“You can lower your blood pressure without medication”… If you develop ‘these habits’, your blood pressure will drop

As of last year, approximately 14% of the entire population of Korea was found to have high blood pressure. Even if there are no specific symptoms, high blood pressure is a risk factor that increases the risk of major causes of death such as heart attack, stroke, aneurysm, cognitive decline, and kidney failure.

You can lower your blood pressure with water, but it can cause side effects such as leg cramps, dizziness, and insomnia. Fortunately, there are ways to lower your blood pressure naturally in your daily life without using drugs. Men’s Health, an American men’s magazine, introduces ‘5 ways to lower your blood pressure naturally.’

Attempt power walking = When hypertensive patients walk briskly, their blood pressure can be lowered by about 8 mmHg to 6 mmHg. Exercise helps the heart use oxygen more efficiently, making it work less hard to pump blood. Exercise is one of the best ways to stop high blood pressure and keep your heart healthy. Doing vigorous aerobic exercise for more than 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, can lower your blood pressure. It is a good idea to continue to train your heart by increasing your speed or distance.

Switch to decaffeinated coffee = According to a study by Duke University Medical Center in the United States, if you consume 500mg of caffeine, drinking three cups of coffee a day increases your blood pressure by 4mmHg. This is shown to raise your blood pressure before you fall asleep. Caffeine can constrict your blood vessels and raise your blood pressure. Stress also increases your blood pressure by pumping more blood to your heart, and consuming caffeine can make this worse. Therefore, if you are concerned about your blood pressure, it is better to drink decaffeinated coffee than regular coffee.

Get away from your desk= A sedentary lifestyle can be detrimental to your health in the long run. According to a study by the University of California Irvine, those who sit for more than 41 hours a week at work have a 15% higher risk of high blood pressure. Even if you have a lot of work to do, it is a good idea to take some time to do some stretching or walking.

Stop snoring= If you are still ignoring snoring, pay attention. Snoring can also increase blood pressure. Snoring, which interrupts sleep at night, is one of the main symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). According to a research team at the University of Alabama, many sleep apnea patients have high levels of aldosterone, a hormone that can increase blood pressure. Previous studies have also shown that half of sleep apnea patients have high blood pressure.

If you have sleep apnea, you will often experience short pauses in breathing while you sleep. Even if you have high blood pressure, sleep apnea can be the cause, so it is recommended that you visit a hospital and get examined.

Stay close to your loved ones = A study of 102 participants by psychologists at the University of Arizona found that the closer a person was to their partner, the lower their blood pressure. When people with partners were asked to think about their partner, their blood pressure was also lower, but not lower than when they were actually with their partner. The study measured momentary blood pressure, so it is different from hypertension, but it found a pattern that was consistent with improved health outcomes for intimate partners and close family.