HEALTHLINE – High blood pressure (hypertension) often has no symptoms but is a major risk of heart disease and stroke.
Here are 18 effective ways to lower your blood pressure levels.
1. Get enough exercise
Research suggests that both aerobic and resistance exercise can help delay or manage blood pressure, and that after exercising, blood pressure may be lower for up to 24 hours after.
Regular exercise means you regularly increase your heart and breathing rates. Over time your heart gets stronger and pumps with less effort. This puts less pressure on your arteries and lowers your blood pressure.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend doing at least 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity exercise per week, or around 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. For children and teens, the CDC recommend 1 hour of exercise per day.
Tips for increasing your activity levels include:
- using the stairs
- walking instead of driving
- doing household chores
- gardening
- going for a bike ride
- playing a team sport
2. Manage weight
Having additional body weight puts a strain on the heart and the cardiovascular system. This can raise blood pressure.
If your body mass index (BMI) is 25 or over, losing 5–10 pounds can help reduce your blood pressure. It can also lower the risk of other health problems.
The three key ways of doing this are to:
- move more
- eat less
- eat healthily
3. Cut back on sugar and refined carbohydrates
Restricting sugar and refined carbohydrates may help you lose weight and lower your blood pressure.
A 2020 study compared how various popular diets affected people’s weight and cardiovascular risk.
People with overweight or obesity who followed low carb and low fat diets saw their diastolic blood pressure fall by an average of about 5 mm Hg and their systolic blood pressure by 3 mm Hg after 6 months.
4. More potassium, less salt
Increasing your potassium intake and cutting back on salt can help lower your blood pressure …
