Ways to Lower High Blood Pressure

While medications are commonly used to control and lower blood pressure, other factors play a key role in keeping it regulated. Your lifestyle has a significant impact on moderating blood pressure. Effectively controlling blood pressure can happen with a better diet and increased activity.

Weight Loss Around the Waist Line

• When weight increases blood pressure, levels typically follow. The more weight you lose, the lower your blood pressure will be. The area of the body most commonly tied to a rise in blood pressure is the waist line. The Mayo Clinic reports that men are at the greatest risk when their waist line reaches 40 inches or more and women when their waist line climbs beyond 35 inches.

Exercise

• The addition of a regular exercise program will have an impact on lowering your blood pressure. Recommendations include between 30 to 60 minutes most days of the week. The goal with the activity is to simply incorporate consistent body movement to increase the strength of the heart and its correlating blood flow. This does not mean you should over-exert yourself. Check with your doctor to provide guidance on what activities are healthy for you. Walking for 10 minutes will help. If this is where you need to start, then do this until you can build up more stamina and strength.

  The incorporation of additional movement over the course of your day can lower your blood pressure by 4 to 9 millimeters of mercury.

Diet

• What you consume over the course of a normal day has a major impact on your blood pressure. Add whole grains, low-fat dairy, fruits, vegetables, while reducing saturated fat and cholesterol. This can lower your blood pressure by 14 millimeters of mercury.

  Sodium is another big component that affects blood pressure. Reducing sodium will also lower blood pressure.

  Alcohol should be only consumed in moderation. In small amounts, alcohol can actually help prevent heart attacks, but in larger quantities, your blood pressure will rise. For men, two drinks a day is moderation while one drink for women. Anything more than that is considered excessive and unhealthy.

  Steer away from caffeine. There are mixed studies on the long term effect of caffeine, but in the short term, it will cause spikes in blood pressure. Doctors recommend not consuming more than 200 milligrams in one day.