7 Tips That May Reduce Blood Pressure; And Why Using Mouthwash is a Risk Factor for Hypertension…
Approximately half of the adult population in the United States and Australia has high blood pressure, otherwise known as hypertension.
High blood pressure is a strong predictor of heart disease and stroke, even more so than the risk factors of being a smoker or having high cholesterol.
Blood pressure numbers of less than 120/80 mm Hg are in the normal range.
The first and the higher number is the systolic blood pressure, which measures the pressure in the arteries when the heart contracts. The lower and last number is the diastolic blood pressure, which measures the pressure when the heart is relaxed, just before the next heartbeat.
Below is a chart from the American Heart Association, where you can see how your blood pressure ranks. Hopefully, you are in the normal range.
This screenshot is from The American Heart Association
If you are in the higher range, the tips in this article may be helpful.
Disclaimer: I am a nutritionist and not a doctor. I’m not preventing, diagnosing, treating, curing, or managing any disease or condition. Your health is between you and your doctor.
The following tips may help reduce blood pressure.
1. Eat More Plants and Less Red Meat
A study found that vegetarians have about 7 mm Hg lower systolic blood pressure, and about 5 mm Hg lower diastolic blood pressure than meat-eaters.
A different study published in the Journal of Hypertension found that just eating more plants and less meat is enough to make a difference.
The DASH diet is especially effective in improving blood pressure and reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.
In a nutshell, the diet encourages the consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds, along with white meat, eggs, and low-fat dairy. The DASH diet limits the intake of added sugar, red meat, saturated fat, and sodium.
One of the reasons that plant-based diets lower blood pressure is that vegetables are a source of nitrates, which can, under certain circumstances, turn into nitric oxide.
Nitric oxide relaxes vascular smooth muscle cells. This relaxation widens the blood vessels, thus reducing blood pressure.
One of the reasons why red meat is problematic is because of the type of microbes that colonize the gut when there is a lot of red meat in the diet. These red-meat-eating microbes produce a compound that is ultimately turned into trimethylamine-N-oxide, or TMAO for short. TMAO happens to be a significant marker for heart disease and all-cause mortality. It is very damaging to blood vessels and reduces the body’s ability to make nitric oxide.
2. Eat Beets or Drink Beet Root Juice
Diets high in nitrate-rich leafy greens reduce diastolic blood pressure.
Beets, which are also full of nitrates, not only lower diastolic pressure but lowers systolic blood pressure as well, and this change is “significant”.
But even if one has a diet with nitrate-rich vegetables, we still need to convert nitrates to nitrite to make nitric oxide.
That step involves the bacteria that live in our mouth, which takes me to the next tip.
3. Ditch the Mouthwash
The human mouth is a habitat for billions of bacteria. Although there are bacteria that can cause cavities, there are also oral bacteria that have a symbiotic relationship with humans.
Some of these bacteria live in the crevices of the tongue and use nitrates for respiration. This process converts the nitrates that we eat from vegetables, to nitrites that we then swallow, thus helping the body make nitric oxide.
This process is so important, that the body will take circulating nitrates that the bacteria were not able to convert before swallowing, and send those nitrates back to the mouth via the salivary glands, to give it another go. This could be why saliva has a lot of nitrates in it.
One might even consider nitrate-rich vegetables as a prebiotic for the beneficial bacteria in our mouth, as it ultimately helps to increase good bacteria while reducing the populations of bad bacteria that cause cavities, bad breath, and periodontal disease.
Unfortunately, antiseptic mouthwash kills these beneficial microbes.
Studies have shown that anti-bacterial mouthwashes deplete important bacteria in the mouth that converts dietary nitrate into nitrite, and that this is an independent risk factor for hypertension.
It may be that herbal dental products are a better option when it comes to preserving beneficial microbes in the mouth.
And oddly, tongue-brushing helps to increase the number of nitrate to nitrite converting bacteria. So, tongue-brushing, without the use of antiseptics, could potentially help lower blood pressure.
After the nitrite is swallowed, stomach acid converts nitrite to nitric oxide.
4. Hum a Tune or Tone with Your Mouth Closed
A study found that humming, compared to quiet breathing, significantly increases nasal nitric oxide, by a whopping 15 times!
Humming causes the air in our sinus cavities to oscillate, which increases gas exchange in the cavities. This releases nitric oxide (which is a gas) into the respiratory tract.
Researchers believe that the paranasal sinuses may be responsible for regulating pulmonary blood pressure, and preventing hypertension.
5. Eat Dark Chocolate
A study that looked at 24 other chocolate studies involving a total of 1106 people, found that dark chocolate with at least 50 to 70% cocoa lowered blood pressure in all participants, especially in those with high blood pressure.
This may be because chocolate increases nitric oxide production.
For an interesting population study on this, be sure to read my article:
The Delicious Reason Why the Kuna Indians Have Low Blood Pressure.
6. Eat Low-Fat Dairy
Low-fat dairy consumption improves systolic blood pressure.
A study found that people who had 2 or more servings of low-fat dairy a day had the lowest odds of having high blood pressure.
7. Eat Olive Oil
Studies show that olive oil reduces blood pressure. This may be because olive oil is high in oleic acid and polyphenols.
It‘s been found that daily olive oil intakes of about 1/3 of an ounce to 2 ounces reduces systolic blood pressure, and to a lesser extent diastolic blood pressure.
[Featured Photo by Mockup Graphics on Unsplash]
