15 Ways To Lower Blood Pressure At Home

This post was most recently updated on July 25th, 2023

Besides prescription drugs from your doctor, you still have many simple and effective home remedies for high blood pressure to choose from, such as following a healthy diet or exercising.

High blood pressure is a dangerous health condition that has the potential to damage heart function. One in three people in the world will have this disease.

Without timely treatment and good control of high blood pressure, your risk of cardiovascular disease may be worse and stroke would be very severe.

Lower blood pressure at home

Besides taking medication to treat high blood pressure, you can also adopt a healthy lifestyle to self-medicate and control blood pressure. Therefore, here Health My Lives will guide you through 15 ways to treat high blood pressure at home.

Walking and exercising regularly is one of the best way to lower blood pressure at home

Exercise is one of the best home remedies for high blood pressure people.

Regular physical exercise will improve the health of the heart, and help this organ pump blood more efficiently, thereby reducing the blood pressure on the artery walls will also be significantly reduced.

In fact, 150 minutes of moderate exercise, such as walking, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise such as jogging, each week can help lower blood pressure quickly and improve heart health.

Limit sodium (salt) absorption

Limiting salt is the most basic home remedy for high blood pressure.

According to many research results, salt is linked to high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, and stroke. Foods that contain large amounts of salt are mostly processed foods. Therefore, many large companies in this field now aim to reduce the sodium content of food.

If your blood pressure is high, limit salt in your cooking by using other herbs and spices to replace it. In addition, raw food always brings more health benefits than processed food.

Limit the use of alcoholic beverages

Alcohol-containing drinks such as beer and wine have the risk of causing high blood pressure if the body accumulates a large amount of alcohol. In fact, alcohol causes high blood pressure in 16% of cases.

However, some clinical research results show that the body ingesting a small or moderate amount of alcohol will support heart protection. Therefore, experts only recommend limiting alcohol consumption as a home remedy for high blood pressure instead of banning it altogether. The best dosage is two glasses of red wine a day for men, and one drink for women.

Take natural supplements

Natural supplements can also help lower blood pressure. Here are some typical examples:

Oriental herbs

Herbs such as Flower, Dry herbs, Locust, monoderm have particularly effective functions in the treatment of high blood pressure.

Garlic Extract

Many clinical trials have shown that garlic extract has the ability to successfully treat hypertension alone or in a combination with other conventional therapies.

Whey protein (wheat protein)

A 2016 study found that whey protein improved blood pressure and blood vessel function in 38 volunteers.

Fish oil

Experts have long proven that fish oil has many benefits for improving heart health. Therefore, people with high blood pressure should use fish oil as a simple home remedy for high blood pressure.

Red artichoke flower

Red artichoke flower tea has the effect of reducing blood pressure thanks to active ingredients such as anthocyanins and polyphenols that appear in this flower in large quantities.

Eat more foods rich in potassium

Potassium is an important mineral with the function of helping the body to limit the absorption of sodium, and at the same time reduce the blood pressure exerted on the artery walls.

To balance the amount of potassium and sodium in your high blood pressure diet, focus on using fresh, clean foods more, instead of focusing on packaged foods.

Eating foods rich in potassium as follows is also a home remedy for high blood pressure:

• Green vegetables, tomatoes, potatoes and sweet potatoes
• Fruits like melons, bananas, avocados, oranges and apricots
• Low-fat milk and yogurt
• Tuna and Salmon
• Nuts and beans

Cut down on caffeine

Caffeine is one of the causes of a sudden increase in blood pressure. This means that this type of active ingredient in coffee can only cause blood pressure to rise for a short time. In fact, there’s not much evidence that regular coffee drinking causes long-term high blood pressure. On the other hand, many clinical studies show that the rate of heart disease or hypertension in people who have a habit of drinking tea or coffee regularly is much lower than that of non-users.

For these reasons, experts also consider reducing caffeine intake as one of the many ways to lower blood pressure at home to avoid the case that you are sensitive to this substance.

Get in the habit of managing stress

Stress is a direct cause of high blood pressure. When mental stress persists, your body will always be in stress mode. Physiologically, this causes a faster heart rate and constriction in the capillaries.

Besides, during times of stress, it’s easy to engage in unhealthy behaviors, such as drinking alcohol or eating unhealthy foods, which can negatively affect blood pressure.

Some studies have found home remedies for high blood pressure through good stress management as follows:

• Listen to soft music: Soothing music can help relax the nervous system. Many clinical trials have shown it to be an effective adjunct to other antihypertensive therapies.
• Work less: High workload as well as stressful situations or work environments have a strong association with hypertension.

Eat dark chocolate or cocoa

Dark chocolate or cocoa has a lot of benefits for heart function, so regularly consuming these two foods is one of the simple ways to lower blood pressure at home. The content of flavonoids, compounds extracted from plants that help capillary dilation, appear a lot in cocoa powder as well as dark chocolate.

A review of studies found that flavonoid-rich cocoa improved many markers of heart health in the short term, including lowering blood pressure. For the best results, you should use pure cocoa powder because it contains a large number of flavonoids and has no sugar.

Lose weight

If your weight is too high, lose weight as a home remedy for high blood pressure.

According to a 2016 study, just 5% of body mass loss can lead to a significant drop in blood pressure. In previous clinical studies, losing about 8 kg reduced systolic blood pressure to 8.5 mmHg, while diastolic blood pressure was 6.5 mmHg.

The effect will be even more positive if you combine weight loss with exercise. Losing weight can make your blood vessels dilate and contract better, allowing the ventricles to pump more easily.

Quit smoking

One of the many reasons you should quit smoking is the potential risk for cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure.

Each puff of cigarette smoke causes a slight instantaneous increase in blood pressure. The chemicals in tobacco also pose a risk of blood vessel damage.

Although studies on the relationship between smoking and high blood pressure are somewhat conflicting, experts still consider quitting smoking as a home remedy for high blood pressure by helping to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Eat less sugar, especially refined carbs

More and more studies are showing a link between refined sugar and high blood pressure.

In a clinical study of women’s health, the blood pressure readings of those who drank only one can of soda a day were significantly higher than those who drank less or doesn’t drink even at all. Another study found that consuming a low-sugar beverage per day was associated with lowering down blood pressure.

Besides, not just sugar, all refined carbs, such as white flour, convert quickly into blood sugar and can cause many problems.

Some studies have shown that a low-carb diet can also help lower blood pressure.

Another study in statin users found that those who followed a low-carbohydrate diet for six weeks saw significant improvements in blood pressure and other heart disease markers compared with those who did not.

Eat a lot of berries

Berries bring many benefits to you. They contain quite a few polyphenols, natural plant compounds that are good for heart health. Therefore, doctors often recommend you to eat more berries as a home remedy to lower high blood pressure.

One small study fed middle-aged people berries for eight weeks. Volunteers said they had noticed a marked improvement in various markers of heart health, including blood pressure.

Another study applied low and high polyphenol diets (including berries, chocolate, fruits, and vegetables) to people with high blood pressure. The results showed a clear improvement in cardiovascular disease risk markers in those who followed a diet high in polyphenols. Meanwhile, people with a low intake of polyphenols did not achieve the same positive results.

Try meditation or deep breathing exercises

Meditation and deep breathing are two exercises used to manage stress, a popular home remedy for blood pressure.

Both meditation and deep breathing work to activate the extrasensory nervous system, help the body relax, slow the heart rate, and lower blood pressure at home.

Currently, the amount of research in this field is quite large. Results from them all show that different styles of meditation appear to be beneficial in lowering blood pressure.

Deep breathing techniques can also have an immediate effect. In a recent study, volunteers were divided into two groups with two different requests: take six deep breaths for 30 seconds or just sit still for 30 seconds. People who do breathing exercises tend to lower blood pressure at home more than those who just sit.

Eat foods rich in calcium

Many leading experts on blood pressure believe that consuming more calcium is a home remedy for high blood pressure that you can easily do because people with high blood pressure often have very low calcium levels in the body.

A diet rich in calcium can be of great help in the treatment of high blood pressure. For most adults, the recommended calcium intake is 1,000mg per day. For women over 50 and men over 70, the dosage is increased to 1,200 mg per day.

In addition to dairy, you can get calcium from collard greens (collards), beans, sardines, and tofu.

Eat magnesium enriched foods

Magnesium is an important mineral that helps blood vessels relax. They are abundant in food, but many people still do not get enough of it.

Some studies show that too little magnesium in the body is linked to high blood pressure. However, this hypothesis still needs more convincing evidence to be widely publicized.

However, applying a magnesium-rich diet is also a home remedy for high blood pressure.

You can incorporate magnesium into your diet with vegetables, dairy products, legumes, chicken, and whole grains.

Conclusion

High blood pressure is a very common condition that affects anyone. Besides using antihypertensive drugs, you still have many ways to control your blood pressure naturally. However, before applying any method, consult with your doctor to minimize the risks.