Surprising Ways To Lower Your Blood Pressure

The facts about high blood pressure—and what you can do about it.

- Emily A. Kane, ND, LAc

a: For I try to follow the medical news. Guidelines around blood pressure have been bouncing around the past few years. What’s going on? —Bill Q., Polson, Mont.

a: For long time the numbers 120/80 signified “perfect” blood pressure, although somewhat lower is rarely a problem. The upper number, called systolic, basically measures the resistance, or the “pressure” of the blood volume pushing against your veins and arteries. This peripheral resistance is quite volatile: it can bounce around a bit because it is susceptible to adrenaline, the major stress hormone. Adrenaline is a short-acting, strong vasoconstrictor, meaning it dramatically increases the pressure in your vascular system, and thus this upper number can jump up significantly during a stressful event—including going to the doctor’s office.

The lower number, called diastolic, measures the ability of your heart to pump blood between its chambers, which infuses the blood with oxygen from the lungs. An elevated diastolic above 90 mm/Hg (millimeters of mercury being pushed up a tube, though this method is no longer used) can signify the beginning of an enlarged, boggy, less efficient heart muscle.

How High Is Too High?