High Blood Pressure, The Silent Killer
How can you naturally lower blood pressure and drastically decrease your risk of heart attack, stroke and chronic kidney diseases.
According to the CDC, about half or 116 million adults suffer form high blood pressure. This is quite a high number. We should note that the top number is systolic blood pressure and the bottom number is the diastolic blood pressure (systolic / diastolic). “Normal” blood pressure is defined as <120 / <80. Elevated is defined as 120-129 / <80. Stage 1 hypertension (high blood pressure) is defined as 130-139 / 80-89 and stage 2 hypertension is defined as ≥140 / ≥90. Why does blood pressure matter? It increases your risk for heart disease (heart attack & heart failure), stroke, chronic kidney disease & aneurysms (a bulge in a blood vessel caused by a weakness in the blood vessel wall) among other health issues.
Some of the many detrimental effects of high blood pressure.
Image credit: https://www.drugs.com/health-guide/high-blood-pressure-hypertension.htmlThere are many people who do not want to take a daily medication and even more who are rightfully concerned about the side effects of pharmaceuticals. The list of non-pharmaceuticals options is actually quite long and when stacked together give a compounding effect that is more beneficial than any single medication one could use. So, what are some non-pharmaceutical options to improve or even optimize your blood pressure?
Aerobic exercise - regular aerobic exercise (60-180 minutes per week) can improve systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 5-10 point (mmHg). This improvement is independent of any improvement fitness or aerobic capacity.
Improve Sleep - it is well understood that poor sleep contributes to a significant rise in blood pressure. It is less clear exactly how much of an improvement will occur with improved sleep. Work towards getting enough sleep so you feel well rested in the morning and you do not feel the need to nap. If you suspect you are not sleeping well talk to your doctor and consider a sleep study.
Weight loss - for those who are over weight or obese, weight loss can significantly improve blood pressure. In fact, once can expect a 1mmHg improvement in blood pressure for every 1kG (2.2lbs) lost.
Magnesium supplementation - proper magnesium supplementation can decrease systolic blood pressure by 4.2mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 2.3mmHg.
Increase potassium intake - most people do not consume enough potassium, especially relative to their sodium intake. Increasing potassium intake, to the ideal range of ~4.5g per day appears to significantly improve blood pressure.
L-arginine - adding in L-arginine supplementation can decrease blood pressure by 3-5mmHg.
It should be noted that there are some people who have certain underlying medical issues that can contribute to their elevated blood pressure. Some examples of these are: renal artery stenosis, coarctation of the aorta and sleep apnea. In these circumstances no matter how much you try to improve your blood pressure with non-pharmaceuticals you are unlikely to achieve a health range. In fact, pharmaceutical will also likely fail to get blood pressure into a health range in these circumstances. This is all more the reason to have regular blood pressure screening and see your doctor if you suspect your have high blood pressure.
Join Summit DPC today and we will work with you to optimize your blood pressure and drastically decrease your risk of chronic disease!
