Home Remedies for High Blood Pressure: Hypertension Control Tips

Key Takeaways:

1. Importance of Home Remedies: Only 12% of Indians have their blood pressure under control, highlighting the need for effective home remedies to manage hypertension and prevent cardiovascular diseases.

2. Lifestyle Changes for Better Health: Implementing lifestyle changes such as following a healthy diet, getting enough sleep, quitting smoking, managing stress, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, reducing salt intake, and limiting alcohol consumption can significantly lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of cardiovascular events.

According to WHO, only 12% of Indians have their blood pressure under control. This is a significant problem for the Indian population as uncontrolled BP can lead to cardiovascular issues like stroke and heart attack.

Lack of medication is less of a problem here than the absence of personal care at home. So, in this article, we will discuss home high blood pressure remedies to lower your BP and prevent cardiovascular diseases.

8 Home Remedies for High BP

1. The DASH diet

The DASH Diet is short for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. It is a dietary pattern that promotes the consumption of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, poultry, fish, and nuts. This diet also restricts the consumption of sweets, red meat, sugar-containing beverages, total fats, saturated fats, and cholesterol.

Thus, this DASH diet promotes a higher intake of protective nutrients like potassium, calcium, magnesium, vegetable protein, and fiber, along with reducing the intake of refined carbohydrates and saturated fats. This diet, along with salt restriction, shows a significant effect in lowering BP. Hence, the American Heart Association highly recommends the DASH diet for the non-pharmacological management of hypertension.

2. Sleep

Habitual sleeping span has decreased by 1.5 to 2 hours per day in the last 50 years. As a result, 1 in 2 Indians get less than 6 hours of sleep every night, and 1 in 4 gets less than 4 hours.

Your quality and sleep duration directly correlate with hypertension, especially in women. Sleep deprivation in women is associated with a higher risk of hypertension than in men.

According to a study, sleep deprivation correlates with a 60% higher self-reported risk of hypertension over an 8 to 10-year period. Hence, if you already have hypertension, having a good night's sleep for 7 to 8 hours is one of the easiest ways to control it.

3. Don't smoke

While smoking is considered a contributing factor to heart attack and stroke, its correlation with high blood pressure is still under investigation. But still, smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke increase the risk of building up plaque in the arteries, which causes your blood pressure to rise.

Every time you smoke, your BP increases temporarily. Hence, just the simple act of quitting smoking or avoiding exposure to smoke can help you keep your blood pressure under control.

4. Don't stress

A stressful situation triggers a chain of events that makes your body release adrenaline hormones, which temporarily causes your breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure to increase.

Chronic stress increases your blood pressure and the risk of heart attack and stroke. Hence, you should manage stress at home by practicing meditation and yoga.

5. Lose weight

Obesity is responsible for much of the risk for hypertension through several mechanisms. Hence, as obesity is increasing, so is hypertension.

Having a high degree of visceral fat is robustly associated with incident hypertension. Hence, if you are overweight, you should start losing weight through healthy eating and exercise to lower your blood pressure. You will start seeing the results by losing as little as 4.5 kg of body weight.

6. Exercise

Daily physical activity will help you control high blood pressure, manage weight, strengthen your heart, and reduce stress.

So, if your work keeps you still for a long time, it will be a great idea to start exercising. You don't have to exercise at a gym or join a sports club. Instead, you can do some yoga or other exercises at home or walk in a garden nearby. Daily cardio exercises are the best strategy to control your BP and improve your heart health.

You should get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity weekly.

7. Eat less salt

Though you must already be aware of restricting your salt intake in food, you must also pay attention to the packaged and processed food you consume. These foods can have high amounts of sodium, and consuming these can lead your BP to go out of control.

The American Heart Association recommends consuming less than 2,300 mg of salt daily. You should keep it under 1,500 mg per day.

8. Avoid alcohol

Drinking too much alcohol increases your BP. Hence it is advised that you should avoid it. And if you drink, do so in moderation.

The recommendation is to consume less than two drinks/ day for men and less than one drink/ day for women.

Conclusion

High blood pressure may not give you immediate symptoms, but it risks your future by promoting adverse cardiovascular events.

You can control your blood pressure from the convenience of your home if you follow these tips and take your medications on time. Making these remedies a part of your life will help you minimize your health risks by a high degree.

The Aware Health Tracker App is the tool you need to control your BP. Our app lets you track your BP, guides you in taking the proper steps, track medication, book tests, log daily activity and much more!

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About the author: 

Lucky Mehtani, B. Pharm, merges his healthcare expertise with a passion for writing to enhance India's heart health. Through insightful blogs, he provides well-researched information on managing Diabetes, Hypertension, and High Cholesterol, aiming to prevent heart attacks and strokes.