During my husband’s last medical check at work, he found out his blood pressure was really high. So high, in fact, the nurse conducting the check actually gasped.
Apparently 164/107 is not ideal for a spritely gent in his mid-thirties!
Since then, we’ve been a little worried, which lead us to research ways we could help lower his blood pressure naturally. My husband has had high blood pressure in the past and after wearing a 24-hour monitor, the doctor decided his blood pressure wasn’t dangerously high all day, but was still worth keeping an eye on. Ideally, he wouldn’t like to take medication just yet, if he can rectify it himself.
Since we’ve come across so many suggestions in our research, I thought writing a blog post might help a few more people who are in the same boat.
Simple Ways to Reduce High Blood Pressure
*This article is a paid partnership in collaboration with Premier Care in Bathing.
I should probably tell you I’m not a medical professional, these are just common suggestions that keep cropping up.
1. Reduce Stress
This suggestion might be laughable to some. I know most of the people who read my blog are parents, and I can imagine some of you shaking your head as you read this.
Stress can be a huge factor in increasing blood pressure, so making a conscious effect to create time to relax and wind down each day can work wonders on your overall health – not just your blood pressure.
Mindfulness can also help lower stress levels and keep your mental health in check, meaning your mind and body could benefit from this technique!
2. Take a Hot Bath
I never need an excuse to take a hot bath (it’s one of my favourite things to do!), so it’s comforting to know that alongside reducing stress, it can also lower your blood pressure in its own right.
Spending at least 15 minutes in a hot bath can reduce your blood pressure for several hours.
I understand not everyone is comfortable taking a bath if they’ve got mobility issues, but you can get some really gorgeous walk-in baths these days, so it might be worth updating your bathroom to fit regular baths into your routine.
3. Maintain a Healthy Weight
Research suggests that those with smaller waists and a healthy BMI are less likely to suffer from high blood pressure. If you’re a little overweight, you might find your blood pressure improves when your BMI decreases.
4. Exercise Regularly
This advice probably goes hand-in-hand with maintaining a healthy weight, but it’s been suggested that regular exercise can help lower high blood pressure. (I don’t know about you, but my blood pressure shoots up at the thought of going for a run!)
5. Cut Down on Salt
A salty diet has long been associated with high blood pressure, so it makes sense that a diet low in salt is thought to be one of the factors in achieving a healthy blood pressure reading. We’ve tried to make more meals from scratch, so we can miss out on all the salt processed food seems to have added, and we’ve also switched to low sodium salt for good measure.
6. Quit Smoking
We don’t smoke, but we’ve come across this advice in almost every article we’ve read about lowering blood pressure, so it’s definitely something to consider. Apparently smoking a single cigarette raises your blood pressure for a short period of time immediately after you’ve smoked it, so regular smokers are likely to experience raised blood pressure throughout the day.
7. Lower your Caffeine Intake
There is conflicting information out there on whether caffeine affects blood pressure, but I thought I’d include it because I think it affects mine. Even on cup of coffee can make me feel a little jittery and light headed. The general advice is that stimulants will naturally raise blood pressure, and since caffeine falls into that category, I thought it was worth a mention. We’ve switched to decaf coffee, but I can’t bring myself to change my regular tea bags!
Have you got any tips on reducing blood pressure? If so leave them in the comments (otherwise my comment will just be filled with horrified healthcare professionals, who are aghast at my husband’s blood pressure reading!)
Why not keep your blood pressure low by pinning this article on Pinterest so you don’t have to worry about finding it again in the future!
