Lowering Blood Pressure

In this section of Seattle Organic restaurants I'm going to talk about lowering blood pressure. High blood pressure is the root of many health problems. By lowering blood pressure you can reduce the chances of stroke, kidney failure, heart attack and other serious health problems. Here are some tips for lowering blood pressure:

Lose Weight by Changing your Diet:

When people hear the word “diet ” they think of “eating disorder”. Actually changing your diet doesn't mean not eating; it means changing your eating habits! Not all the people with high blood pressure are obese and not all the people with obesity have high blood pressure. But it’s a fact that losing weight will help to reduce blood pressure.

As a rule of thumb your blood pressure is going to drop one point if you lose one pound. Organic raw healthy diet can remarkably help anyone to lose weight. One of the problems in American diet today is huge amount of sodium intake or the “white toxic”. No matter how much salt industry is pushing the idea that only a few number of people who have salt sensitivity should worry about blood pressure, the reality could not be any further from the truth. The truth is that for most of people reducing salt intake will reduce the blood pressure by two to three points. Unfortunately Americans eat a lot of salt in fast food restaurants, even in homes they consume processed foods in cans, smoked fish, prepared salad dressing and sauces, potato chips, tomato pastes and frozen meals.

Our bodies need 500 mg of salt a day however a roasted beef sandwich has three to four times more salt than what our body needs. An average American consumes 3400 mg salt a day. When you buy something in a package always check the label for the amount of sodium. Increasing the amount of potassium intake can reduce blood pressure. In a study by Tulane University the blood pressure of people who took potassium supplements dropped by 5 points. It’s a good idea to use supplements but it’s even better to get your daily minerals and vitamins in foods.

Some fruits that are high in potassium are apples, potatoes, tomatoes, nectarine, bananas and melons. It's important to have fresh vegetables and fruits in your daily meals. If you have a high blood pressure you should reduce the amount of meat consumption. People who are vegetarian have lower blood pressure than those who consume meat. The antioxidants in fruits and vegetables lower the blood pressure. Fruits and vegetables have calcium but their calcium gets absorbed easily and actually helps to reduce blood pressure. Reducing the amount of alcohol in people who are regular drinkers can significantly help to reduce the blood pressure.

Exercise Regularly:

When you exercise regularly, your metabolism stars to change and you burn more calories. Exercising lowers the blood pressure significantly. Walking a little faster than usual is a great fat burning exercise. You can get more physical activities by making changes in your everyday life style such as walking or biking to work. Walk as much as you could at work (for example take stairs instead of elevators or take a walk at launch time and your breaks). Meditation and relaxation can also reduce the level of blood pressure.

For 15 minutes a day, put all your worries aside and meditate or stretch your entire body until your body feels relaxed. In a study a group of people who practiced transcendental meditation twice a day had a greater reduction in their blood pressure than those who exercised regularly or reduced the amount of salt, alcohol and calorie intake. Even the ones who did progressive muscle relaxation had less reduction in the blood pressure than those who practiced transcendental meditation.