How to Naturally Lower High Blood Pressure And Treat Hypertension

While high blood pressure in of itself is not fatal, living under such a condition for long periods of time steadily degrades your body's systems and your health. It weakens your heart, can lead to chronic venous insufficiency and strokes, is the primary contributing factor to renal (kidney) failure, and has even been linked to diabetes.
High blood pressure is traditionally defined as being anything above 140 mm Hg for systolic and 90 mm Hg for diastrolic, read as 140/90, but newer studies indicate that damage begins accumulating at a much lower level, about 120/80.
If left untreated, hypertension will eventually lead to all manner of other problems, and should be addressed as soon as possible. There are a number of things you can do to begin the process on your own without expensive medications.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. 
    

   Stop adding sodium to your diet, and decrease your intake as much as possible. Many people respond well to sodium limitation, either by eliminating it from the diet or by using a salt substitute. High blood pressure is relieved when the body stops retaining as much fluid due to the reduced sodium. Aim for less than 1,500 mg per day.

2. Lose weight and exercise more. Always good advice, especially when it comes to most medical conditions. Exercise and weight loss have been directly linked to the relief of high blood pressure and improved heart health.

3. 
    

   Take natural herbal supplements that have shown to relieve high blood pressure. Some of these include: garlic, hawthorn, fish oil, and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). Calcium and magnesium supplements have also been shown to be effective, though not as much.

4. Reduce your stress level. Stress and hypertension are very strongly linked.

5. 
    

   Stop smoking!

6. 
    

   Add a bit of very dark chocolate to your diet. Studies have seen that a little bit of very dark chocolate every day has been linked to a reduction in hypertension.

Tips & Warnings

• As always, treatment for any medical condition should not proceed without consulting a doctor first, and this article in no way is meant to replace a doctor's advice.
• Garlic supplements have a tendency to thin the blood. Use with caution.

Resources

• Lose Weight with Substitutions
• Improve Poor Blood Circulation

[starlet67]

on 2/21/2009 Great tips for lowering blood pressure...I love theone on dark chocolate! 5*

[Hode]

on 2/17/2009 Good information. Thanks

[bizzyliz]

on 2/14/2009 Well-written article. Informative, concise introduction. Thanks for this post.

[Marilynda]

on 2/10/2009 losing weight directly helps lower blood pressure and even small losses have beneficial results. Great article

[insidestory]

on 1/12/2009 I wondered about the results of Q10, and may try it now. I keep my blood pressure undercontrol, and it takes real focus on what you are doing. Thanks for the information.