How to Lower High Blood Pressure Naturally With Hawthorn
Learn how to lower blood pressure naturally with hawthorn. Ever wonder if there is a way to lower your blood pressure naturally and without the use of drugs? I did a quick google search on what the most commonly prescribed drugs in The United States were and it turns out that high blood pressure medication ranked pretty high, if not the highest on the list. I started to think that as often as these so-called safe drugs are being prescribed, what is the cost to the rest of your body and is there a healthier alternative?
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I believe that the body is a fine-tuned, highly intelligent machine, that if given the right fuel, your chances of relying on strong pharmaceuticals decrease significantly. No one really knows what the long-term side effects of these commonly prescribed drugs really are and no one seems to be too concerned. It feels like we all just assume we will be healthy until we face the inevitable fate of sickness. What if just some simple lifestyle changes could completely alter your health for the better? Would you be willing to try or just take your chances living the way you want and having to rely on medication for the rest of your life? I believe you have a choice to make.
What is high blood pressure anyways? Hypertension. Let’s break the word down. The root word hyper means above, beyond, super. Tension means to stretch or to put a strain on. So if we break down hypertension in terms of blood pressure, basically it means the body is in a state of stress or strained in some capacity. Why is the body experiencing this stress though? The body will fight hard to hard to counteract these stressors that it senses. But what if the body doesn’t have the right fuel to fight the stressors, or worse, the fuel that it is receiving is actually responsible for CAUSING the stress in the first place?
Blood pressure is the pressure created by the heart pumping blood around the body.
We all know that a lifestyle filled with processed foods, fast foods, sugary soda drinks or juices, tons of additives with difficult-to-pronounce names, too much caffeine, alcohol consumption, not enough sleep, and too little exercise are all contributing to stress within the body.
What if just making small changes or even piggybacking onto some of your not-so-healthy habits could have huge impacts on alleviating the stress that the body is experiencing? Would you be willing to try?
Let’s look at some pretty significant factors that cause high blood pressure in the body.
Sodium
AKA table salt. Sodium is an electrolyte that plays several vital roles within the body. Sodium actually HELPS control blood pressure and helps to regulate muscle and nerve function within the body. However, the presence of sodium or the amount that is present in the body must maintain an intricate balance with other nutrients such as potassium and chloride, otherwise, the body will not function optimally.
Too much sodium in the body can disrupt this intricate balance and when that happens, stress happens, such as high blood pressure. Most people who eat a common western-type diet, do consume too much sodium. The average daily intake is around 3400 mg while the suggested daily intake should be no more than around 2500 mg. As an interesting experiment, try tracking the actual amount of sodium you consume in a day/week/month even. You may be shocked at how much it actually is!
Too much sodium can result in high blood pressure, heart attack, or stroke. Too much sodium in the body can be controlled by making different food choices though. Start with small and super attainable almost miniscule steps. If you eat out every day or even multiple times a day, try cutting back just one of those meals per week. Then the next week cut out 2 of those meals and so on and so forth. Making tiny changes that are barely noticeable can have amazing results.
Next, try to replace some of those meals with healthier alternatives. If you like sandwiches, make a sandwich, but try to eat something healthier with it like carrot sticks, an apple & peanut butter or even some raw nuts. Switch to a healthier mayo or add some sea salt with minerals instead of traditional table salt. There are so many healthy substitutions that you can implement to piggyback off of your not-so-healthy habits.
If you’re anxious to remedy your high blood pressure and want to avoid having to take strong pharmaceuticals, consider removing added sodium from your diet altogether and a radical diet change would need to be adopted. A radical diet change simply put would be to adopt a diet rich in plants. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, herbs, and well, not a lot else.
Okay, clearly diet has a huge impact on whether you will suffer from high blood pressure or not. Making some radical diet changes, slowly and over time, will greatly reduce your chances of having to depend on strong pharmaceuticals for the rest of your days on Earth.
Let’s move on to another big culprit of high blood pressure.
Obesity
This issue really does go hand in hand with diet and lifestyle. Make healthy food swaps throughout your day and you won’t even really feel deprived of anything. Again, this will need to be done gradually if it is going to be done for the long haul. If a person feels completely deprived, generally they will feel resentful rather than encouraged to stick with it.
Being overweight has so many variables involved. Certain medications can cause weight gain. Lack of healthy movement can cause weight gain. Poor food choices, lack of sleep, hormones, worry and anxiety can all cause weight gain. A good first step is to take a nice hard look at your lifestyle choices to see what may be causing the weight gain and look for ways to remedy the issue.
Take baby steps. Literally, start walking. Walking is one of the easiest and healthiest ways to get moving. If walking isn’t your thing, find something that is and do it for 10 minutes, just 10 minutes a day. Then the following week increase that time to 11 minutes. Small changes, big results is the name of the game!
Some activities to get you moving could be dancing, cleaning, stretching, yoga, and pilates. Put on some music that you enjoy and just try to motivate yourself to move, even just a little bit is better than nothing at all.
There are other factors involved that will cause a person to have high blood pressure, but for the most part, diet and exercise are the 2 main culprits.
If you are at a healthy weight and you feel that your diet is up to par with what is considered healthy for longevity and you still struggle with high blood pressure you may want to consider adding some plant powerhouses to your daily routine. What are these plant powerhouses you say?
Hawthorn
The Hawthorn tree. What a wondrous treasure the Hawthorn tree is. Not only is it stunning to see when in bloom, but those blooms turn into little red berries that offer big-time medicinal benefits. Hawthorn is probably the most loved herb for supporting the heart.
Hawthorn is rich in flavonoids that protect the cardiovascular system including blood pressure and cholesterol levels. If you are looking to combine herbs to increase the medicinal benefits, common herbs to help lower blood pressure include Lime Blossom, Mistletoe and Yarrow.
How to Lower Blood Pressure Naturally with Hawthorn
Hawthorn berries can be consumed as any other berry so if you are fortunate enough to have one already or the space to possibly grow one, you may want to consider doing just that. You can then harvest your own berries every late summer or early fall.
If those are not options for you, you can buy the berries dried and make either a strong infusion, tea or tincture (or all of the above)
To make the tea, use about 30 grams of berries and cover them with boiling water. Let this steep for about 5 minutes. Consume at least once a day but if suffering from high blood pressure, consider adding it throughout your day.
If you prefer a stronger and more potent tea, consider an infusion. The only difference is that an infusion will steep for closer to 2o minutes or so. It is suggested to consume either of these drinks multiple times a day for the long term.
If you are not much for drinking teas or infusions, you may consider making a tincture with the berries then. A tincture can be made with either fresh or dried berries, however, fresh would be ideal.
Fill a mason jar (or any other glass jar with a tight-fitting lid) with fresh or dried berries and cover it with 80-proof alcohol. Let that mixture sit for about 4-6 weeks.
Once the mixture is ready, you will need to strain the liquid. This can be done by placing a piece of cheesecloth over a strainer while the strainer is resting in a bowl.
Pour the mixture into the cheesecloth and squeeze the $%&* out of it! You want to make sure you get every last drop out of those miraculous little berries. Once strained, transfer the mixture into a dark-colored bottle, ideally with a dropper for ease of use.
This mixture will last for years if unused. However, you will need to create this mixture often since you will be taking it daily to remedy your high blood pressure. ( 5 mL up to 5 times per day)
If this sounds a bit daunting for everyday use, you have one more option and that is to buy premade capsule form. Just be diligent about who you purchase from. You definitely want to make sure they are pure and potent berries. Gaia Herbs and Mountain Rose both have strong reputations for providing quality herbs that offer amazing health benefits.
If you do decide that you would like to try hawthorn to help lower your blood pressure and you are currently taking medications for blood pressure, you may want to consult your doctor or holistic practitioner to make sure it is safe for you to do so. Hawthorn should not be used with people who have diastolic congestive heart failure.
If you are interested in learning more about herbs and how to incorporate them into your life, there are some amazing books that will help you along the way. I have a recent post that may be helpful in deciding which books to begin with.
If you prefer to take some classes to help you learn all that you can, I suggest you look into The Herbal Academy or Home Grown Herbalist. Both have a long list of individual classes along with more in-depth coursework depending on your goals.
The Herbal Academy offers a wide range of classes to fit any area of interest whether it is learning what herbs to use for pet health or how to create your own cosmetics or anything in between.
As always, thank you for reading and I wish your heart nothing but health and well-being!
