11 lifestyle hacks for healthier blood pressure
Backed by science, of course
I often find myself scrolling through online forums and come across a similar story about blood pressure once midlife hits:
“I eat healthy, exercise, and am at the same weight. I can’t believe that I have high blood pressure.” The search for answers usually leads women to blame menopause and men to consider genetics.
We’ve all been sold this idea that if we do all the right things, blood pressure will stay nice and low. But, well, that simply is not true.
If you haven’t already, check out the first post in the series. It provides a general understanding of how blood pressure works and explains that checking for any underlying issues is the best first step.
Whether your blood pressure is elevated or not, these hacks help protect your endothelial health–something every aging human benefits from.
But first, let’s investigate conventional blood pressure guidelines.
Blood Pressure Guidelines
According to the 2020 International Society of Hypertension Global Hypertension Guidelines, the first-line treatment for elevated BP is 3-6 months of lifestyle changes.
Some doctors want to start medication ASAP, so it’s something you can discuss beforehand.
Medications lower blood pressure, but by how much?
According to a large meta-analysis with 363,684 people (42% women) and 52 interventions, intense BP lowering reduced systolic blood pressure by 11.1mmHg.
In less intense blood pressure control versus placebo, it's 5.1mmHg.
When one medication doesn't sufficiently lower blood pressure, doctors add more medications. In another meta-analysis, half a standard dose resulted in a 6.7mmHg reduction, two doses 13.3, and three drugs 19.9.
Most health professionals will suggest general lifestyle advice to lower blood pressure–exercise, quit smoking, reduce salt, and lose weight. But like all things midlife, fine-tuning our lifestyle is key.
These are the most effective lifestyle hacks I could find. They not only reduce blood pressure, but enhance health.
1. Slow Breathing Exercises
I recently read how breathing is the only autonomic operation we can influence. I never thought of it this way.
As I wrote about in part 1, midlife women have increased susceptibility to decreased baroreceptor sensitivity (BRS).
In a review of 20 papers, people with elevated blood pressure ages 18-75 showed reductions from slow breathing exercises ranging from systolic 4-54 and diastolic of 3-17mmHg.
At a minimum, these breathing treatments slow breathing to <10 breaths per minute (preferably <6) for 10-15 minutes. Two-a-day sessions and adding some resistance resulted in greater reductions in BP.
Breathing devices can help you figure out your breathing rate and give you cues to slow it down. Resperate is one of the FDA-cleared devices.
Those with hypertension tend to have an increased respiration rate, leading to elevated sympathetic tone and blood pressure. In some of these studies, people also report better sleep, which is a big bonus.
Breathing exercise is a useful non-pharmacological interventions in controlling hypertension. It is hypothesized that the stimulation of heart-lung mechanoreceptors during prolonged inhalation and exhalation can increase baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) and reduce sympathetic activity and chemoreflex activation -Heriwati, et al, Front Physiol. 2023
Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training (IMST)
During our interview, researcher Daniel Craighead stated that inspiratory muscle strength training reduces blood pressure by an average of 9mmHg. This is a high-resistance (75%) training for 5 minutes of about 6 reps using a breathing device.
Although the mechanism isn’t clear, a 2021 study showed a decrease in inflammatory markers and an increase in NO bioavailability.
I believe that when you strengthen your breathing muscles, it not only reduces the breathing rate but also enhances efficiency. The reduction of low oxygen decreases oxidative stress, thus keeping the One Health Principle in check. And as a result, the heart doesn’t need to work as hard.
We need larger studies to confirm these findings and they are underway!
3. Riboflavin for those with MTHFR
Studies show that in hypertensive patients screened for the MTHFR 677TT genotype, riboflavin supplementation results in a favorable BP response.
These individuals experienced a systolic blood pressure decrease of 6-13mmHg.
If you’ve tried everything and do not experience lower blood pressure, ask your healthcare provider about genetic testing.
4. Taurine
Taurine is a semi-essential amino acid that is abundant in most cells, especially the heart and brain. Studies show levels decline with age and supplementing with taurine lowers systolic BP by an average of 4mmHg.
In one study, 120 prehypertensive patients received 1.6g of taurine per day or a placebo for 12 weeks. Mean clinic systolic BP decreased by 7.2mmHg.
I talk more about Taurine here, but it acts to protect cells from damage from inflammation/oxidative stress, thus helping maintain The One Health Principle.
It’s one of my top supplements for midlife women.
5. Physical Activity
Being physically active helps lower blood pressure. In a meta-analysis with 270 randomized control trials, researchers looked at a variety of exercises and their effects on BP reduction. Here’s what they found:
Aerobic exercise (-4.49/-2.53)
Dynamic resistance training (-4.55/-3.04)
Combined training (-6.04/-2.54)
HIIT (-4.08/-2.5)
Isometric exercise training (-8.24/-4)
It’s interesting that isometric exercise training came out on top. This is when you hold a position, like doing wall sits, glute bridges, squat holds, and planks.
6. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
As we get older, our nervous system is more prone to sympathetic flight or fight tone. It pays to learn how to interact with the inevitable stresses of life as it can be another factor that increases blood pressure.
According to a review of 12 studies, mindfulness-based interventions of 8 weeks' length reduced blood pressure (-9.12/-6.05).
Look for programs near you, online, or try this free program I found years ago.
READ: Midlife stress and it’s ripple effect on health
7. Inorganic Nitrates
Inorganic nitrates found in leafy green vegetables, celery, and beets decrease blood pressure. This is through the Nitrate-Nitrite-NO Pathway, which I discuss more here.
A key issue with food sources is their nitrate levels can vary based on the soil and farming methods. This is where supplements such as beetroot juice tested for nitrates and other supplements come in, as they have consistent levels.
Two groups of postmenopausal women (average age 63) were given either nitrate-rich or nitrate-free beetroot juice in a study.
Women who had the nitrate-rich beetroot juice had a reduction in systolic blood pressure of 4.9mmHg compared to 1.1 in the non-nitrate-rich group.
There’s still time to enter my giveaway of Beet-it juice, a product that researchers have used in over 300 studies.
8. Cut Back on Alcohol
Too much alcohol can increase blood pressure, so cutting back may be helpful.
A review of 26 trials and 2865 participants (mostly men, unfortunately) showed that reducing moderate intake didn’t lower blood pressure.
But those drinking over 2 drinks per day saw a reduction when cutting back.
Experiment with alcohol intake and see if it affects your blood pressure. Additionally, it can disrupt sleep patterns, which is linked with increased blood pressure.
9. The DASH Diet
An umbrella review of dietary factors scored the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet highly as an effective way to reduce blood pressure. Average reductions are (-6.74/-3.54).
The diet provides a combination of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and pulses, nuts and seeds, and low sodium that works synergistically.
This pattern increases potassium, inorganic nitrates from greens, fiber, calcium, and magnesium (500mg), which all work to keep BP in check.
It has also shown to reduce uric acid levels, which is another risk factor for high blood pressure. Below, you will find a sample of what is included.
10. Reduce Sodium
I mentioned reduced sodium in the last post and how we can’t rely on it for BP control.
Yet too much salt puts a strain on our blood vessels and women become more sensitive to it at midlife.
A recent study with 200 individuals found that lowering sodium to 2400mg reduced systolic blood pressure 8mmHg on average compared to a high sodium diet. But it didn’t work for one quarter of people.
When it comes to sodium, cooking at home allows to control the amount of sodium in your food, while eating out is associated with higher sodium intake. According to the USDA, food from home provides 1552mg sodium per 1000 calories, but at restaurants, this jumps to 2088.
11. Regular Sauna Bathing
Regular sauna use helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and lower blood pressure. A meta-analysis found that regular sauna use lowers systolic blood pressure by 5.55mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 6.5mmHg.
Sauna is another way to increase nitric oxide bioavailability and heat shock proteins, which increase vasodilation.
It has other benefits, such as decreasing inflammation, lowering cholesterol and decreasing arterial stiffness.
If you have any health conditions, see a healthcare provider before starting. Most benefits come from working your way up to 20 minutes, 4 or more times per week.
Try one change at a time
As a reminder, this information is not to take the place of medical advice. Feel free to discuss these strategies with your doctor.
If you’re working on getting your blood pressure down, don’t do everything at once. Instead, try one at a time.
For instance, if you already exercise and eat a DASH-like diet, focus on breathing. Then later consider adding sauna sessions.
There is high variability in how these lifestyle hacks work on individuals, so pay attention to how each affects you.
So, tell me, have you found any of these have helped your blood pressure?
So much valuable information that is not easy to find - thank you for sharing. High blood pressure out of nowhere can feel like a mystery; these tips will be useful moving forward for myself and others!
Very interesting. I can personally attest to the efficacy of breathing exercises. I inadvertently discovered recently that my systolic pressure can get up to around 140, and was horrified because I’m in good health and not much else has changed except for being 57. Fortunately, I also discovered that I can lower the systolic more or less immediately to around 115-120 simply from doing a minute or two of pranayama. Personally I like to inhale for 6, hold for 4, exhale for 8 and hold for 4 but in a pinch, like at the doctor’s office, just mindful deep breaths have worked too. And of course there’s the side benefit of feeling more energized and calm as well.