Reduce High Blood Pressure - The Role of Exercise

Was it just recently that your doctor discovered your hypertension? High blood pressure or hypertension can lead to complications like stroke and heart attack which makes it important to be managed. Here are different ways to reduce high blood pressure.

When someone is diagnosed to be hypertensive, doctors prescribe anti-hypertensive drugs to keep the blood pressure controlled. Different types of anti-hypertensive drugs can be prescribed like angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, diuretics, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin II receptor blockers and others. Even though patients complain about the various side effects, these anti-hypertensive drugs are very effective in controlling hypertension.

Yes, like any synthetic drug, these also have side effects like dizziness, diarrhea, vomiting, heartbeat changes, and others. It is good if the side effects can be tolerated by the patient. Unfortunately for some, the side effects are intolerable that they look for other effective methods in reducing hypertension. What is great is the fact that certain approaches have been proven helpful in reducing hypertension and these methods have no side effects.

Decrease your salt intake. Your salt or sodium intake can increase your risk of developing hypertension. Only 2,300 milligrams of salt must be consumed by people each day. Only 1,500 milligrams of salt must be consumed by hypertensive people every day. Remember to look for the sodium content and nutritional information of products before deciding to buy them. Purchase foods that have 5% or less of the Daily Value of sodium. If the daily Value of sodium is 20% or more, do not buy that food.

Increase your intake of fruits and vegetables that are rich in potassium, magnesium, and fiber. It has been proven that these nutrients can help in reducing high blood pressure. Fruits and vegetables that are high in these nutrients are fat-free yogurt, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, spinach, squash, raisins, potatoes, pineapples, oranges, melons, mangoes, lima beans, grapes, grapefruit, green peas, green beans, carrots, broccoli, bananas, apricots, apples, and a lot more.

Smoking cessation. Smoking is another established risk factor of hypertension. Cigarette smoke contains nicotine which causes blood vessel damage, increased clotting of blood, increased heart rate and blood pressure, and reduced oxygen going to the heart.

Be active physically. A sedentary lifestyle is one of the risk factors in developing hypertension. Exercising every day for at least 30 minutes can decrease a person's risk of getting high blood pressure as well as effectively control hypertension. You can do jogging, brisk walking, biking, walking, swimming, and other aerobic exercises.

These are just some proven effective methods to reduce hypertension. And there are still more methods like stress reduction, yoga, meditation, supplementation, deep breathing, and a lot more. So that you can reduce high blood pressure without having to endure the adverse effects of anti-hypertensive drugs, you must know the different natural methods in controlling hypertension.