How To Treat High Or Low Blood Pressure

Stress and High Blood Pressure – Three Tips to Manage Stress and Lower Blood Pressure

Stress, regardless of the source, is interpreted by the body as a threat. The nervous system will kick in the fight or flight mode and that has a number of physical effects on the heart and blood vessel system.

The fight or flight response is essential to our survival and always has been. When the cave man was about to be attacked by the saber tooth tiger, his body needed to be super charged in order to fight back or flee. The same is true today. We need to be able to get super charged if we are facing a real threat. However, our threats are not always “real” in the sense that they can do physical harm to us, but more mental as in what happens if I don’t get to work on time.

Unfortunately the body can’t tell the difference between the two. The more you stress on the mental threat, the more the body responds with the fight or flight response.

So what happens when this occurs? The purpose of the response is to get the body ready for an exertion that is beyond normal.

To accomplish this:
The heart pumps faster to rush blood to the body increasing blood pressure.
Breathing becomes more rapid to get nutrients and oxygen to the muscles and the brain.
A natural coagulant is produced to encourage blood clotting if we get cut.
Blood sugar and fat are released into the blood system to give us the extra energy we need to handle the threat.
Adrenalin is manufactured and released to give us a sense of heightened awareness.

The body wasn’t designed to maintain this response for long periods of time. In a perfect world, the threat would be assessed and then the effects of the response would be burned off either by fighting or running.

In the modern world we tend to have stress through out our entire day.

Many people do nothing to relieve it so the system continues in a mini mode, raising blood pressure and putting blood clotting agents in our blood stream. This obviously is not a good situation in a healthy person. Take someone with hardened blood vessels and plaque and you have created a dangerous situation.

Three Quick Tips To Reduce Stress

Exercise

Exercise is the natural way to reduce stress as it replicates the fighting or fleeing. Thirty minutes a day of a good aerobic and light resistance routine will have immediate effects on your stress level and blood pressure. However, time it so you get the best benefit.

I used to work out before going to the office. By the time I finished my hour and fifteen minute commute in Los Angeles traffic, I had completely used up my exercise benefit. I joined a club near my office and started to exercise after work. The hour spent at the gym worked wonders and the bonus was rush hour was over by the time I was done.

I would arrive home relaxed and could better enjoy my family. And the big bonus was the ability to go to sleep.

Get Some Sleep

Most Americans get less than 6 hours of sleep a night. Sleep is a natural stress management system and can’t be ignored. Find a way to get the sleep you need be it warm milk or an herbal tea.

Take A Garlic Supplement

Garlic is kind of a miracle food. It acts as a vasodilator encouraging the blood vessels to expand making less resistance for the heart. In addition, it has a property that thins the blood making it easier to pump and assisting in lowering blood pressure. Lastly it keeps vampires away.

Stress can kill. Follow these tips and you will be that much closer to a healthier blood pressure.

How to Manage High Blood Pressure Effectively

Many consider high blood pressure as a silent killer. In reality, however, nobody actually dies from this condition. The danger in having high blood pressure is the conditions and diseases that arise from having this problem. If for a long time your blood pressure is above what is normal, you can suffer from other conditions such as heart failure and even stroke. What is scary about high blood pressure is that you may have been suffering from it for a long time without even feeling a single symptom.

The best way to know whether you have high blood pressure or hypertension is by going to the doctor and have your blood pressure checked with a sphygmomanometer, which is commonly known as a blood pressure cuff. Once your doctor has confirmed that you have an astronomic blood pressure, you better follow the pointers below on how you can help manage the problem:

Mind Your Weight

According to experts, individuals who weigh 30% above their normal weight are more at risk of suffering from hypertension. However, just five to ten pounds of decline in your weight would have a significant effect on your blood pressure. It seems that your heart needs to pump more and work harder if you have more cells and tissues in your body. So if you lose a little weight, you are giving your heart a little break from hard work.

]]>

Shrinking your waist is not an easy feat. However, many believe that increasing your fitness level by performing exercise regularly and participating in physical activities, such as biking, playing sports, swimming, and other activities that will make you sweat and increase your heart rate, will surely help in making you lose weight.

Increase Intake of Essential Minerals

The two minerals that you should have in abundance in your body are calcium and potassium. These two minerals are helpful in easing tension in your body and making your overworked arteries more relaxed, which ensures that your blood can freely move along your blood vessels.

Furthermore, potassium also aids in the excretion of excess salt, which is also believed to be responsible for promoting hypertension. Thus, the more potassium is present inside your body, the more sodium can be eliminated out of your system.

Aspire to Eat Right

It is quite difficult to eat right, especially if you are surrounded by a lot of tempting foods. Who can resist a slab of fatty steak or a bucket of delicious fried chicken? However, if you want to live longer, you need to be more careful with what you put inside your mouth. For starters, you can increase your intake of fruits and vegetables. Many experts also believe that eating a lot of fiber-rich foods can also help manage your blood pressure.

Go Easy On the Salt

Almost 50% of people who are suffering from high blood pressure are called by experts as salt responders. This simply means that the amount of sodium intake of a salt responder dictates their blood pressure levels. It seems that the older you get, the more susceptible you are to the effects of salt. In order to prevent hypertension, it would be wise to get easy on the salt. Choose foods that are low in sodium or are sodium-free.

Another effect of too much salt in the body is bloating and swelling. If you are not hypertensive and you feel that your water retention is due to hormonal imbalance and not because of other more serious problems, such as high blood pressure or kidney problems, then you may want to try taking natural supplements, such as Expelis, to get rid of excess water in your body. For more information, just visit http://www.expelis.com/.

Find More Managing High Blood Pressure Articles