Understanding blood pressure - what is it and how to lower it?
If you’re not sure what those numbers mean at the doctor’s office, you’re not alone - understanding blood pressure can be confusing, particularly since there is 2 numbers! It’s super important to understand what is considered high, what can raise it, and how to bring it down, given that high blood pressure is one of the most common causes of heart disease and stroke. Let’s dive in.
What is high blood pressure?
Your blood pressure is the force of blood through your arteries, and it’s considered hypertension, or high blood pressure, when it’s higher than it should be. It’s incredibly common, affecting almost half of all Americans. Shockingly, it is fairly common in young adults, with studies demonstrating anywhere between 1 in 5 and 1 in 8 otherwise healthy young adults (aged 24 to 32 years of age) affected
How is high blood pressure diagnosed?
Under the 2017 blood pressure guidelines published by the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association, the systolic blood pressure (the top number) should be under 120 mmHg, and the diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) should be under 80 mm Hg to be considered normal. While blood pressure can vary according to the time of day, if the systolic is consistently greater than 130 mm Hg or the diastolic greater than 80 mm Hg, this is considered high blood pressure. These cut-off values were made stricter based on the results of a large trial demonstrating that treating systolic blood pressure to lower than 120 mmHg resulted in decreased cardiovascular events (like heart attack and stroke) than treating to a more lenient 140 mmHg.
If you don’t know your blood pressure, make an appointment with your primary care doctor and get it checked. Or pop down to the local pharmacy and check it there yourself. If it’s consistently (on average, over multiple occasions) >130 mmHg/>80 mmHg, then you’ve got some work to do.
What can high blood pressure can do to the body
Here’s the catch - many don’t even know that they have it because it often produces no symptoms. While headaches, shortness of breath, and chest pains can occur, they don’t often happen until the blood pressure is dangerously high. High blood pressure is very important to know about as it can lead to stroke, heart failure, kidney failure, dementia, and heart attacks if left untreated. Screening is so important, because it doesn’t often cause symptoms while it’s quietly damaging your body.
What raises blood pressure?
While many of our risk factors we unfortunately can’t change (age, gender, genetics), there are plenty of things that we can do something about. First, your doctor should make sure that you aren’t on any medications that can raise the blood pressure – birth control, chronic high dose NSAIDS (Ibuprofen, Advil, etc), steroids, decongestants, stimulants, and some antidepressants. If you are, he or she may be able to work with you on selecting alternatives. It’s also important to make sure that other diseases that can make blood pressure elevated, such as thyroid disorders or obstructive sleep apnea, are adequately treated. Be sure to tell your doctor if you have any other symptoms that might be concerning for one of these disorders. Once this has all been checked and ruled out, unless the blood pressure is dangerously high, the first treatment prescribed should be lifestyle modifications.
Natural treatments for high blood pressure
How can we bring our blood pressure down naturally?
First off, toxins. If you smoke, time to consider quitting. Do you drink more than moderately? Women who have more than 1 alcoholic drink per night and men who have more than 2, have significantly higher blood pressure than those who drink less, so time to cut it down.
Next, exercise. Aerobic exercise (the kind that gets you feeling short of breath, not casually reading People magazine on the elliptical) can decrease your blood pressure by 4-6 mmHg independent of weight loss. While getting in your 10,000 steps a day is good, make sure you also get in about 30 to 40 minutes of true aerobic exercise at least 4 to 5 times per week. The key is to get both types of exercise in daily.
What to eat to lower blood pressure
And, finally, diet.
The best studied diet to lower blood pressure is the DASH diet, or Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.
This has two components to it. First, it is low in salt. Start getting in the habit of checking nutritional labels, and you will be shocked at the amount of salt many commonly used products contain. Common offenders include frozen entrees, broths, canned soups, canned vegetables, dressings, and sauces. Your goal is to aim for less than 2000 mg of sodium a day – a good rule of thumb is that if an individual serving size has more than 200 mg of sodium, that’s pretty high, and you should try to look for a better alternative. Restaurant food is typically very high in sodium, so take it easy on Seamless and try to start preparing more of your own food as often as possible. Lowering your sodium can decrease your blood pressure by about 5 mmHg.
The other component of the DASH diet is the plant based part – it’s a dietary pattern that is high in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and fish and low in sweets, meats, and sugar-sweetened beverages. All fruits and vegetables are great, but those containing high amounts of potassium are particularly powerful – think bok choy, figs, tomatoes, squash, kale, mangos, brussel sprouts, lentils, sweet potatoes, and of course bananas. This dietary pattern can lower your blood pressure by as much as 6 mmHg.
If you’ve been keeping score, you’ll find that these dietary changes can have profound effects on blood pressure. Many individuals are able to treat their blood pressure with these dietary changes alone. Others, still need the help of some medications. Either way, these dietary changes are also really beneficial for your heart health in general, so it’s important to work on some of these changes regardless of your medication status.
The key to understanding blood pressure
So, if you don’t know your numbers, next time you pass by CVS to pick up band aids, head to the pharmacy section, sit down, relax, and check it. If it’s high, start keeping a log with time, day, and the blood pressure value. If it’s consistently high, make an appointment with your doctor or book a virtual consultation here
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