High blood pressure, which is also called hypertension, affects about one in three adults. Although there are many causes of hypertension, there are not necessarily any symptoms, with 30% of people having high blood pressure not knowing it. Therefore, just because you don’t have symptoms doesn’t mean you don’t have high blood pressure, which is why it is called “the silent killer.” High blood pressure is very dangerous, being the number one cause of stroke, as well as the cause for heart attack and heart failure. Changing blood pressure numbers depends a great deal on the choices we make every day, such has how much we exercise, the foods we ear, and our overall lifestyle. However, for those times when extra help is needed, there is a new scientifically-studied supplement that will help us lower our blood pressure and give us better overall health.
Blood pressure is divided into two parts, systolic and diastolic. Systolic is the pressure of the heart beating; while diastolic is the pressure of the heart vessels when they are filling. Although a persons’ blood pressure can vary naturally throughout the day, if numbers are consistently high after many visits to the doctor, it is possible that you have pre-hypertension or high blood pressure. Healthy blood pressure numbers are about 115/75 mm/Hg. Arteries that are kept young through healthy diet and exercise are usually more elastic and unclogged compared to those that have plaque buildup from diets high in saturated fat and sedentary lifestyles. These unclogged arteries are able to transport blood through them easily and without much effort. However, clogged arteries result in faster blood flow, all of the time, which can cause damages to heart tissue, arteries, kidney, and other major organs in the long run.
High blood pressure can be caused by a variety of lifestyle factors being: body type, sedentary lifestyle. Sodium intake, low potassium intake, heavy alcohol intake, unhealthy eating, and smoking. Although weight isn’t always a reliable indicator of whether or not you’ll have high blood pressure, the type of weight is. Lean body mass (muscle) doesn’t increase blood pressure levels, but fat does, especially when it is around your mid-section. Many of our jobs require us to sit all day at work and then we continue to sit more when we get home. With time, this leads to weight gain, which makes your heart work harder to pump blood through the body. Inactivity usually leads to higher heart rates. Even though salt intake itself isn’t necessarily bad, it leads to more water retention, which increases blood pressure. A moderate intake of salt, especially sea salt or Celtic salt, for healthy individuals is fine. Most Americans do not get enough potassium. It helps to regulate the amount of sodium in our cells and expels the rest to our kidneys. Low levels of potassium can lead to a build up of sodium in the body. Because having three or more alcoholic drinks a day doubles and individuals’ chance of developing high blood pressure, it is important to limit the amount of alcohol intake. Drinking a large amount will eventually put a lot of stress on the heart, liver, pancreas, and brain. Eating a lot of processed and fatty foods can lead to high blood pressure as well. By adapting a diet rich in fruits and vegetables as well as whole grain products, fish, nuts, magnesium, and potassium, blood pressure can be brought back down. Smoking damages the heart and arteries, while the nicotine constricts blood vessels, increases heart rate, and raises blood pressure. The carbon monoxide in smoke replaces oxygen in the blood, which makes the heart work even harder to make up for the difference. It is important if you have high blood pressure that you do not smoke.
Along with the above diet and lifestyle changes, there are other natural ways to lower blood pressure. These supplements include: fish oil, CoQ10, and garlic. Although these are very effective, they usually lower systolic pressure much more than diastolic pressure. There is a blend of natural ingredients that lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure separately and work even better combined, dandelion leaf extract, lycopene, stevia extract, olive leaf extract, and hawthorn extract. Dandelion leaf extract provides a healthy supply of vitamins, including vitamins A, B, C, D, iron, silicon, magnesium, zinc, potassium, and manganese. This extract produces a diuretic effect in the body relieving hypertension in the body by drawing excess water and sodium from the body and releasing it through the kidneys as urine, which allows the blood vessels to relax and in turn lowers blood pressure. Lycopene, which is mostly found in tomatoes and processed tomato products, has great antioxidant abilities as well as free-radical scavenging properties. It also lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol, lowers homocysteine levels, and reduces blood platelet stickiness which leads to clogged arteries. Higher intakes of lycopene mean less thickening of arteries and a reduced risk of heart attack. Stevia extract, which is often used as a sweetener, relaxes arteries and helps to prevent the buildup of calcium on artery walls, which keeps them healthy and reduces blood pressure. Many scientific studies have proven that stevia controls blood sugar levels as well as has great potential in treating type 2 diabetes along with hypertension. Olive leaf extract relaxes blood vessels and prevents buildup of plaque in the arteries, which in turn lowers blood pressure. It also acts as an antioxidant. Hawthorn extract has been used to support heart health for many centuries. It improves blood pressure levels by increasing blood vessel elasticity, as well as improves coronary artery blood flow and contractions of the heart muscle. This supplement also has antioxidant properties, as well as the anti-anxiety abilities and blood sugar regulation properties.
After taking a combination of these herbs, you should notice both systolic and diastolic numbers lowering within two weeks. When you are taking herbs that support your blood pressure, it is important to keep it monitored so that you have an adequate reading of your numbers. To do so, you can purchase a home blood pressure monitoring device for thirty to two-hundred dollars. However, buying one in the thirty to fifty dollar range is sufficient and will be money well-spent. Although there are no side effects noted in the study, you may notice an increase in the number of trips you take to the bathroom do to the diuretic effect of the dandelion leaf extract. The vitamins mentioned above can be found at your friendly internet health food store.
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