How to Lower Your High Blood Pressure Without Drugs

There are some effective steps you can take to lower your blood pressure yourself: change your diet and begin exercising, limit alcohol consumption to no more than 2 oz. of liquor or 8 oz. of wine or 24 oz. of beer per day, or even less for liver health.

Limit your salt intake to about 11/2 teaspoons per day. Cut out all foods high in sodium, such as canned soups, pickles, soy sauce, and so on. Some canned soups contain 1,000 mg of sodium, for example. That's a lot! Increase your intake of calcium or dairy products and potassium foods. Some still-inproven research suggests that people with hypertension are calcium and potassium deficient. Lower your stress levels. Studies shoe that when you reduce your stress response, your blood pressure decreases.

If you cannot lower your blood pressure through lifestyle changes, you may be a candidate for some of the following blood pressure-lowering drugs:Diuretics are the most commonly used blood pressure medication. Also known as water pills, diuretics work by flushing excess water and salt out of your system. But diuretics may actually increase the risk of heart attack by leaching potassium salts needed by the heart; the heart may respond to blocked nerve signals by trying harder and harder; until it fails.

Another common side effect of diuretic therapy is low potassium. Levels of potassium tend to drop when diuretics replace the low-fat diet you have worked so hard to maintain. If you make sure not to substitute one therapy for another, diuretucs will not affect your potassium levels. Other side effects include increased blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Beta-blockers alter the way hormones such as adrenaline control blood pressure. They slow down the heart rate by decreasing the strength of the heart's contractions. Beta-blockers are most often used by young people or people with coronary artery disease. Possible side effects include fatigue and an increase in blood sugar and chloesterol levels.

These drugs act through centers in the brain to slow the heart rate and relax the blood vessels. Possible side effects include stuffy nose, dry mouth, and drowsiness. Vasodilators, dilate, or relax, the blood vessels, thereby reducing blood pressure. ACE inhibitors lower blood pressure by preventing the formation of a hormone called angiotensin II, which causes the blood vessels to narrow. ACE inhibitors are also used to treat heart failure. Possible side effects include cough and swelling of the face and tongue.

Alpha-blocking agents block the effects of noradrenaline, allowing the blood vessels to relax. Blood pressure decreases with treatment, as does chloesterol. You may also notice an increase in HDL, or "good" chloestrol. A possible side effect is blood pressure variation when standing versus reclining.