Your heart is basically a pump to make blood flow through your arteries and on to your organs and muscles.? Your blood pressure then is the pressure of blood in these arteries.? It is recorded as two figures, the top being the systolic, and the lower the diastolic.? High blood pressure, hypertension,? is when there is too much pressure because the heart is pumping too forcibly.? Imagine it like water flowing through a garden hose, if you restrict that flow in some way there is too much pressure on the hose and if left the hose could actually burst.
Your blood pressure changes depending upon the time of day, your exercise level or how relaxed you are so a one-off high pressure reading?doesn’t necessarily mean that you have hypertension. You are not considered to have hypertension, high blood pressure, unless you have several high readings taken at different times over a period.?
One of the main problems with hypertension is that there are very rarely any symptoms.? This means that it can go unnoticed until it causes later complications like a stroke or heart attack.? This is why it is sometimes referred to as the?”silent killer”.? ?It is advisable to have regular checks on your blood pressure, particularly if you are in the at risk category and as we get older.
There are fortunately several natural remedies for hypertension.? You should lose weight as your blood pressure can fall quite dramatically for each kilo that you lose.? It is also important to do some regular physical activity.? Try to do some type of activity like brisk walking, swimming, cycling or even dancing about five times a week for 30 minutes.? Naturally if you?haven’t taken any exercise for the last few years it isn’t advisable to start running or playing squash!? Just take it gently to start with and build up your activity level.
It also goes without saying that if you smoke you should stop as smoking is bad for your heart and greatly increases your risk of heart attack.
Another factor in reducing your blood pressure is reducing your salt intake.? The Government recommend that we have no more than 5-6 grams of salt per day.? You should try and avoid processed food as this contains high amounts of salt and use less table salt.? It is also advisable to eat a healthy diet that contains at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables, wholegrain foods, and lean meat.
Even if you are taking medication to reduce your blood pressure, there are natural remedies that can help you.
