Simple Tips to Lower Your Blood Pressure

I recently received a request from one of my readers asking me to share my best tips on lowering blood pressure. There are several things you can do including the following:

1. Get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. Brisk walks in the sun are highly recommended as they will help you to alleviate stress, provide resistance exercise for your legs and hips, and enable the absorption of vitamin D on your skin from exposure to the sun.
2. Reduce your intake of saturated fats and cholesterol, both of which come from animal foods. You should reduce your overall fat intake but when you do incorporate added fat, consume a minimal amount of healthy fats only.
3. Avoid red meat, sweets, sugar, caffeine and processed foods.
4. Reduce your intake of alcohol and salt.
5. Enjoy plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans, and a bit of dark chocolate. Include fruit and vegetable juices (especially beet juice).
6. Enjoy plenty of garlic with the foods that you eat.
7. Increase your intake of potassium by eating sweet potatoes, tomatoes or tomato sauce, beans, bananas, peaches, cantaloupes and honeydew.
8. Increase your intake of omega-3 fats from walnuts, flax seeds and flax oil, hemp seeds, wildcaught salmon and sardines to reduce inflammation.
9. Increase your intake of calcium from kale, collard greens, mustard greens, spinach, arugula, dandelion greens, parsley, chives, watercress, lambs-quarters, cabbage, sea vegetables, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, almonds, brazil nuts, hazel nuts, walnuts, salmon, sardines (canned with the bones particularly), quinoa, brown rice, amaranth, buckwheat, peanuts, whole (non-GMO) soybeans and tempeh, kidney beans, pinto beans and azuki beans.
10. Increase your intake of magnesium from chives, parsley, sea vegetables, shitake mushrooms, navy beans, lima beans, soybeans, peas, kale, spinach, Swiss chard, brown rice, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, nuts and seeds (like above) and many types of fish.
11. Enjoy plenty of celery. Celery contains a heart-healthy pytochemical compound called phthalide. It has been found to help relax artery walls and prevent your arteries from hardening. In early research, a daily extract providing the nutritional equivalent of about four stalks, helped to reduce blood pressure by 12-14%.
12. Reduce stress by learning to live a happier, more balanced and more joyful life.
13. Consider taking a COQ10 supplement.
14. Increase intake of sea vegetables in the diet. Studies have shown that including sea vegetables in the diet has a positive effect on blood pressure.

Healthy lifestyle choices can have a big impact on your blood pressure. Incorporating as many of my suggestions as possible will help you to stay heart healthy and enjoy a full and rewarding life.