5 Ways to Lower Your Blood Pressure

When most people think of blood pressure, they think in terms of a garden hose: Too much pressure and the hose bursts, unless you open the valve. But that model is too simplistic. Instead, think of your circulatory system as more like the Erie Canal—a series of gates that help move blood around to where it’s needed.

You need a certain amount of blood pressure, because without it, gravity would do the same thing to your blood that it does to the rain: pull it toward the earth. So imagine yourself hopping out of bed tomorrow morning and standing up. Gravity wants to take all that blood that’s distributed throughout your body and pull it down into your feet. You, on the other hand, would like that blood to be pumped to your brain, where it can help you figure out where the hell your keys are.

On cue, arteries in the lower body constrict while the heart dramatically increases output. The instant result: Blood pressure rises, and blood flows to the brain. Ahh, there they are—in the dog’s water dish, right where you left them. It’s really pretty amazing, when you think about it. But no matter how ingenious your circulatory system is, it’s also incredibly easy to throw it out of whack. Here are five ways you can cut high blood pressure.

One of the most common contributors to elevated blood pressure is an imbalance of minerals in the body—too much sodium (salt) and not enough potassium. A study at Loyola University showed that cardiovascular disease increased by 50 percent for participants with a high sodium-to-potassium ratio in their blood. Potassium helps sweep excess sodium from the circulatory system, causing the blood vessels to dilate. Studies show that not getting at least 2,000 milligrams of potassium daily can set you up for high blood pressure.

Omega-3 fats in tuna and other fish as well as flaxseed help strengthen the heart muscle, lower blood pressure, prevent overclotting, and reduce the level of potentially deadly inflammation in the body. And favor fruits high in vitamin C, like oranges and pineapple: According to research from England, people with the most vitamin C in their bloodstreams are 40 percent less likely to die of heart disease.

It could be an after-dinner massage, an hour of quiet reading, or a little more sexual healing, but make sure to adopt a ritual of de-stressing before bedtime. It will not only help you sleep, but also help your arteries relax.

Researchers at the University of Michigan found that people who performed three total-body-weight workouts per week for 2 months decreased their diastolic pressure (the bottom number) by an average of 8 points—that’s enough to lower your risk of stroke by 40 percent, and your risk of heart attack by 15 percent. And a Medical College of Georgia study found that, compared to those who had the least muscle, the blood pressure levels of  the people with the most muscle returned to normal the fastest after a stressful situation.

Speaking of sex-ual healing, one study found that people who had sex regularly showed lower levels of stress hormones and more stable blood pressures when faced with a stress-ful situation like public speaking.