High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a common condition that affects millions of people worldwide each year. The risk of high blood pressure to our health can lead to other chronic illnesses and diseases that become complicated in resolving. While medication can be effective in managing blood pressure, there are also holistic and natural approaches that can complement medical treatment and promote overall well-being. Various strategies for managing blood pressure naturally can offer hope to managing health as well as potentially reducing dependencies on life-long prescriptions.
What is Normal Blood Pressure
You may be familiar with the 120/80 ideal reading for blood pressure but this is a general guideline and it actually applies to young adults. By age and sex your blood pressure range is different throughout your life.
Your Diet and Your Blood Pressure
The old adage of you are what you eat, is relevant to the discussion on blood pressure. As the American diet continues to move farther away from real food the more we see trends of health diseases and illnesses increase despite the increased use of pharmaceuticals.
Reduction and elimination where possible of preservatives, chemical and processed ingredients, lab and manufactured food products, and plastic in our food are some of the best ways to reduce many health problems, including blood pressure. This step alone would save millions in health care costs annually and effect a family's bottom line budget for groceries and health care. It is here that we have the most direct impact to changing the course for health care trends in our own health and as a society.
When it comes to managing blood pressure, a diet high in green colored fruits and vegetables, pomegranate, fibrous whole grains and organic proteins is ideal. Important nutrients such as potassium, magnesium, and fiber are known to help support blood pressure levels in the healthy range.
You may have heard if you have blood pressure concerns you should limit salt but the messaging here is incomplete. Your body needs salt but the trouble is table salt is a chemically created food product found in many of our foods and in our average salt shakers. Opting for Celtic and Himalayan salt options while mindfully using them for seasoning is much healthier for us. As we rebuild our taste buds to real food we often find our natural draw to salt decrease as well.
I personally advise clients in their blood pressure questions to focus on green foods, organic meats and dairy and balance in their meals. It doesn't mean you can never enjoy dessert again but having the foundation of your diet be healthy allows for those treats to be enjoyed without guilt for what it is doing to your blood pressure. It creates balance in our health so we can live in agreement with real food and feel satisfied.
There is no doubt the diet is the hardest aspect to change when working on health goals and concerns. While we work on these changes its important to recognize we will not do it perfectly every day. Working with a holistic health practitioner is helpful in this journey.
Moving Your Body for Blood Pressure Management
Exercise is like dieting, in that there's lots of misinformation and incompleteness in the messaging about what is the right approach, amount, quality and need. Yes, moving your body is important for overall health and well-being. Study after study show a long list of the benefits that come from movement. Where we go wrong with it is in a couple different areas.
First, we don't align the right movement to our specific needs. Instead we go head first into a workout program or new gym membership and then quickly drop off because we can't keep up with the rigor. It doesn't feel good to our body. We're left tired rather than energized from it. We over estimated how difficult it is and think we can just walk into it and go. We set unrealistic goals for ourselves and think it should be easy but its not.
Secondly, we think we should see progress faster than we actually do. This is personally frustrating and deflating so we think why bother and give up. After all the work we put into it and yet we gained weight! If there ever was a more deflating aspect of exercise for me this one is it. Muscle be damned after I've sweated nonstop and burned my legs working out to try to lose weight only to gain 5 more pounds. That's usually my own queue that exercise isn't for me.
In both cases, what is missing is the personalization of the exercise experience. Finding that activity that engages both body and mind, wanting to do that activity because it brings us joy and pleasure. Working up a little sweat and getting the heart rate up without crippling our body. Making it something we can add to our day without adding more stress. That is true exercise that is effective and meaningful while being something we can build consistency on.
Once you have the consistency, then you can start looking at the bigger opportunities of adding more rigor, harder workouts, and training to meet specific needs. However, for the mass majority of us who don't regularly exercise now, just doing something we love that is active and enjoyable that we can consistently do is the place to start.
For most people the number one exercise we can do for best health is walk. Taking steps outside is even better. This is a gentle exercise that supports body, mind, emotions and spirit. It is all encompassing and rewarding. It meets all the checkboxes for getting started with exercise, getting the heart beating, making sweat, and having it be something we can look forward to doing every day. Not only is this easy, but it requires no equipment other than a decent pair of shoes.
Stress and Blood Pressure: The real culprit to health problems
Stress and blood pressure almost become a real life chicken and egg problem to determine which came first. The truth is they feed each other and if this problem has been going on for a while it can be nearly impossible to know where it all began.
Stress is severely underplayed in terms of its impact to our well-being every day. We are taught from an early age to just roll with stress and not let it slow us down in what we need to accomplish. That in itself is even more stress that just builds up, gets pushed down, and introduces symptoms to our health. I usually see this with digestive problems the client comes in complaining about. Despite taking over the counter products to try and deal with it, they continue to experience digestive discomforts like diarrhea, indigestion, bloat and more.
Sooner or later stress does start to feed into our cellular program and affects things like our blood pressure. We are so used to feeling stressed out that we don't even know what it feels like to not be in that state!
I teach my clients that regardless of your health goal, until you deal with the stress in your life nothing else will make the progress you want to see in meeting those goals. The cortisol produced from stress creates inflammation that influences every aspect of our health, including blood pressure. We simply have to reduce and redefine our relationship with stress.
There is no one way to achieve having a better relationship with stress. The approach should be personalized to your needs and best responses you have to the technique. General practices of meditation, music, mindfulness, constructive stress release, energy medicine and more are wonderful tools that can help. Yet it truly is an area we need to explore to see what feels right to us and build consistency in using to see results.
I personally advise my clients to explore frequency music and use this while they are working through relaxation techniques at the end of their days. Releasing stress before bed helps us sleep better which in turn can work to rebalance the inflammation and blood pressure effects from stress.
Breathing and Blood Pressure
I teach my clients that regularly taking time to deep breath is a great way to help support healthy blood pressure. Our bodies need oxygen and the respiration process helps our blood pressure deliver it to our cells and release the stress and toxins we are holding.
Intentionally taking time in your day to deeply breath as well as before bed is so helpful to our pillars of health (body, mind, emotions, spirit). The benefits include feeling calmer, more centered, more focused, and relaxed. Physically, it slows the pulse, moves lymph, and releases toxins. Most of the time we breath normally its a short automatic breathe we don't realize we're doing. Intentionally breathing helps us move oxygen deeper in the body where its needed and resets our nervous system to help the body work more optimally.
Sleeping Your Way to Healthy Blood Pressure
Sleep is vital to our health. That uninterrupted window of time where we rest and rejuvenate through quality sleep does wonders. Coincidently, when we are stressed and have high blood pressure we do sleep less. Its not as comfortable and we don't experience the quality in our time resting which further snowballs the problems in our health.
I personally recommend to my clients the doTERRA Serenity Sleep System along with a protected bedtime routine that promotes rest. The consistency in a sleep schedule and relaxation routine improves our sleep quality which in turns improves our blood pressure.
Herbs and Blood Pressure
Hopefully by this point you realize that we cannot just take a pill and have our health problems go away. Rebuilding our health requires a multi-pronged approach that can include natural supplementation, including herbal support.
The most popular herbs used for blood pressure is garlic, hawthorn, hibiscus and Omega-3 fatty acids. Ideally we want to get as much of these through our diet and supplement where there are gaps. Working with your holistic health practitioner in ensuring you get the right herbs for your needs and have access to good quality products is key when using natural medicine.
Garlic: Garlic contains compounds like allicin, which may help relax blood vessels and improve blood flow, leading to lower blood pressure. It may also have mild anti-inflammatory properties. Incorporating fresh garlic into your diet or taking garlic supplements under the guidance of a healthcare professional may offer some benefit.
Hibiscus: Hibiscus tea, made from the dried petals of the Hibiscus sabdariffa flower, has been studied for its potential to lower blood pressure. Research suggests that hibiscus tea may help reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. It is believed to have antioxidant properties and may also act as a diuretic.
Hawthorn: Hawthorn (Crataegus species) has been used traditionally in herbal medicine to support cardiovascular health. Studies suggest that hawthorn extract may help dilate blood vessels, improve blood flow, and lower blood pressure. It may also have mild anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects.
Olive Leaf: Olive leaf extract contains compounds like oleuropein, which may help relax blood vessels and lower blood pressure. Some studies have found that olive leaf extract supplementation can lead to modest reductions in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. It may also have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
Basil: Basil is a culinary herb that contains compounds like eugenol, which may help lower blood pressure by dilating blood vessels. While more research is needed, preliminary studies suggest that basil extract or basil essential oil may have antihypertensive effects. The essential oil of basil is also a great way to use this herb.
Celery Seed: Celery seed extract is rich in compounds such as phthalides, which may help relax blood vessels and improve blood flow, leading to lower blood pressure. Some studies have shown that celery seed extract supplementation may lead to modest reductions in blood pressure levels. The essential oil of celery seed is a great way to use this herb.
It is also necessary if you take prescriptions to inform your medical doctor of natural medicines you use so they can monitor your progress and changes in prescriptions when needed.
Management of Blood Pressure Needs
Regularly monitoring your blood pressure and tracking changes is important, especially as we age. Technology has made this easier with the use of wearable smart devices. Looking for the patterns of change, when it is highest in our day, when it is the lowest and ups and downs let us know where support is needed. It also tells us where changes in our habits exist that can be healthier to support blood pressure regularity.
I recommend to my clients learning to listen to your body. This means tuning in to the feelings and sensations instead of ignoring them. It takes time to develop this skill but it helps us in supporting our needs more effectively and that can ward off more complex health problems.
Blood Pressure and Nature
Managing blood pressure naturally involves adopting a holistic approach that encompasses various lifestyle factors, dietary choices, stress management techniques, and alternative therapies. By making sustainable changes to your daily habits and incorporating these strategies into your routine, you can support overall cardiovascular health and promote optimal blood pressure levels. However, it's essential to work closely with your medical doctor and holistic health practitioner to develop a personalized plan that meets your individual needs and ensures safe and effective management of hypertension. You are always in control of your health.
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