Lowering Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Naturally
High blood pressure and high cholesterol can both lead to the development of heart disease if they are not treated appropriately. These are very common concerns in our society and there are some easy treatments that you can add into your daily life at home.
The two biggest recommendations are things that we are sure you have heard before, but we cannot stress the importance of them enough and they are eating fruits and vegetables and exercising daily. Fruits and vegetables are full of antioxidants, fiber, minerals, nutrients and so on. Exercise is needed to maintain a healthy body weight and keep the heart healthy. It has been shown that those with higher consumption of fruits and vegetables and a moderate exercise level have a significantly lower risk of heart disease. With this said we recommend trying to eat a minimum of 4 servings of fruit and 4 servings of vegetables daily. This may sound like a lot, but serving sizes are not as large as you may think. For example, a serving of fruit would be an apple or half a cup of blueberries and a serving of vegetables would be a half cup of broccoli or half of an avocado. Exercise does not have to be an intense day at the gym (unless this is something you enjoy) it can start out simply as 30 minutes of walking daily ensuring you get your heart rate up. The research has shown that you can even split this up into two 15 minute walks daily. The next treatment to add in is another simple one and that is getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night or what you need for your body to feel rested. This is important for blood pressure regulation as it allows the body time to relax and repair itself.
Diet can have a huge impact on heart health and an important vegetable to add in to help lower blood pressure and potentially cholesterol is celery. Celery contains chemical compounds (phthalides) which help stabilize blood vessels, therefore, allowing blood to flow more smoothly. Other dietary interventions that can help lower cholesterol are daily consumption of pomegranate juice which is also a strong antioxidant, unroasted/unsalted almonds which is also a good protein source and healthy fat source, consuming whole rolled oatmeal or oatbran for fiber and including organic soymilk for the isoflavone content. Daily consumption of raw garlic and dark chocolate, 70% or greater (typically patient’s favourite), lowers both blood pressure and cholesterol. Raw olive oil and cinnamon both help to stabilize blood glucose levels and lower cholesterol and are especially good for diabetic patients. Turmeric is also a spice that can be added in to the daily diet as it is very anti-inflammatory and can help with blood vessel stability. Consumption of fish like organic wild salmon once per week can help provide omega 3 fatty acids which are highly anti-inflammatory and helps raise good cholesterol (HDL) therefore helping to balance and normalize cholesterol levels.
Integrating these interventions into your daily diet is simple, as you can have a salad with celery and homemade dressing with garlic and olive oil and you can even add turmeric to the dressing. Soymilk can go in cereal or can be put in oatmeal with cinnamon and almonds. Teas can be made with hibiscus, linden flower, dandelion, gingko, hawthorn and/or globe artichoke that not only help slow our day down by enjoying a cup of tea, but also help with lowering blood pressure and cholesterol.
These are just a few of the diet and lifestyle interventions that can help in conjunction with Naturopathic treatments and/or with pharmaceutical medications. These can be tried before prescriptions are used and if you are interested in how much you should be consuming of these exact foods please see a Naturopathic Doctor. There are also many nutrients, minerals and botanical medicines that can be added to your individualized treatment.
These are just a few of the diet and lifestyle interventions that can help in conjunction with Naturopathic treatments and/or with pharmaceutical medications. These can be tried before prescriptions are used and if you are interested in how much you should be consuming of these exact foods please see a Naturopathic Doctor. There are also many nutrients, minerals and botanical medicines that can be added to your individualized treatment.
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