If you have had hypertension for any period of time then you probably have looked for an alternative to blood pressure medication. The side effects of the drugs can be difficult to live with but you understand the importance of controlling your pressure. Natural cures may be the answer to your desire to lower blood pressure fast without needing any drugs.
Natural remedies for blood pressure are all about changing the habits that probably brought on the high blood pressure in the first place. Eating right, getting regular exercise and managing stress are the keys to any natural program.
But just how quickly can it reduce blood pressure and by how much? Here are three quick examples of what you can expect.
Apple Vinegar
Nobody is really certain why this works but it does. Take a teaspoon of apple vinegar and mix it with half a glass of water and drink it each morning. After 3 days increase the dosage to a tablespoon per day. On average blood pressure has been reduced by 6.0 mm Hg although some people report a much higher drop. Make sure you are not using distilled apple vinegar as that just doesn’t work.
Potassium
Almost all Americans have a potassium deficiency. This is mostly because we eat processed foods that have so much sodium in them that what ever small amount of potassium that we get is wiped out by the large dose of salt. Potassium promotes the excretion of sodium from the body. In multiple studies, people who ate the equivalent of 5 bananas a day saw a reduction in systolic pressure of 44 mm Hg and 2.4 mm Hg in diastolic pressure. You can eat too much potassium so check with your doctor before buying bunches of bananas or a potassium supplement.
Exercise
Probably the fastest way to lower blood pressure is exercise. Thirty minutes of aerobic exercise like walking, swimming or cycling, done at least 5 days a week, can lower systolic readings by 3.8 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure by 2.4 mm Hg. In addition exercise has many other benefits. It plays an important role in returning elasticity to your blood vessels allowing them to more efficiently work with less pressure. Your most important muscle, your heart, gets a workout and tones up so it requires less effort to pump. Stress hormones and chemicals that linger in your body from the stress of daily life are burned off as a result of exercise. And of course ultimately you lose weight which is good both for your health and your self esteem.
These are just three examples of literally hundreds of natural ways to lower blood pressure fast. The problem with having that many choices is you become paralyzed with information overload. Find one proven plan and stick to it for the best results
By: Rachel Willson
