Considering that heart disease is a leading cause of death, many people want to get their blood pressure under control. High blood pressure has a huge influence in whether or not a person will get heart disease.

Blood pressure is the act of how hard your blood in the arteries is pushing against the walls. If you have high blood pressure, you may get medication to help decrease your blood pressure. But, if you want some natural ways to decrease blood pressure, then keep reading.

Stop Thinking Cold

If you live in a cold climate, then your habits can change during the cold months and that can affect your blood pressure. For instance, more people reach for comfort foods with high sodium during the colder months. The recommended daily intake of sodium is 2,000 mg, however the average daily intake is 3,400 mg.

Colder months can also make you want to stay indoors and do nothing. But, sedentary living can cause blood pressure to rise. Therefore, going out and getting some exercise, regardless of the weather, is important to decease blood pressure. If you don’t like the cold, trying going to your nearest mall and walking around it for exercise.

Do Resistance Training

Research shows that resistance training offers benefits towards lowering blood pressure as much as twenty percent. Studies have found that resistance training can be just as effective as taking medication to lower your blood pressure, but without the unwanted side effects.

“Twelve weeks of weight training, 3 times a week decreases blood pressure in middle aged men (46 years old) with high blood pressure.” – Precision Nutrition

Cardiovascular Exercise

It is well known that cardiovascular exercise helps to lower your blood pressure and make your heart stronger. This doesn’t have to be running or aerobics. It could be as simple as going for a bike ride, swimming, or even doing water aerobics.

Eat Blueberries

A new study done on 40 women who are postmenopausal found that blueberries can have a moderate effect on blood pressure. Half of the group ate blueberry powder while the other half ate a placebo that looked and tasted the same. The results were that the blueberry group had a 5.1% decrease in systolic blood pressure and a 6.3% decrease in diastolic pressure. While the results were not huge, there could potential for even bigger benefits with more consumption.

Practice Positive Thinking

The truth is that you have to think every day, so why not think positively? It offers many great health benefits, including stress relief. The more you practice positive thinking, the more you build resilience to negative situations, and the less stress you ultimately have.

Stress can cause your blood sugar to spike, and even though it is only a temporary spike, researchers are still not sure how all the short-term spikes could influence long-term blood sugar levels. If you can eliminate these spikes, then you will still be doing your blood pressure some good.

Eat More Herbs

Herbs do not have to come in capsule form, although they can. There are many herbs that you can add directly to your cooking for the benefit they offer.

Herbs that have been shown to reduce blood pressure include cinnamon, basil, celery seed, garlic, and cardamom. No matter what you are cooking, one of these ingredients will fit into your recipe nicely.