It’s a scary statistic, but over a quarter of all Americans have high blood pressure. This is also known as hypertension and it can cause a lot of serious problems down the line, even leading to heart disease. A lot of people put up with this issue because they think there isn’t anything that can be done about it. However, there are some problems that may be lowering your blood pressure, so you should check them out.
Table of Contents
What You Need to Do
It is important to actually know what your blood pressure is like. While this can be done at the doctor (it’s most accurate that way), it is better for you if you can check yourself on a regular basis. To do this you should get a BP measuring instrument. They aren’t expensive nowadays and they are a great investment into your health!
The first thing to do is read the instructions on your blood pressure monitor. You might think it’s easy enough to just put your arm through and press the button, but if you don’t follow the correct steps then you won’t get an accurate reading. The monitor can’t tell whether you’ve done it right, so the results will be skewed. This means if your doctor uses these measurements, they could make a wrong diagnosis.
The next thing to do is check your blood pressure regularly. BP usually varies throughout the day because of stress and activity levels, but this doesn’t mean it will stay like that. By checking your blood pressure at the same time every day, you might find out that there is a pattern and it can help you to take steps to keep your BP down if needed.
#1 Sleep More
Many people don’t get enough sleep. While there are plenty of reasons to stay up late, you might want to make an effort to get more sleep if possible. This has actually been proven because there was a study conducted in Japan where the researchers found that when people were getting fewer than 6 hours of sleep per night their blood pressure went up significantly. While there is no exact amount of sleep that is known as the “right” amount, you should shoot for 7 or 8 hours per night.
#2 Exercise Regularly
It has long been known that exercise helps with blood pressure. You can lower your blood pressure just by working out for 20 minutes a day, three times a week. However, if you want to see some real improvement then it is important to do more than just the minimum. It’s recommended that people work out at least five times per week for 30 minutes at the minimum.
#3 Eat Better
The last thing to do is add more healthful foods into your diet. You don’t have to avoid salt completely or give up tasty foods, but you can make sure everything you put in your body is healthy. A lot of people are surprised to find out that the best way to do this is by eating more vegetables.
Vegetables are low in sodium and high in potassium, which helps keep your blood pressure down even when it rises for other reasons. This is a better way to keep your BP down than trying to give up salt because it is much easier and you don’t have to deal with cravings.
Recapping Things
To recap, checking your blood pressure regularly, reading the instructions on your monitor, and adding more healthy foods into your diet are all good ways to lower high blood pressure right away. These are simple tasks that anyone can do, so give them a try today.
If you need more information, go to any search engine and enter the following: “how to lower blood pressure”. You will find there is much more information on this topic than could be written about in one article.
- The 3 Best Exercises for Lowering Blood Pressure - November 9, 2021
- What People Need To Know About Blood Pressure in 2021 - November 2, 2021
- 3 Things You Can Do To Lower Your Blood Pressure Right Away - October 26, 2021