Herbal High Blood Pressure Remedies

There are many natural high blood pressure remedies available. These are usually herbal in nature and are often not used by standard medical practice. However, their effects can be extremely impressive, and they more often than not have no significant side effects.

These herbs can help as a blood pressure remedy to reduce your high blood pressure:

• Hawthorn berry contains procyanidins and flavonoids, which can help to reduce blood pressure.
• Daikon seed extract can help maintain a healthy heart and normalize blood pressure.
• Chinese holly leaf extract taken as a tea infusion can relieve stress and lower blood pressure.
• Garlic is good for the heart and it helps to stimulate the blood circulation.
• Coriander acts as a diuretic and also helps to reduce blood pressure.
• Ginkgo biloba can dilate the arteries, thereby improving blood circulation.
• Ginger helps to relax the muscles around the blood vessels, which in turn lowers the blood pressure.

Natural High Blood Pressure Treatment

One simple way to help reduce your high blood pressure is to adopt a healthy diet. Eating more fruit, vegetables and whole grains, and eating a lot less saturated fats and total fat, will definitely help. Stop smoking if you are a smoker, and drink less alcohol. However, a glass of red wine a day has been shown to be good for the heart, but don't overdo it.

You should also try to decrease your salt intake. This is easy to do by simply not adding salt to your food, but be aware that most processed foods have salt already added, which makes it impossible to remove. One answer is to only eat fresh, unsalted food.

Your weight has a bearing on your high blood pressure. The more weight you are carrying, the more likely your blood pressure will rise. Even reducing just five pounds of excess weight can significantly reduce your blood pressure.

Exercise more. This will also help you to reduce weight and it will help to keep you healthy in many other ways. Regular exercise does not need to involve sweating it out at the local gym, or jogging for hours in the predawn. It can be something as simple as walking briskly for 30 minutes to an hour a day.

What Is High Blood Pressure?

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is usually considered to be a blood pressure above 140/90 mm Hg. Blood pressure is measured through two different readings: systolic and diastolic pressures. The systolic pressure is the highest pressure in the arteries and the diastolic is the lowest pressure in the arteries.

The pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury, reflecting a time when a column of mercury was used to measure the pressure. Today's electronic blood pressure devices no longer use mercury, neither does the manual aneroid devices, but the system of measurement has remained.

A healthy blood pressure is usually considered to be a measurement that is between 90/60 mm Hg and 130/80 mm Hg. If your blood pressure is 140/90 mm Hg or above, you are considered to have high blood pressure, and your doctor will most likely prescribe a type of high blood pressure medication.

The kind of high blood pressure medication that a doctor will usually prescribe is available in five main classes of blood pressure medicine. Within each of these five main classes there are a number of different brands on the market, but the medications in each of the following classes all work in more or less the same way.

Beta-Blockers

These drugs block the effect of norepinephrine and epinephrine. This in turn dilates blood vessels and reduces the heart rate, thereby lowing blood pressure.

Beta-blockers are not recommended for anyone suffering from asthma, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease of any kind as they can constrict the air passages through stimulating the beta receptors in the lungs. This will cause the muscles to contract around the air passages, restricting the air available, and complicating any pre-existing breathing problems.

Beta-blockers have several side effects that some users may experience. These can include tiredness, disrupted sleep patterns, impotence, and a cold feeling in the hands and feet.

Diuretics

These high blood pressure medicines work by causing you to pass extra urine, which in turn reduces the amount of fluid in your system. They will also reduce the amount of salt your body has, and together this will help to reduce your high blood pressure.

Diuretics can also relax the blood vessels to some extent, which will also help to lower blood pressure.

It is necessary to check with a doctor that your kidneys are functioning in a proper healthy manner before taking diuretics. There are some possible side effects to consider as well. These include the development of impotence in some patients, as well as attacks of gout. If gout is already present, it can become worse.

Angiotensin Receptor Blockers

These high blood pressure meds work by blocking the effects of angiotensin II on the walls of the blood vessels.

Angiotensin is a kind of hormone released mainly by the liver that can cause a narrowing of the blood vessels, which can raise blood pressure. This medication works by preventing that action from taking place, thereby lowering blood pressure.

Angiotensin receptor blockers have no excessive side effects, though they are known to occasionally cause some dizziness in some patients.

ACE Inhibitors

This high blood pressure treatment works in similar way to angiotensin receptor blockers. ACE is an acronym that stands for, Antiotensin-Converting Enzyme. Instead of blocking the effects of angiotensin II, ACE inhibitors reduce the amount of angiotensin II in the blood stream, which in turn drastically lessens its overall effect.

A blood test and a check on your kidneys is necessary before treatment starts to ensure the drug is suitable for you. The known side effects are few, but they sometimes include an irritating and persistent cough.

Calcium-Channel Blockers

This high blood pressure medication works by blocking voltage-gated calcium channels in blood vessels and in the cardiac muscles. This is turn leads to a lessening of muscle contraction due to the calcium action in the muscle cells, which helps to reduce blood pressure.