Lifestyle Changes
Some lifestyle changes can improve symptoms of hypertension. These include:
– Weight loss: losing weight could reduce blood pressure in overweight or obese people
– Stop smoking: smoking may trigger and worsen hypertension. Stop doing this would lead to a significant improvement in blood pressure over time
– Exercise: working out regularly would help stabilize your blood pressure. Cholesterol, hormonal, and cardiovascular changes resulting from exercise could contribute to a healthy level of blood pressure.
– Diet changes: to stabilize your blood pressure, consume products with high content of water, such as fresh veggies and fruits. They can balance electrolytes and maintain fluid levels. Antioxidants in these foods can also prevent damage to blood vessels. Another important change is to reduce consumption of salt, sugar, red meat, cholesterol, and saturated fat. Excessive intakes of these things would increase blood pressure. An ideal diet for people with hypertension should include fruits, veggies, legumes, nuts, lean protein, whole grains, as well as low-fat dairy. [9]
