On average an adult has around 5 - 6 litres of blood flowing through their bodies transported by the arteries, veins and capillaries. It is pumped around the body by the heart and delivers oxygen and other essential nutrients, minerals and vitamins to all the parts of the body including the lungs, kidneys, heart, brain and eyes. This action creates essential blood pressure, but as most will realise, if blood pressure is elevated it can become life threatening, so, what should a person know about how to lower blood pressure and therefore prevent any medical problems from occurring?

One of the simplest and best-documented ways of reducing blood pressure is through the sensible application of exercise.

One of the reasons for the increasing number of people being diagnosed with high blood pressure is that we live far more sedentary lives than even 20 years ago. This has led to an increase in the number of people who are overweight and contributed to the increasing number of cardiovascular health problems we are seeing in most industrialized nations.

The great thing about exercise, as well as helping reduce weight (another risk factor for high blood pressure), it also suppresses appetite. Exercise also helps to stimulate a substance that our body's produce known as nitric oxide which protects the artery lining.

As a person exercises they are encouraging the heart to pump more blood through our arteries, capillaries and veins. Then, as the blood pushes its way along the blood vessels this in then turn forces the endothelial cells to produce more nitric oxide and so the cycle is being repeated.

Making changes to diet has been shown to lead to a marked reduction in blood pressure levels. With some studies showing a change in diet can even have the same effect as taking some blood pressure medications, and of course the changes, if maintained, mean that they can add lifelong hypertension prevention benefits.

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Some of the dietary changes that make a difference include:

1. Reduce intake of sodium. Sodium helps to regulate the fluids in your body and unfortunately an excess amount can result in water retention, which results In an increased volume of blood and therefore more blood pressure as the heart has to work harder to pump the increased volume around the body. So restrict sodium/ salt from the diet, or eliminate it altogether.

If you can, avoid using pre-packaged and processed foods as these can contain high amounts of sodium in them as it helps to preserve the foods and adds flavour.

2. Increase the amount of fiber in the diet. The best way of doing this is by increasing the amount of fruit and vegetables eaten. Fruits and vegetables also contain nutrients such as potassium, magnesium and calcium which studies have found that people with high blood pressure are often deficient in.

There are other natural methods to relieve high blood pressure, including changes to certain lifestyle habits, the introduction of specific supplements and foods into the diet, and reducing anxiety and stress, but these will be covered in future articles.

There are few secrets that need to be learnt to lower blood pressure, however, having a solid natural approach plan and with the help of your doctor, there is every reason to expect blood pressure levels to return to normal, barring any medical conditions the person may have.