There are many things that can cause hypertension, such as stress, a poor diet, and lack of physical exercise. Hypertension is an ailment suffered by many adults, and what many people don’t realize is that hypertension can be controlled by diet, exercise and even aromatherapy. While it can also be controlled with drugs, if you are seeking natural means to handle health problems, this should only be a final solution rather than the first thing you turn to. We live in a society where the pharmaceutical companies have become in essence legal drug pushers, and that coupled with the fact that drugs are not as rigorously tested as they were even twenty years ago makes taking a drug to control your hypertension not as inviting. In many cases the side effects alone are worse than any symptoms that you may suffer from with the condition itself.
It is difficult to lead a healthy lifestyle these days, what with bosses expecting more and more from us, but with little extra compensation when we come through, and if we don’t there is always the threat of losing the much needed job. Not to mention the fact that our free time is not always our own, this can lead to high stress and then to hypertension. Who has time to eat a healthy diet? It’s easier to pick up frozen dinners than it is to buy fresh meat, fruits and vegetables and actually cook. However, if you want to lower your hypertension naturally, that is just one of the things you are going to need to do.
It’s important to avoid high calorie and even high protein foods. While many of the new diets suggest increasing protein intake, if you have hypertension, you should not do this. Instead you should only be ingesting 1 gram of protein per 1 kilogram of your weight. You should also avoid foods with animal fat as much as is possible. Despite this not all fats are a no-no, you might be able to eat items containing vegetable oil for example. Your doctor can best tell you if this is the case or not.
Hypertension can also be aggravated by consumption of a lot of sodium, so you will want to cut out as much salt from your diet as you can. You should only ever consume 2 to 3 grams of sodium daily no more.
Another little gem that many people do not know is that having a high level of potassium in your body is good when you have hypertension and will help to improve your condition considerably. One way to raise your potassium levels is to eat foods high in potassium. Some examples of foods that will help you increase your potassium levels are, tomatoes, bananas, celery, watermelon, and other leafy vegetables.
There are also foods that naturally lower or eliminate in some cases hypertension. These foods are garlic, foods high in potassium as mentioned before, and fish with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Believe it or not all of these foods help do the following, dilate blood vessels, relax muscles, and allow the blood to flow more efficiently throughout the body. All of which help to reduce hypertension.
Another important thing to make sure you do is to get enough fluids. The only time this is not the case is if you are also suffering from oedema at the same time as you are suffering from hypertension. In that case then you need to limit your fluid intake. Your doctor can give you further insight as to how to proceed if this is the case.
Some other things you can do to help improve your hypertension is to use aromatherapy. Lavender is one of the most used aromatherapy essential oils in the world. Its scent is calming, and relaxing and as such can help you to calm down, and handle your stress more productively. You can put a few drops on a cotton handkerchief and keep it with you to get a whiff of for those times when you are feeling particularly stressed, and or you can put a few drops in a clean spray bottle with some water and spray it before you go to bed to help you rest, to name a few. For more ways to use lavender essential oil to improve your health check out my article How to Use Lavender Oil to Improve Your Health and Life.
You will also need to incorporate some physical activity into your life if you suffer from hypertension, as well as the changes in diet mentioned above. Some moderate exercise every day is going to be very important. Some ideas might be taking a twenty minute walk, jumping rope for fifteen minutes, doing thirty minutes of an aerobics tape (Even if it’s an hour long tape as long as you remember to warm up and cool down, you don’t have to finish the tape!) to name a few. Yoga is also another wonderful option and has the added benefits of learning to breath properly to control stress, getting your muscles and joints healthier, teaching you proper posture, and giving you a longer and leaner body. While there are some forms of yoga where you are exercising aerobically, not all forms do so. If you want to practice yoga, and you are doing a practice that does not get your heart rate up, make sure you include a few days of aerobic exercise as well during the week.
While it can be difficult to make lifestyle changes when you live a busy and sometimes stressful life, the truth is if you have hypertension, you can’t afford not to. Instead of creating more stress by thinking you must make all these changes at once, try doing one or two things at a time to start until they become second nature, then take one or two more until you’ve made the lifestyle changes necessary to combat your hypertension naturally. You’ll be glad you did!
