Oxygenated blood carried by your circulatory system throughout the body is required by the body tissues and organs to survive and function properly. When your heart beats, it creates pressure that pushes the blood through a network of tube-shaped blood vessels that include the arteries, veins, and capillaries. This pressure is the result of two forces. The first force (systolic pressure) occurs as the blood pumps out of the heart and into the arteries, which are a part of the circulatory system. The second force (diastolic pressure) is created as your heart rests between heartbeats. In a blood pressure reading, these two forces are each represented by numbers.

High blood pressure (HBP) is also called hypertension. A dangerous condition that can damage your heart, hypertension affects one in three people in the country and 1 billion people worldwide. If left uncontrolled, it increases your risk of suffering from heart disease and a stroke.

There are numerous things you can do to naturally lower your blood pressure, even without medication.

Here are some of the natural ways to combat hypertension.

Walk and exercise regularly
One of the best things you can do to lower high blood pressure is to exercise. Regular exercising helps in making your heart stronger and more efficient at pumping blood, which in turn lowers the pressure in your arteries.

In fact, 150 minutes of moderate exercise like walking or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise like running, per week can help in lowering the blood pressure and improving your heart health.

According to the National Walkers’ Health Study, doing even more exercises reduces your blood pressure even further.

Bottomline – Walking for just 30 minutes a day can help in lowering your blood pressure. Performing more exercise helps in reducing it even further.

Reduce your sodium intake
Around the world, salt intake is high. Largely, this is because of processed and prepared foods.

This is the reason why many public health efforts are aimed at lowering the salt in the food industry.

According to many studies, salt has been linked to hypertension and heart events, such as stroke.

However, as per more recent research, the relationship between sodium and hypertension is less clear.

One reason for this may be the genetic differences in how people process sodium. About half of the people with hypertension and a quarter of people with normal levels seem to have a sensitivity to salt.

If you already have hypertension, it is worth to cut back on your sodium intake in order to see if it makes a difference. You can swap out the processed foods. And instead of salt, you can try seasoning your food with herbs and spices.

Bottom line – Most guidelines recommend lowering sodium intake for lowering blood pressure. However, this recommendation might make more sense for people who are salt-sensitive.

Drink less alcohol
Blood pressure may get raised by drinking alcohol. In fact, around the world, alcohol is linked to 16% of hypertension cases. While some research suggests that low-to-moderate amounts of alcohol may protect the heart, those benefits might be offset by negative effects.

Moderate alcohol consumption is defined as no more than one drink per day for women and two for men in the country. If you drink more alcohol than that, it is time to cut back.

Bottomline – Drinking any quantity of alcohol may raise your blood pressure. Drinking should be limited to one drink a day by women and two drinks a day by men.