Hypertension: Use Multiple Methods To Lower Your Blood Pressure

Lowering our high blood pressure, for most people, means just taking the medication prescribed by our doctor. We do so in the belief that we will be cured. The most effective way of reducing our hypertension, however, is to use multiple methods of achieving our goal.

A note of caution: If your doctor has prescribed medication to manager you condition, do not stop taking it without first consulting him or her.

Take responsibility for managing your condition: It is your body, your health and your life. Do not abdicate responsibility to others, even if they are health care professionals. They will lead the horse (you) to water, but they cannot make you drink.

Here are five effective methods of lowering your blood pressure. For best results, use them in combination:

# 1. Monitor your own blood pressure: There are several good reasons for doing this:

• It helps make you responsible for the management of your condition



• It provides accurate data on which to base decisions about the management of your condition



• You can monitor progress in reducing your hypertension



• It can give you an early warning if something is amiss

# 2. Lose weight: being overweight is a contributing factor to your condition. The best way to shed those extra pounds is to use more energy than you consume. Start by....

# 3. Adopt a healthy diet: You should aim to have a diet that is rich in:

• Fresh fruits and vegetables



• Has at least one portion of white fish and a portion of oily fish each week



• Is low in sodium and refined sugar



• Choose low-fat, lean white meats in preference to red meats



• Bake or grill your food instead of frying



• Drink plenty of cold water each day

Cut out or reduce your consumption of:

• Highly processed foods and snacks



• Fried food



• Vegetable oils



• Alcohol



• Highly caffeinated drinks



• Carbonated soft drinks.

and...

# 4. Take some daily exercise: Build half an hour's aerobic exercise into your daily routine. Walking is the simplest and easiest form of exercise to take - it is free and no special equipment is needed. If you can, aim to take 10,000 paces each day, but not necessarily all at once.

The benefit is that this form of exercise can lower our blood pressure almost immediately and the beneficial effects can last for almost 24 hours.

# 5. Relax: Relaxation lowers our stress levels; and, stress is a factor that can cause hypertension. After about ten minutes of relaxation, we should see a reduction in our blood pressure.

It is more important to get your BP readings within normal levels than to be troubled too much about how you do it. For most of us, however, the best way to reduce our hypertension is to use the multiple methods described above to lower our blood pressure

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