You may not need to take drugs to bring blood pressure down.
Do you have high blood pressure? You most likely do without even knowing it.
1. Lose weight
Losing weight can help patients shed pounds and decrease their blood pressure.
2. Exercise
An inactive lifestyle is an invitation for high blood pressure.
3. Drink less alcohol
Raising your beer mug or wine glass can also raise your blood pressure. If you’re having more than a couple of alcoholic beverages a day, cutting down can improve your health.
4. Follow a healthy diet
There is excellent evidence that the DASH and Mediterranean diets can lower blood pressure.
5. Limit salt
Avoiding salt can help keep high blood pressure at bay.
6. Sleep more
Insufficient sleep can elevate your blood pressure.
7. Quit smoking
Not only does smoking damage your lungs that suffer, but it can ruin your heart health as well. With each cigarette, your risk for stroke and heart disease rises along with your blood pressure.
8. Increase potassium
Eating more potassium-rich foods — like bananas — can help lower your blood pressure by about 4 to 5 mmHg, Latina says. The American Heart Association recommends 3,500 milligrams to 5,000 milligrams daily to prevent or treat high blood pressure.
9. Evaluate medications
Certain prescription and over-the-counter medications can increase your blood pressure.
10. Get a furry companion
Having a pet offers many health benefits for owners, such as improved mood, increased socializing, reduced stress, motivation to walk more and better well-being.
11. Meditate
Meditation is increasingly recognized as a valuable tool for lowering blood pressure. It provides an outlet to help manage stress in a positive way.
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11 Natural Ways to Lower Blood Pressure originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 06/24/25: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.