Do you recognize yourself?
You suffer from chronic fatigue, you have headaches, lack of mental clarity, sometimes clouded vision, you sometimes have to take deep breath to properly ventilate, you feel your blood racing through your veins? Or, you easily flush, you're constantly nervous or even sometimes dizzy?
You may be part of the half of the US adult population suffering from hypertension or high blood pressure.
When half of a society is suffering from a non native (most of the time) symptom, maybe there is a reflection to have as a whole. Risks related from long period of high blood pressure can be heart disease, heart attack or stroke.
If you suffer from heavy hypertension, what you need is to consult a doctor. If the symptoms are more limited, here are a list of mental and bio hacks that can help you!
Watch you line
Losing weight (even a few pounds) has proven positive effect on your blood pressure (among others great benefits). Overweight and higher blood pressure are correlated and can also cause some sleep apnea which may increase the symptoms.
Do sport
Two and a half hours of physical activity per week has proven efficiency at lowering high blood pressure. It helps regulate your blood circulation and strengthen the heart.
The key thing is, it has to be regular. You'd rather do less every week than 2h30 one week and then stop for the rest of the month. So do something you like and will enjoy doing every day or so.
Not all of us like the gym or running. Walking is easy and can fit with a great walk in a neighborhood you love.
Promote varied and healthy food
We won't urge it enough, food is medicine. But what does that mean, exactly? I eat every day, you might say.
First thing, avoid as much processed foods as possible. Everything that is precooked, packed, industrial (for example big bakery companies), everything that has refined sugar, preservatives, and other chemicals.
As much as you can, go for wholefoods and even ideally raw. For example, do you know that ginger has a proven positive effect on blood pressure?
You can also take a look at Darien Olien's book Superlife, it will help you navigate through the right aisles of your grocery store.
Cut down salt
Following up with the above hack, cutting down salt is a good idea. A cut in your sodium intake, in all forms (salt but also take a look at the ingredients list of the food you buy).
Sodium is especially high in processed foods. You can go progressively, the palate adapts with time. You can also switch to spices or herbs to add flavor.
Drink less alcohol (and more healthier booz effects)
We all know this excitement we feel after a couple of beers or glasses of wine. The body and mind start to accelerate. So does the blood pressure. Not to mention if you go on a bender and are gonna practice binge drinking or similar.
We know it helps socialize and gives another twist to a dinner or a party, so don't hesitate to have a look at new alcohol alternatives. They use natural nootropics and mix it with potent adaptogens which have effects on your mood.
Okana can be used like an alcohol alternative to help you socialize and feel good without the hangover.
Quit smoking
James Dean was cool smoking with his cigarette neglected in the mouth, but it was 70 years ago - just quit. Nicotine actually acts similarly to alcohol (probably why this association is so strongly addictive), it's an excitant and will raise your blood pressure.
Stop smoking might not be so easy and we found a great tip list there. In general, people who manage to definitely stop smoking explain the same trigger.
You need to realize that not smoking is actually more pleasurable than smoking.
Relax and avoid stress triggers
Big city life is intense. Traffic jam, people racing everywhere, fighting for almost anything, grabbing a cab, hustling for this promotion, getting a table at that stylish restaurant, etc. Stress triggers adrenaline rush, which raises your blood pressure.
Find time and a quiet shelter to step out of this crazy life. Also a good idea to organise yourself to avoid usual stress triggers life traffic jams, subway affluence and usually crowded places.
Cut back on caffeine
Not to brag out but we can help with that! It's now documented that coffee may have an impact on your stress levels. We mentioned alcohol and nicotine, but caffeine also pays its tribute, especially past a certain dose that varies from one to another.
With an average of 100 to 120 mg of caffeine in your coffee, after a couple of cups, adrenaline races throughout your body and raises your blood pressure.
Read here why you should totally or partially switch to Okana instead. Made of the healthiest and perfect amount of caffeine, mixed with the best adaptogens and superfoods, it brings energy while calming your adrenal glands.
Monitor it...
"Without data, you're just another person with an opinion", right? It's easy to find hypertension monitors online. If you feel your blood pressure is high, monitor it every day and you can start correlating peaks with specific triggers. Bring your doctor in the loop, causes are not always obvious.
Get enough sleep
We know that when you sleep your blood pressure goes down. So actually not sleeping enough contributes to maintaining hypertension.
Sleep deprivation has a direct impact on your mood, nervousness, mental clarity, ability to socialize and other down sides that we have all experienced. Good ways to improve sleep are: eat healthy (see above) and do sport (also above).
At Okana, we crafted a beverage that's no bullshit about: providing healthy energy, sharp focus, holistic wellness and an immunity boost. Basically a not-a-coffee that doesn't crash you down but takes care of your body AND mind.
Why? We claim that mental health is the key cause of today's western societies.