Doctor’s office visits are always a little bit funny to me. Over the years I’ve learned that I must be halfway a hypochondriac, but I’m never entirely wrong. It may be true that the reason for my visit may be actually nothing, but there’s usually something else, something more minor, that I should be taking care of. For example, if I get a small bump on my arm, I go to webMD. Sooner rather than later, I’m breaking out in a cold sweat convinced that I either have some rare form of cancer. Either that, or I’ve tricked myself into believing that maybe a rare South American spider did get into my room somehow and I’m slowly dying of poison. After this is when I make the doctor’s office appointment as soon as possible. I didn’t expect to learn about my blood pressure on this trip, honestly.

So, naturally, I end up at the office twiddling my thumbs in the waiting room. I’m called in soon after and have my checkup. As always, I go through the usual. Blood pressure cuff, weight check, etc. Then the doctor comes to see me, looks a bit confused by what I have to say, and tells me that I’m alright and that mysterious bump on my arm is actually just a mosquito bite. The reason it looks like it does is probably because of all the scratching and squeezing it that I did.

Though minor, there was something.

That doesn’t mean that my trip was all for nothing…usually. During the cuff check, they managed to find out that I actually have high blood pressure. I can’t remember exactly what it was, but I think it was around 158 over 91 or something similar. Then the doctor told me that it wasn’t too bad, since it was probably elevated from the stress of the visit. What I have to do now, though, is manage this and bring it down, because I am at risk of having to go on medication.  The natural step, of course, is to start my research on how to lower blood pressure naturally without medication. I’ll do that here for the benefit of both myself and anyone who’d like to read this article.

Watch Your Weight

This is the most obvious piece of advice I’ll be giving you today. We all know the risk that comes with being overweight. Just in case you don’t, though, I’ll go into a few of them.

Obviously, your blood pressure often increases as your weight increases. And being overweight can disrupt your breathing while you sleep and cause sleep apnea, which also raises it.


Weight loss is one of the first recommended lifestyle changes by doctors when you need to control your blood pressure. Even losing a small amount of weight if you’re obese can help reduce your blood pressure. Now, these numbers don’t mean much to me but I’ll include them in case you understand better than I do. Apparently, you can reduce your blood pressure by 1 milometer of mercury with each two point two pounds of weight you lose…whatever that means.

Just as important as the number on the scale is your waist measurement. If you have a waist bigger around than forty inches as a male you are at risk of high blood pressure. Women are at the same risk if their waistline is bigger than thirty five inches. This varies among ethnic groups, though, so make sure to ask your doctor for specifics.

Exercise Often

This is advice that’s also pretty on the nose if I’m honest. There’s no excuse for you not to get at least thirty minutes most days of exercise. Regular exercise that clocks in at about one hundred and fifteen minutes a week can lower your blood pressure massively. And you have to stay consistent, because your blood pressure will rise again when you stop.

And I’m not saying that you have to jump in immediately to boot camp style, ass busting, hardcore workouts either.(though it wouldn’t hurt.) Something as simple as walking for thirty minutes every day is a good place to start. Exercise can help you stave off or avoid hypertension entirely, and if you DO have it it can bring your blood pressure back down to safer levels.

Once you feel like you’re ready to do something a little more intense, you can also try what is called High Intensity Interval Training, also known as HIIT. HIIT is a system of exercise that involves short bursts of intense activity followed by short recovery periods, and I subscribe to it whole heartedly. This kind of work out results in increased fat loss and muscle production, which can only benefit you in your goals to reduce your blood pressure. To learn more, feel free to click: here

Just getting outside with some jogging, swimming, cycling, or anything really that raises your heart rate will be massively beneficial to your recovery. Strength training also helps with your blood pressure, so you should try to pump some weights at least two days a week.

Limit Alcohol Intake

Now this one hits me right in the heart. I won’t lie to you, my dear readers; I love a good drink. If it were up to me, I could grab me a nice tall wine bottle and finish a full one at least every other day. Alas, among the hundreds of problems that come with that is blood pressure intake.

Not only does booze increase your blood pressure by several points, it can even reduce the effectiveness of blood pressure medications. Moderate well, my friends.

Reduce Sodium Intake

Have you ever actually looked at how much salt is in a T.V. dinner? And I’m not saying that salt isn’t delicious- that would be a lie. But it has a negative impact on your blood pressure, so you should try to have less of it where you can.

Even a small reduction in the salt in your diet is good for your heart health and blood pressure. And while it’s defectiveness vary in different groups of people, twenty three hundred or less mg is what you should be shooting for. Make sure to check labels and go out of your way to eat low salt foods. And don’t add any extra where you don’t need it.

At least a few nights a week, avoid T.V. dinners. Cook yourself a salt free meal.

Smoking: Just Quit

Each cigarette you smoke will raise your blood pressure for minutes after you finish. Quitting helps your pressure return back to normal. So not only are you at less risk of lung cancer, you also may just avoid hypertension. Two in one! I won’t get too preachy here, but there’s really no reason to keep going when it comes to smoking. All it does, at the end of the day, is reap massive damage onto your body. Every single aspect of your physical health is pretty much made worse by habitual smoking.

Reduce. Your. Stress.

I never realized how massively stress can affect your blood pressure. I’m someone that is always stressing, so I guess that I shouldn’t be so surprised about the state of my own. You need to sit down and think about what exactly is causing you the most stress in your life, and figure out ways you can make it better.

Now, that’s not to say you’ll just be able to get rid of everything that stresses you at once. But if nothing else, you can start. Here are a few tips.

Focus on the things you can control, not things that are completely out of your hands.

How the Florida State football program is doing is really not worth your mental and physical health. Instead, focus on that issue you have at work. Or maybe fix that creaky board in your floor that sends you into a rage each time you hear it squeak. Be productive, and work smarter when it comes to your stress.

Change your outlook.

Plan your day with realistic expectations. Don’t go into each morning setting yourself up to do what only a superman could. Learn to say no, both to yourself and others. Don’t want to go to that party where an old enemy of yours may cause you a ton of stress? Don’t! Beating yourself up to get every last thing on your to do list finished in one fell swoop? Unless it’s massively important, don’t. Grabbing a handful of groceries from the market and returning that mail can wait one more day without the world ending. And understand that there’s only so many hours in a day. No need to kill yourself trying to force too much work into a single day. Once again, work smarter on your day.

Make time to relax.

Every day you should have some time to yourself. And I mean something where you can really just turn the brain off and relax. Be it through active means, like during a bike ride or swimming, or something like cooking or other hobbies. Hell, even if it’s just you plopping down for a (reasonable) time in front of the T.V. You should always be able to destress during the day.

Keep a Healthy, Diverse Diet

There’s literally nothing that your body does that isn’t affected by your diet. Making sure that you eat a healthy, varied diet is one of the best ways to improve your quality of life. Eating a diet that is rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products and skimps on saturated fat and cholesterol can lower your blood pressure by a pretty huge amount.

Shop smartly, read food labels when you’re at the grocery store, and don’t skip on your diet when you’re out eating either. And keep something to track your caloric intake and macronutrients. I use the MyFitnessPal app on my phone. But even something as simple, though archaic, as a food diary can help you nail down the worst parts of your diet and eliminate them. Be on the look out for what foods you think don’t fit into that healthy and diverse diet we’ve discussed.

Finally, Monitor Your Blood Pressure

This is one thing I’m going to have to start doing daily to really see where I make my mistakes. Home monitoring can help you keep tabs on your blood pressure, make certain your lifestyle changes are working, and alert you and your doctor to potential health complications.

Machines to monitor your blood pressure are pretty widely available, too. You can do things like go to the local pharmacy and use their machines, or grab yourself a home blood pressure cuff.


Making visits with your doctor are also important when controlling your blood pressure. If your blood pressure isn’t an issue, check with your doctor about how often you need to check it. Your doctor may suggest checking it daily or less often.

So, at the end of the day it really seems like a lot of general health tips that apply to most every part of keeping yourself fit and in shape also apply to keeping your pressure regular. Exercise when you can, keep a smart diet, and destress. Little things like these can keep you from some major health problems down the road.

Possible damage from high blood pressure:

And don’t skimp on doing this, either. Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to things like strokes by damaging your brain’s blood vessels. It can also lead to blood clots to form in the arteries, which can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and a slew of other problems.

There’s even something called vascular dementia which can result from the narrowing and blockage of your arteries that supply blood to your brain. I think it’s clear how blood pressure can relate to that.

Cognitive impairment is also a risk that you run with high pressure. It is an Alzheimer’s like disease that can also result from blocked blood flow to the brain when your pressure damages your arteries.