One in three people across the UK is estimated to have high blood pressure, but because the condition rarely has any significant symptoms, it often isn’t spotted until something far more major goes wrong because of it. This can include coronary heart disease, kidney damage, strokes or heart attacks.
As a result, it’s vital to keep an eye on your blood pressure through regular testing, but there are also a few natural lifestyle changes and supplements that can help drop your blood pressure and keep it down. Nutritionist Kate Booker specifically pinpointed Magnesium and Coenzyme Q10 to aid your battle.
Magnesium supplements, which can go for as little as £6.50 for a month’s supply or roughly 10p per pill, relaxes the blood vessels, which inherently lowers your blood pressure. She noted: “It’s often recommended for people dealing with hypertension.”
Coenzyme Q10, or CoQ10, on the other hand improves heart health and blood pressure by targeting your cells and supporting the energy production within them. Previous research has also shown this enzyme could protect against other chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes.
If you’re not looking to add more pills to your daily routine, the Nutrition Geeks expert recommended some easy, and flavourful, diet switches. With the average Brit drinking up to three cups of tea a day, you can easily replace your usual cuppa with Hibiscus tea and reap some staggering health rewards.
Hibiscus Tea has previously been proven to help lower blood pressure as well as cholesterol and sugar levels. It’s even available in supplement form too. Kate also recommended adding more leafy greens like spinach and kale as well as bananas to your diet for an extra boost of potassium.
Potassium is crucial in managing blood pressure as it helps to balance sodium levels in the body too. The expert also suggested adding more garlic to your diet, although she highlighted it’s only shown to have “a modest effect on lower blood pressure”.
Finally, Kate recommended having more berries and beets in your diets as these pack a punch of flavonoids and nitrates respectively. These compounds relax blood vessels and reduce blood flow by providing the body with more antioxidants.