Health, Meditation

Natural Ways to Lower Blood Pressure

  1. senior couplePow-Pow-Power Walks: Exercise helps the heart use oxygen more efficiently, so it doesn’t work as hard to pump blood. Get a vigorous cardio workout of at least 30 minutes on most days of the week. Pump those arms (all the way up to your ears!) Try increasing speed or distance and tackle some hills to give your heart a better workout. Plug in some energizing music to help motivate you!
  2. Deeeeeeep Breaths. . . Slowly: Slow breathing and meditative practices such as Qi gong, yoga, transcendental or Vedic meditation and tai chi decrease stress hormones, which elevate renin, a kidney enzyme that raises blood pressure. Try at least 5 minutes in the morning and at night and eventually work up to 20 minutes, two times a day. Inhale deeply and expand your belly first before your chest expands. Exhale and release all of your tension, any anxiety or extra stress
  3. Eat Up the Potassium-rich fruits and vegetables: (Helps to minimize muscle cramps, too). Potassium is an important part of any blood pressure-lowering program. Aim for potassium levels of 2,000 to 4,000 mg a day. Top sources of potassium-rich produce include: sweet potatoes, tomatoes, orange juice, potatoes, bananas, kidney beans, peas, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, and dried fruits such as prunes and raisins.
  4. Drink More Organic Tea: The phytochemicals in Matcha Green Tea and other flower teas such as hibiscus, are responsible for the large reduction in high blood pressure.  Many herbal teas contain hibiscus; look for blends that list it near the top of the chart of ingredients.
  5. Work (a little) Less: Putting in more than 41 hours per week at the office raises your risk of hypertension by 15%. Overtime makes it hard to exercise and eat healthy. Try to leave at a decent hour so you can go to the gym or cook a healthy meal as often as possible. Also, stop working 2 hours before bedtime. Rest your mind and your optic nerves.
  6. Relax With Music:  The right tunes can help, according to researchers at the University of Florence in Italy. They asked 28 adults who were already taking hypertension pills to listen to soothing classical, Celtic, or Indian music for 30 minutes daily while breathing slowly. After a week, the listeners had lowered their average systolic reading by 3.2 points; a month later, readings were down 4.4 points. Find a good Enya or Classical Music Pandora station and play in the background when winding down.
  7. Bye-Bye Belly Fat–Lose extra pounds and watch your waistline: Blood pressure often increases as weight increases. Losing just 10 pounds can help reduce your blood pressure. In general, the more weight you lose, the lower your blood pressure. Losing weight also makes any blood pressure medications you’re taking more effective.
  8. Reduce sodium in your diet: Even a small reduction in the sodium in your diet can reduce blood pressure by 2 to 8 mm Hg.
    1. The recommendations for reducing sodium are: Limit sodium to 2,300 milligrams (mg) a day or less.
  9. Reduce your stress: Stress or anxiety can temporarily increase blood pressure. Take some time to think about what causes you to feel stressed, such as work, family, finances or illness. Once you know what’s causing your stress, consider how you can eliminate or reduce stress. Engage in a hobby, on-going social events, meditation and body movement to keep the negative stress at bay.
  10. Increase intake of beneficial minerals like potassium, magnesium, and calcium. (Try trace mineral drops in your drinking water daily).
  11. Turmeric: One of the herb’s already known benefits concerns its abilities to significantly decrease inflammation throughout the body, which is a primary cause of high cholesterol and even high blood pressure. This is one of the most powerful herbs used by Ayurveda practitioners all over the world. By actively reducing inflammation, turmeric helps improve cardiovascular function and maintain healthy blood flow.
  12. Eat at least one pound of high quality, organic or wild, fatty fish per week: Fatty fish is high in essential omega-3 fats, and these fats have been shown to reduce the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular events in multiple studies.
  13. Eat more beets: Very detoxing, sweet and in season, beets are beneficial for lowering blood pressure is that the content of inorganic nitrate in certain vegetables and fruits provides a physiologic substrate for reduction to nitrite, nitric oxide, and other metabolic products that produce vasodilation, decrease blood pressure, and support cardiovascular function.
  14. Garlic: Not only does garlic have anti-viral and anti-vampire properties, garlic has the ability to lower your blood pressure by causing your blood vessels to relax and dilate.
  15. Indulge in organic 70% cocoa-dark chocolate: Dark chocolate varieties contain flavanols that make blood vessels more elastic. In one study, 18% of patients who ate it every day saw blood pressure decrease. Have 1/2 ounce daily (make sure it contains at least 70% cocoa).
  16. More non-GMO Soy: A study from Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association found for the first time that replacing some of the refined carbohydrates in your diet with foods high in soy or milk protein, such as low-fat dairy, can bring down systolic blood pressure if you have hypertension or prehypertension. Choose non-GMO, of course.
  17. Switch to Organic Decaf Coffee: Caffeine can raise blood pressure by tightening blood vessels and by magnifying the effects of stress. When you’re under stress, your heart starts pumping a lot more blood, boosting blood pressure, and caffeine exaggerates that effect.
  18. Control your Snoring: Loud, incessant snores are one of the main symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Many sleep apnea sufferers also had high levels of aldosterone, a hormone that can boost blood pressure. This also effects partners of those who snore as well.
  19. Eat Kiwis: American Heart Association says that eating three kiwis a day is linked with decreased blood pressure. Kiwis are in season in spring, so eat up!
  20. Basil: Helps to lower your blood pressure. Extract of basil has been shown to lower blood pressure, although only briefly. Adding fresh basil to your diet is easy and certainly can’t hurt. Try Basil Seeds in your favorite drink. For recipes, visit here 🙂
  22. Cinnamon: Cinnamon can bring your blood pressure numbers down. Consuming cinnamon every day has been shown to lower blood pressure in people with diabetes as well.
  23. Chili Peppers: Capsaicin, the spicy ingredient in chili peppers can help to lower blood pressure in people with hypertension.
  24. Raw & Sprouted Almonds:  Eating just a handful of truly raw almonds every day can make a significant difference in keeping your blood pressure levels in check. Raw almonds are rich in monounsaturated fats, which have been scientifically proven to help lower blood cholesterol levels, reduce arterial inflammation, and ultimately lower blood pressure levels.
  25. Coconut Water: Rich in potassium, electrolytes, and other important nutrients, coconut water has been shown to help significantly lower blood pressure levels in most of the people that drink it.
  26. Raw Cacao: Rich in flavonoids and other anti-inflammatory nutrients, raw cacao is another food-based weapon against hypertension that you will want to keep readily stocked in your health arsenal. Cacao flavonoids demonstrably reduce blood pressure levels upon consumption. Cacao flavonoids also help protect the body against stroke and heart disease, which are commonly linked to high blood pressure.


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