5 Strategies to Lower Your Blood Pressure

In previous blog posts, we reviewed why we’re so concerned about high blood pressure, which affects nearly half of adults in the United States. To sum it up, hypertension is a leading contributor to serious and even life-threatening heart disease.

So, leading cardiologist Dr. Satjit Bhusri and the team at Upper East Side Cardiology want to review ways you can lower your blood pressure, starting with these five best practices.

1. Monitor your blood pressure

High blood pressure has earned an unfortunate nickname — the silent killer. This is because, more often than not, hypertension doesn’t produce any symptoms until it’s too late, and a heart attack or stroke takes place.

We believe that monitoring your blood pressure closely and understanding what the numbers mean is an important step toward getting yourself on a healthier path.

We suggest that you come in for a complete assessment so we can measure your blood pressure, which takes only seconds, and then review your lifestyle and risk factors.

From there, we can discuss ways to get your blood pressure into a healthier range, if we find the numbers are concerning.

2. Eat healthy foods

Your diet plays a critical role in your blood pressure. If you’re eating unhealthy, processed foods that contribute to plaque buildup, you can narrow your arteries. This narrowing, which is called atherosclerosis, can increase pressure inside your blood vessels.

Another reason to cut back on salty, processed foods is that some people are salt-sensitive, which means too much sodium may affect their blood pressure.

So, we want you to focus on whole foods, including:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Lean proteins
• Beans and legumes
• Nuts and seeds
• Whole grains

It’s also a great idea to cut back on sugar, which leads to system-wide inflammation in your body that can contribute to heart disease, including hypertension.

3. Exercise every day

One of the best ways to combat high blood pressure is through movement. Exercise is critical for your cardiovascular health, so we want you to get moving. 

We’re lucky that we live in a walking city that provides ample opportunity to use your feet to get to where you’re going. By the end of each day, we want you to log at least 30 minutes of movement.

4. Get good sleep

When you enter deep sleep, your blood pressure lowers, along with your heart and breathing rates. So, if you’re not getting restful sleep each night — which is the case with 1 in 3 adults in the US — make an effort to change that.

Some techniques for getting quality sleep include:

• Turning off screens an hour before bedtime
• Going to bed at the same time each night
• Exercising during the day, but not close to bedtime
• Deep breathing and relaxation exercises

If you make an effort to get 7-9 hours of restorative sleep each night, this can really help lower your blood pressure.

5. Watch your weight

The list of health complications that are tied back to obesity is a long one and includes hypertension. More than 42% of adults in the US have obesity, which puts them at much greater risk for high blood pressure.

So, if you’re carrying too many pounds, you’re placing more pressure on your blood vessels, which is a fast track to cardiovascular disease.

If you follow some of the best practices above, including diet and exercise, this helps in your weight loss efforts, and we’re happy to help with other tools and resources.

We understand that the strategies we outline above are easier said than done, but they’re worth the effort.

For expert oversight of your blood pressure, please contact our New York City office on the Upper East Side of Manhattan by clicking here, or you can call us at (212) 752-3464.