The heart is a muscular organ that functions like a pump by moving blood through a fine, interconnected network of blood vessels. One set of blood vessels collect oxygen-rich blood from various parts of the body and gets it to the heart. It is then sent to all parts of the body through another separate channel of vessels.

The blood also transports various nutrients to the different body parts. Fat molecules or cholesterol is one of them. In fact, with changing diet patterns, there are more of fat molecules. They are heavier than the other particles, and so tend to settle down along the walls. This is known as plaque formation. This attracts more fat molecules to settle down and gradually forms a larger mass of fat cells. It also reduces the diameter of the vessel, thereby lowering the amount of blood that reaches the target organs.

Another effect it has is that it encourages the heart to exert extra pressure to push the blood through the vessels. There are simple ways to reduce blood pressure (BP), and some of these are listed below.

Eat healthy: Avoid processed and/or packaged foods. Increase the intake of fresh foods with lots of grains, vegetables, fruits, and dairy products. Include antioxidants like flaxseed, olive oil and omega-3 fatty acids to improve heart health. Avoid foods rich in calcium, sodium and magnesium. Increase consumption of potassium, which is good for heart.
Exercise regularly: Exercising has multiple benefits, and one of them is to improve heart health. It improves circulation, keeps the heart muscles active and strong and helps them pump blood better throughout the body.
Quit smoking: Smoking has severe effects on the overall health of an individual and heart health in particular. So quitting smoking can be hugely beneficial for the heart. It reduces the rate of plaque build-up and also helps in reversal.
Practise weight management: An increasing waistline is definitely not good for your heart, so watch your weight and keep your body mass index (BMI) in check. Watch what you eat, work out, and get your weight under control.
Follow stress management: The effect that stress has on our health cannot be underrated. Be it yoga, music, meditation, exercise or spending time with family/friends, choose what works best for you and learn to relax and manage stress.
Reduce alcohol consumption: More than two drinks per day can increase blood pressure significantly. So if you can t control, just quit.
Increased blood pressure is more rampant than what it was a few decades back. The age of onset is also reduced, with people in 30s now having hypertension. Making the above lifestyle changes can help lower your BP. Lifestyle diseases are now starting early in child hood. It is important to allow them to eat healthy food and physical activity. Smoking etc starts in school and need to be prohibited.

6 Simple Things That Can Help Lower Your Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is one of the vital life signs in medicine, which, along with other vitals is widely used to assess the overall health of the patient. High blood pressure is very dangerous as normally it has no symptoms or signs and can fluctuate almost instantly. But, it could be managed. High blood pressure is said to be of higher than 120 (systolic) and 80 (diastolic).

A nap in a day might help in lowering blood pressure. According to certain research findings, people who sleep in the daytime had regular blood pressure as compared to people who do not sleep or do not have a short nap. Napping can effectively help lowering blood pressure. It helps the blood to control stress hormones and also helps the nervous system to keep a person healthy.

Daytime napping surely helps in boosting energy levels and efficiency throughout the day. Blood pressure increases after a nap caused by the body s normal circadian rhythm (for influencing and regulating sleep-wake pattern for a healthy cycle in a day). At the time of the morning, the body releases hormones such as noradrenaline and adrenaline. If the blood pressure increases too high, it could cause harmful effects. Blood pressure is usually lower at night while a person is sleeping. The blood pressure begins to increase a few hours before a person wakes up. The blood pressure continues to increase during the day, normally extreme in the mid of the afternoon. The blood pressure starts dropping again in the evening and late afternoon. Sleep helps the blood to regulate stress hormones.

Napping, since it helps in lowering blood pressure, definitely helps in reducing the risk of Sleeping for about seven to eight hours in the night might play a vital role in the prevention of high blood pressure. New research suggests that an afternoon nap is as productive as consuming a pill for lowering the blood pressure. Scientists have found that the people who take a midday nap are more likely to drop their blood pressure as compared to adults who don t take a midday nap and stay awake. Napping, since it helps in lowering blood pressure, definitely helps in reducing the risk of cardiovascular events like a stroke or a heart attack. It is as effective as other lifestyle changes, according to credible researches in medicine. It is interesting to note that napping, even when it reduces the blood pressure by 2 mm Hg only, reduces the risk of cardiovascular events by 10%.

Napping is a sort of shortcut and an effective method for lowering the blood pressure and could also be easily adopted and does not cost anything. Short midday sleep is important for our well-being. And, we can utilize this simple information very effectively for its potential health-related benefits simply by managing our daily schedule.

Napping & Low Blood Pressure - How Can Former Help Latter?

Hypertension or increased blood pressure is one of the modern lifestyle diseases. The changing lifestyles including altered dietary habits and lack of physical activity are the main reasons for the high incidence of hypertension. With this, it brings a host of complications including other chronic diseases like diabetes, kidney failure, risks of stroke and heart attacks.

Alternative medicine proposes quite a number of remedies in addition to just increased physical activity. Read on to know more about how you can eat healthier and control your blood pressure.

Eat walnuts: As most books and media depict, heart disease is directly related to physical reaction towards stress. Regular eating of walnuts helps control this response, thereby controlling blood pressure. It is also a great source of antioxidants and fibre, which adds to its heart-healthy features.

Load up on minerals: Eating a diet rich in calcium, magnesium, and potassium is extremely beneficial for the heart. Sweet potatoes, bananas, dry fruits, dairy products, etc., have shown to reduce blood pressure extremely well in various experiments.

Avoid salt: While the natural sea salt is almost out of use, most of us have switched to the processed variety, which is devoid of all minerals. This is one of the major contributors for increased blood pressure. Studies have shown that reducing salt intake helps in a big way in controlling blood pressure. Most of us are also used to adding extra salt so the food tastes better. This should be avoided. With increased consumption of processed food items, everything from bread to cookies to cheese has salt, which also should be reduced, and if possible, avoided.

Have a colourful meal: Load up your plate with peppers, berries, dry fruits, and organic fruits and vegetables. Pomegranate juice is believed to control angiotensin, converting enzyme, which is responsible for controlling hypertension. They are also rich in antioxidants and help control blood pressure by reducing inflammation.

Know your cholesterol: While cholesterol is generally used with a negative connotation, it is not always true. There is good and bad cholesterol and the bad one should be avoided. Watch out for labels, and ensure you are eating less of the bad cholesterol. Good cholesterol is required for the production of hormones and proper functioning of the body.

Watch your medicines: While it is easy to just pop an ibuprofen when there is a headache or a back ache, it is advisable to watch out. These are best avoided in the long run, as they can induce hypertension and induce heart disease.

In addition, meditation, relaxation, green tea, dark chocolate, red wine, music, and quitting smoking are also shown to be helpful in controlling blood pressure.

Successful Tips To Control Blood Pressure

Hypertension is a condition where the blood has to exert extra pressure to flow through the blood vessels. While there is a genetic component to it, the more strong contributing factors are modified lifestyle and dietary changes. There are also a lot of environmental changes that have contributed to this new epidemic. While earlier people in their 50s and 60s would be diagnosed with hypertension, now there are people in 30s and 40s taking hypertension pills. Excess fat accumulation is the major cause of hypertension in younger patients.

There begins the complexity of the issue. Hypertension which requires medications to control it, they lead to side effects and bring in a host of other diseases like diabetes, and obesity which in turn bring in a whole lot of complications. A more easy way to manage would be to prevent and of course, after onset, look at how naturally it can be managed.

Ayurveda has numerous substances that have been proven to have beneficial effects in controlling blood pressure over the past 1000s of years.

1. Celery or ajwain helps blood vessels to dilate and reduces concentration of stress hormones in the blood.

2. Ashwagandha has a wide range of actions and improves the body's ability to handle physical and mental stress. This in turn improves blood pressure, obesity, and depression.

3. Citrus fruits contain vitamin c which prevents fragility of the capillaries (thinner blood vessels).

4. Cow's urine prevents hardening of blood vessels and is of curative value in those who have blood pressure due to hardening of blood vessels. 

5. Triphala which is a combination of amla, haritaki, and bibhitaki helps reduce inflammation that leads to blood pressure, thereby helping to control it.

6. Jatamansi - by helping the free radical damage on the arteries, it protects the arteries and prevents cholesterol accumulation. It also is a very well-proven stress reliever and has additional benefits on hypertension.

7. Arjuna - by helping the metabolism of the bad cholesterol in the liver, this protects the inner lining of the heart and thereby helps control hypertension.

8. Calcium and potassium containing substances help remove sodium and thereby improve blood pressure.

9. Natural herbs like brahmi, sarpagandha, shankhpushpi, and chandana are effective ayurvedic cure and treatment for hypertension.

10. Rasayana treatment from ayurveda is having excellent results, however everyone requires unique rasayan as per their body types.

11. Watermelon helps in dilation of the blood vessels.

12. Aloe gel, barberry, calamus, valerian, skullcap, gotu kola cayenne, myrrh, motherwort, hawthorn and jatamansi have all been shown to help manage hypertension over thousands of years.

13. A glass of warm milk mixed with saraswat powder is also helpful for patients with high blood pressure.

These are natural remedies which were a part of diet since times immemorial. Including them in the diet, reducing processed foods, regular exercise, avoiding alcohol and smoking can be some natural ways to prevent and if required control hypertension. Stress is here to stay, but can definitely be managed with a little conscious effort.

Control Blood Pressure With Ayurveda

Low blood pressure is also known as hypotension. Low blood pressure can be characterized by extreme fatigue, constant recurrence of headache and drowsiness throughout the day. It can also cause severe vertigo, nausea and even fainting. Low blood pressure can be caused due to dehydration, anaemia, hypothyroidism, lack of essential nutrients in diet, extreme stress or heart conditions. Homeopathy is a safe, natural method of treating low blood pressure. It is an effective remedy without causing detrimental consequences or adverse side effects.

Homeopathic medicines start by providing  symptomatic  relief. It eases vertigo, nausea, fatigue and provides relief so that the patient can carry on with daily activities without hindrance. The next step is to normalise the blood circulation in the body, which also includes an improvement in the pulse rate and heart functions. This is done to maintain the normal blood pressure range. The third step involves treating the cause of low blood pressure. This includes a detailed study and analysis of the medical history of the patient. There are different causes of low blood pressure and different age groups are affected. Therefore, medicines are prescribed accordingly. 

Some highly recommended Homeopathic medicines for low blood pressure:

Gelsemiun and Viscum Album are effective homeopathic medicines mostly prescribed for patients with low blood pressure, which is accompanied by extreme vertigo and nausea. Sometimes the patients also suffer from a constant dull aching head and feelings of stress. The pulse is usually slow and weak, causing persistent fatigue.
Glonoine and Natrum Mur help to maintain the blood pressure when it unexpectedly falls due to prolonged sun exposure. Heavy headedness, vertigo, nausea, fainting spells are common in such cases.
Carbo veg and China are highly potent medicines in case of an abnormal fall in blood pressure caused by severe diarrhoea and dehydration. The body has marked signs of exhaustion and the pulse is so weak that it is often imperceptible.
China and Ferrum Met are prescribed when the blood pressure falls due to heavy blood loss. Irregular, feeble purse, anaemia, exhaustion are common symptoms occurring from blood loss due to haemorrhage.
It is important to include nutrients, dairy products and increase intake of iron-containing food along with the homeopathic medicines prescribed to speed up the health improvement process.

Homeopathic Remedies For Low Blood Pressure!

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