The following recommendations are important for lowering your blood pressure without medication or salt restriction. Use these diet and lifestyle approaches to improve your blood pressure naturally.
- Reduce excessive refined carbohydrate and/or sugar intake
- High blood sugar and insulin resistance contribute to the development of hypertension
- Stick to whole-food carbohydrates; potatoes, sweet potatoes, and fruit instead of refined grains and sugars
- Match your carb intake to your activity levels
- Increase your intake of minerals
- Potassium, magnesium, and calcium is a greater combat to the reduction of blood pressure than restricting salt intake
- Increase intake of potassium-rich plant foods; white potatoes, bananas, and tomatoes
- Increase calcium intake through dairy products; bone-in fish, nuts, seeds, and leafy greens
- Increase magnesium intake; pumpkin seeds, almonds, dark, leafy greens, molasses, dark chocolate, and bananas
- Consume grass-fed dairy (if tolerated)
- Grass-fed dairy fat contains vitamin K2, which may be the most important nutrient for the prevention of cardiovascular disease
- Foods high in K2; butter and ghee, hard cheeses, poultry liver, and fermented soy (natto)
- Consider supplementing with K2
- Eat one pound of fatty fish per week
- Omega-3 fats in fish are found to reduce risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease
- It’s safer to get omega-3 fats from fish rather than from fish oil
- Fatty fish; salmon, sardines, halibut, mackerel, trout, tuna, anchovies, herring, and whitefish
- Drink tea
- Certain types of tea are effective at lowering blood pressure
- These teas include hibiscus, hawthorn, gotu kola, oolong, and green tea
- Drinking two to three cups per day of a combination of the above teas, is most effective to lower blood pressure
- Eat beets
- Beets are high in nitrate, which turns into nitric oxide and can promote vasodilation and lower blood pressure
- Other foods high in nitrates; celeriac, chinese cabbage, endive, fennel, kohlrabi, leek, parsley, celery, lettuce, spinach, and rocket
- Beet juice has been shown to lower blood pressure in studies
- Get some sunshine
- UV radiation also helps produce nitric oxide in our blood, which lowers blood pressure
- Aim for 20 to 30 minutes of unprotected, bare skin exposure on a daily basis
- Reduce stress
- Chronic stress is a well-known cause of high blood pressure
- Meditation and deep breathing are two incredibly effective strategies that can be used daily to lower blood pressure
- Focus on sleep
- Short sleep duration and poor sleep quality increase the risk of high blood pressure
- Sleep apnea is also associated with elevated blood pressure
- Aim for seven to nine hours of high-quality sleep nightly
- Exercise regularly
- All types of exercise have been shown to reduce blood pressure
- This includes but is not limited to endurance exercise; walking and cycling, and also includes strength training exercises; weight lifting or bodyweight exercises
- Decreased amounts of sitting is also important, ensuring that you are aiming for standing at least half of your day (I.E. working at a standing desk) and walking 10,000 steps a day
