High blood pressure or hypertension affects nearly one in every three adults in the United States. Symptoms of high blood pressure include headaches, dizziness or dizzy spells, and nosebleeds. Though the illness affects a large chunk of society, one-third of people who have high blood pressure do not realize that they have this illness and attribute their symptoms to other causes.
To determine whether or not your blood pressure is unusually high, you have to take your blood pressure periodically. To do this, you can use an electric home blood pressure machine or have your B.P taken in a clinic. Both the machine and clinic will give you two numbers, the first one is your systolic pressure while the second one is diastolic pressure.
Normal blood pressure is 120 for systolic pressure and 80 for the diastolic number. Numbers below these values are also normal or okay. Some people do have low blood pressure, though, and that means unusually low numbers. Anything above these numbers (120/80) are the beginnings of hypertension. That means that the number of times your heart pumps blood through your system per minute exerts a higher pressure than normal. This means that your heart is working harder than normal hearts, and that is why this illness is potentially dangerous or seriously harmful because, when left unattended, very high blood pressure can lead to heart attacks or cardiac arrest.
If you have been diagnosed with hypertension, some doctors will prescribe medication to help regulate your heart’s pumping. They will also advise that you stay away from very stressful situations, since stress is one of the major causes of hypertension. Though medicine can work, many doctors will also advise alternative natural remedies. A change in diet, lifestyle, and the intake of specific herbs, foods, or supplements can help high blood pressure the natural way.
The first natural remedy for hypertension is aerobic exercise. Getting the blood pumping healthily is one way to help regulate or lower the blood pressure. Consult your doctor before choosing any aerobic exercise. You may need to begin with a gentle exercise before moving up to more strenuous ones.
Next, following the recommended daily portions of the five food groups of the food pyramid is another natural remedy. Making sure your body is getting good nutritious food in the right portions is one of the best remedies for hypertension since many times hypertension can be caused by an unhealthy diet.
Third, eating garlic and fish oil often also help. These two natural supplements are said to both help the systolic and diastolic pressures go down. There are some garlic supplements and fish oil tablets available on the market, but if you can incorporate both garlic and fish into your everyday diet, you may be able to lower your B.P without having to purchase supplements or pills. Just remember that you can’t continuously fry these foods because fried food can contribute to hypertension.
There are many other natural remedies of hypertension, such as coenzyme Q10, the hawthorn herb, supplements for folic acid, calcium, magnesium, and potassium, as well as Indian and Chinese medicines. The best treatment for you is probably what you are most comfortable with. You can choose any of the remedies mentioned above or do research on the other suggested remedies and consult your doctor.
Karen Brooks is an avid natural health enthusiast dedicated to helping people learn more about alternative healthcare and great nutrition. Visit her website http://www.backtohealthnaturally.com to learn about the cutting edge discoveries in this field.
