Treating mildly elevated blood pressure can be achieved by using one of the many home remedies for high blood pressure we’ve gathered here. Keep in mind, however, that you should always have your blood pressure checked periodically by your doctor and treated by a physician if home remedies aren’t helping enough.
In many cases, you can lower your blood pressure simply by changing your diet. The most important change is reducing your sodium intake as much as possible; a low salt diet can lower your blood pressure significantly. It’s also helpful to eat a low fat, high fiber diet.
Drinking fruit juices and eating plenty of citrus fruits such as grapefruit and lemons will also help, as these stimulate blood flow.
If you enjoy the taste of nuts or toasted seeds, try eating a handful of dried, roasted watermelon seeds each day. This dilate the blood vessels, allowing blood to flow more easily, which will lower blood pressure. Two tablespoons of flaxseed oil will do the same thing and can be used in salad dressing if you like.
Garlic is known to slow the pulse and reduce blood pressure as well as boost the immune system (a nice extra). You can eat a few raw garlic cloves each day or, if this is too strong of a taste for your palette, take two or three garlic tablets or capsules each day with your meals.
A tablespoon each of Indian gooseberry juice and honey taken every morning is one of the simplest home remedies for high blood pressure. The pleasant flavor makes this an easy home treatment to swallow.
There are two very helpful teas you can brew to help lower blood pressure. When making either of these, it is important that you pour the hot water over the other ingredients in a non-metallic bowl. A glass or ceramic mixing bowl is perfect.
For the first tea, pour three cups of boiling water over one teaspoon burdock root, a teaspoon of goldenseal root, one teaspoon of cayenne pepper, two teaspoons of slippery elm bark and two teaspoons of powdered ginger root. Steep everything for thirty minutes, let cool and strain. You can take two tablespoons of this several times a day, but don’t use more than a full cup in twenty-four hours. Keep the rest refrigerated to maintain potency.
Another helpful home remedy for high blood pressure is a tea made with four teaspoons each of black cohash root and crushed ginko biloba root. Pour three cups of boiling water over the roots in a non-metallic bowl and steep for a half-hour. When it is completely cooled, take two or three tablespoons at a time up to six times a day.
While many home remedies for high blood pressure are effective, the best route is to choose one to use in combination with a strict low fat, high fiber, low sodium diet while getting plenty of exercise. The combination will have a greater impact than any one solution, and keep checking with your doctor, letting him know what home remedies for high blood pressure you are taking so that he can properly monitor your progress.