oxidative damage to cells.
