About 33% of urban and 25% of rural Indians have high blood pressure problem. Hypertension is a scientific term used by us to address high blood pressure. Due to certain diseases cholesterol gets deposited on the arteries and narrows their lumen thereby increasing the pressure on their wall. it is harmful; An unruptured artery can rupture and cause trauma to a surrounding area such as the brain.
In today time, only 25% of rural and 42% of urban Indians are aware of their hypertension status. For hypertension, only 25% of rural and 38% of urban Indians are getting treatment. One-tenth in rural areas and one-third of the urban population have their blood pressure under control. How does that work? Does this data support that high blood pressure can be controlled without medication? Let’s find out-
What is the use if not medicine?
Your lifestyle plays the most role in this matter. People have successfully managed it with the help of some vitamins, minerals, herbs.
What lifestyle changes are necessary to manage high blood pressure?
Take less sodium which is very helpful in stage 1 high blood pressure. Lowers blood pressure by about 3-6 mm Hg.
Lose weight and keep it off. Losing about 20 pounds of weight can lower systolic blood pressure by about 10 to 20 mm Hg. This can be achieved by working on your body mass index or waist and hip ratio.
Reduce alcohol intake – it has been found to lower blood pressure by 2-4 mm Hg.
Do exercises like yoga, pranayama regularly. It lowers blood pressure by 5 to 8 mm Hg.
Quitting smoking – has a big impact on lowering the threshold for both systolic and diastolic hypertension.
What is high blood pressure diet?
Healthy fuel nutritionist tell you an approach called DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) is considered suitable for the management of high blood pressure using the following:
low sodium
high potassium
emphasis on fruits and vegetables
low-fat dairy products
DASH has been shown to reduce blood pressure by 10-12 mm Hg
Myths about relieving symptoms of high blood pressure:
Various texts mention that garlic reduces the symptoms of high blood pressure. In contrast, when this method of treating high blood pressure was applied to people, it showed no effect on their lipid levels and blood clotting.
L-arginine, a substrate of nitric oxide found in red meat, poultry, fish and dairy products, is also thought to be responsible for lowering blood pressure, but has the greatest effect on platelet aggregation and endothelial dysfunction, not blood pressure . This means that it may not be effective in the long-term management of high blood pressure.
Vitamin C is also known to help relieve symptoms of high blood pressure and is said to reduce systolic blood pressure by up to 10 mm Hg without affecting diastolic blood pressure. This means that its long-term effectiveness is questionable.
Can we really put our faith in these remedies for a sure cure for high blood pressure?
It cannot be denied that the remedies mentioned above have a mild effect on high blood pressure, but can you trust your life with this mild benefit? I myself suffer from hyperthyroidism, while I practice yoga and take my medication on time to keep it under control.
On the same annotation, the medicines are designed after long research, specifically to act on the cause. For example if the underlying cause of high blood pressure is atherosclerotic, the dosage of the drug will try to lower the lipid content in the body. Similarly if the problem is vasoconstriction, a targeted drug is prescribed to work at a specific location, a specific tissue, as expected.
I have a lot of respect for Ayurveda, Naturopathy, Yoga therapy but when it comes to diseases like high blood pressure, I will always prefer to take the route of research based medicine. These treatments definitely do not harm a person and enhance the quality of life. Let’s take it all together and we can be a little more sensible.
In Healthy Fuel we tell you more exercise for fat loss and weight loss to control your blood pressure.
