Lower your blood pressure
Mild high blood pressure is defined as an upper (systolic) arterial pressure above 140 mmHg and/or a lower (diastolic) value above 90 mmHg. Before that there is a gray area called high-normal blood pressure. This is systolic 130 to 139 mmHg and diastolic between 85 and 89 mmHg.
Please note that according to the German Hypertension League's guidelines a home blood pressure reading of >=135 and/or >=85 mmHg is considered high blood pressure.
Because high blood pressure can be responsible for various conditions such as heart attack, stroke or vascular disease, you should definitely lower your elevated blood pressure. The risk of these conditions increases the higher the blood pressure is. And it increases disproportionately if you have other risk factors such as smoking, overweight and high cholesterol.
High blood pressure, which doctors call hypertension (hyper = over, tonus = pressure), can be effectively treated in different ways. Depending on the severity, high blood pressure is treated either with dietary changes combined with exercise therapy, or additionally with medications. If you smoke, you should definitely quit smoking when you have high blood pressure to reduce the risk of complications.
Simply cutting back on excessive alcohol, losing a significant amount of weight if you are overweight, and reducing your salt intake can lower blood pressure. This has been demonstrated in scientific studies.
If you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, you should increase your physical activity. Endurance sports such as jogging, brisk walking, cycling and hiking are particularly suitable for lowering blood pressure. Gymnastics/exercise classes are also suitable for lowering blood pressure. Less suitable are weight training, combat sports and activities that involve short bursts of intense strain and thereby raise blood pressure.
Some foods are especially good at lowering blood pressure. Eating fresh fruit, vegetables and various herbs like chives, parsley and wild garlic helps regulate blood pressure. You should also minimize your meat consumptionespecially fatty pork. In particular, garlic, tomatoes, bell peppers, lettuce and lemons can lower blood pressure. Beetroot can also help lower blood pressure. Please refer to the article "Beetroot and blood pressure".
In addition, the doctor can prescribe certain medications to lower blood pressure. Often a specific drug class is used. In severe cases or when other accompanying illnesses are present, a combination of different active substances may be necessary. Drug classes used to lower blood pressure include beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors and diuretics. Which of these active substances is right for you also depends, among other things, on your age. The medicines work through biochemical processes in the central nervous system or the heart and lead to a reduction in blood pressure.
By consistently changing your diet, reducing your weight and exercising regularly, you can significantly increase the effect of the medications or get by with fewer drugs.
Because high blood pressure is often also caused by excessive stress, you should incorporate relaxation exercises such as yoga or autogenic training into your daily routine to lower blood pressure in the long term.
Sources:
This article comes from BloodPressureDB – the leading app since 2011 that helps hundreds of thousands monitor their blood pressure every day.
Our content is based on carefully researched, evidence-based data and is continuously updated (as of 01/2024).
Author Sabine Croci is a qualified medical assistant with many years of experience in internal medicine and cardiology practices as well as in outpatient care, and has led BloodPressureDB's specialist editorial team since 2015. Thanks to her extensive additional qualifications as a paramedic, first responder and in various therapy and emergency areas, she provides solid, practical and reliably reviewed information.
Author Sabine Croci is a qualified medical assistant with many years of experience in internal medicine and cardiology practices as well as in outpatient care, and has led BloodPressureDB's specialist editorial team since 2015. Thanks to her extensive additional qualifications as a paramedic, first responder and in various therapy and emergency areas, she provides solid, practical and reliably reviewed information.
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