Five Natural Therapies to Lower Your Blood Pressure

(this blog is also published over on the CanPrev Blog, check it out!)

Holiday season is here, the days are filled with the hustle and bustle to get organized, presents purchased, house cleaned, food prepped, dinner parties to attend and orchestrating who will host dinner on Christmas Day. Do you feel your blood pressure rising thinking about this? Well, that’s the thing, you cannot feel your blood pressure rise which is why high blood pressure, or hypertension, is notoriously called the silent killer.

Hypertension is thought to affect more than 1 in 5 Canadians which means many people are on blood pressure medication. Sometimes, blood pressure is well controlled on these medications, other times it may need extra support for lowering and many want to prevent hypertension from occurring.

Luckily, there are many natural substances and therapies to lower your blood pressure naturally and also benefitting the body in numerous other ways than solely just lowering blood pressure.

Here are the top 5 natural therapies to lower blood pressure:

1.Magnesium
Magnesium is one of the best minerals to supplement with if you have high blood pressure and can quickly relax the blood vessels. It is a mineral that many of people are depleted in and is required for over 300 biochemical reactions. Can Prev’s Magnesium + Taurine, B6 and Zinc was specifically formulated to help with proper cardiovascular function.


2. Water
Water is vital for any living organism, yet, so under utilized as a therapy for health concerns.  It is one of the most cost effective natural therapies to help almost all of your physiological systems function optimally. Dehydration can cause the release of a hormone called vasopressin which is telling the body to release more water but this hormone will constrict the blood vessels thus increasing blood pressure.


3. CoQ10:
Co enzyme Q10  is a vitamin-like component that is important for energy production in each cell’s mitochondria, which functions like the cell’s own engine. CoQ10 is found in organs that have large energy needs like the heart, so a deficiency in CoQ10 is going to affect the heart first. Now, statin drugs (cholesterol lowering medications) can inhibit CoQ10 to work properly and after the age of 30 your body is less able to metabolize coQ10 on it’s own. Therefore, taking Can Prev’s Ubiquinol; the active form of CoQ10, is superior for absorption and therapeutic benefits for cardiovascular health while reducing high blood pressure.

4.Exercise, Meditation and Relaxation Methods:
Similar to water, exercise, meditation or other relaxation methods are very under utilized but extremely effective therapies to help lower your blood pressure. As these activities help to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system which dilates the blood vessels to release heat, slows heart rate down and induce that ‘rest and digest’ state that allow our bodies to switch into a restful and calm mode.


5. Diet:
There are certains foods that you can incorporate daily to give your body the nutrients that helps specifically with lowering high blood pressure.

1. Three celery stalks, six prunes and avocados provide magnesium and potassium
2. Half of a cup of beet juice has inorganic nitrates release nitric oxide which allows for the blood vessels to relax
3. Half of a cup of pomegranate juice contains natural ACE (Angiotensin Converting Enzymes) inhibiting properties that allow the blood vessels to relax; and ACE inhibitors are a class of pharmaceutical drugs to lower blood pressure
4. Half of a raw onions or 1 to 4 cloves of garlic contain quercetin that acts a natural anti-hypertensive
5. Two tablespoons of raw extra virgin olive oil have potent antioxidants that are protective of LDL and HDL cholesterol that lower plaque buildup and reduce narrowing of the blood vessels.

  More specifically:

• 3 celery stalks: fiber, magnesium and potassium
• ½ cup of beet juice; inorganic nitrates release nitric oxide which allows for the blood vessels to relax
• ½ cup of pomegranate juice: contains natural ACE (Angiotensin Converting Enzymes) inhibiting properties that allow the blood vessels to relax; and ACE inhibitors are a class of pharmaceutical drugs to lower blood pressure
• ½ tsp of turmeric powder: a powerful antioxidant and anti inflammatory that reduces the platelets sticking together in the blood
• 2 tbsp of raw olive oil (not cooked or heated): potent antioxidants that are protective of you LDL cholesterol and reduces plaque buildup that can cause narrowing of the blood vessels and subsequently raising blood pressure
• ¼ cup of almonds or walnuts: a source magnesium, fiber and healthy fats (which keeps a healthy dose of fats that moderates your cholesterol levels to reduce plaque build up in the blood vessels
• 23-30 g (1 small square) of unsweetened 70% or more dark chocolate: provides flavonoids that dilate blood vessels and helps to moderate healthy LDL and HDL cholesterol levels
• ½ raw onion or 1- 4 cloves of raw cloves of garlic: contains the flavonol quercetin that is as a natural anti hypertensive
• 6 prunes or 1 avocado: contains potassium which helps to control the negative effect of too much salt in your body

Start to incorporating these in to you daily routine to have multi factorial health benefits!