High Blood Pressure Causes and Natural Home Remedies

Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by blood on arterial walls as heart pumps blood in to arteries. Some amount of pressure or force is indispensable in circulating blood to utmost ends of organs from head to foot. But when this pressure exceeds normal, it is referred to as hypertension or high blood pressure (high BP). High BO is a 'silent killer' because for some people, it produces no symptom at all and very quietly ruins the body.

The fast paced city life and craze to achieve the most in minimum time have caused one to be a slave to severe mental and physical stress. This definitely has a role to play in elevating BP. The normal BP should be around 120/80; BP ranging between 120/80 and 139/89 indicates a pre-hypertensive state and BP beyond 140/90 is said to be high blood pressure. The upper number is the systolic pressure. Systolic pressure is indicative of the maximum pressure in the arteries as heart contracts and pumps and pushes blood forward in to arteries. In other words, the number signifies the maximum BP to which arteries can be exposed.

The lower number is diastolic pressure. It reflects the pressure in arteries as heart relaxes after contraction. It is in fact the pressure between two heart beats. Diastolic pressure is indicative of the minimum pressure to which arteries can be exposed. High blood pressure leads to grave complications like congestive heart failure, heart attack, weakening of aorta wall or aortic aneurysms, hardening of arteries or arteriosclerosis, stroke, kidney failure, eye damage etc. Some symptoms of high BP could be headache, neck ache, dizziness, palpitations, chest pain, and shortness of breath, blurred vision, nausea and vomiting. The causes of high BP may be listed as follows:

1. Aging
2. Heredity
3. Stress
4. Salt intake
5. Smoking
6. Excessive alcohol intake
7. Obesity
8. Physical inactivity
9. Fatty, fried and oily diet
10. Hormonal changes in women
11. Medications like cold medications, allergy medications, contraceptive pills, diet pills, stimulants etc.

Home Remedies for High Blood Pressure

1. Take a glassful of lemon juice daily or lemon in salads or lemon tea to keep BP under check. Lemon is effective in preventing fragility of capillaries.

2. Consume 2-3 cloves of garlic every day. Garlic slows down pulse and checks palpitations and spasms of small arteries. Therefore it is quite effective in lowering high BP.

3. Add 1 ounce honey to 2 teaspoons of onion juice and take daily. This will reduce high blood pressure.

4. Mix carrot and spinach juices to make 600 ml of mixed juice. Drink it to relieve high BP symptoms.

5. Roast watermelon seeds and grind them to powder. Take 1 and half teaspoon of the powder daily. This is an effective home remedy for high BP.

6. Boil 2 potatoes, peel off skin, and cut them to slices. Marinate the slices with a pinch of black pepper and consume. This is a delicious solution to high BP problem.

7. Add 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper to lukewarm water and drink. This provides fast relief from high blood pressure.

8. Take 1 tablespoo
Indian gooseberry juice mixed with honey daily morning. This is beneficial in treating high BP problem.

9. Boil 20 gm parsley leaves in 250 ml water. Strain and drink to get rid of high blood pressure.

10. Consumption of brown rice in plenty relieves high BP symptoms

11. Eat a papaya on empty stomach regularly. Do not eat any thing else up to 2 hours from the consumption of papaya. This is a beneficial high blood pressure cure.

12. Drinking 8-10 glasses of ionized water lowers high blood pressure.