You must’ve known that salt makes your body hold on to water, which puts extra stress on your heart and blood vessels, therefore if you don’t want to raise your blood pressure, you need to watch the amount of salt you take. Next to it, anger and worry also have a bad impact on your blood pressure. You probably knew about that, but here are some things you might not know about which raise blood pressure.
Added Sugar
Added sugar causes a significant rise in both upper and lower numbers of blood pressure. One example of that is drinking one 24-ounce soft drink. It causes an average 15-point bump in systolic and 9 in diastolic pressure.
Loneliness
Fear of rejection and disappointment, and feeling of being disconnected to the people may change the way your body works for worse. In the 4 year research, the loneliest people’s upper blood pressure went up more than 14 points.
Sleep Apnea
Repeatedly interrupted breathing while sleeping makes you get less oxygen, and also your blood pressure raises because of the chemicals your nervous system releases.
Not Enough Potassium
Having a low-salt diet alone won’t do much to regulate your blood pressure. You need to make sure you eat enough fruits, vegetables, low-fat diary, and fish, too.
Pain
When we feel pain, our nervous system makes our blood pressure raise, and that is not good.
Herbal Supplements
Many herbal supplements including ginkgo, ginseng, guarana, ephedra, can raise your blood pressure. So make sure you put a balance on your intake.
Thyroid Problems
Not having enough thyroid hormone, makes your heart rate slows and your arteries less stretchy. Than means that blood is pushing walls by moving faster, making your pressure raise.
You Have To Pee
If you don’t empty your bladder for more than three hours that can get your systolic pressure go up an average 4 points, and diastolic, 3 points, so make sure you take care of that.
NSAIDs
Depending on your health, intake of anti-inflammatory drugs, including aspirin and ibuprofen, will raise your numbers by an average few points or more.
Your Doctor’s Office
When you’re at the doctor’s, you might feel nervous or even anxiety, and that might affect your blood pressure to raise up to 10 points for systolic, and 5 for diastolic.
Decongestants
If you already have high blood pressure, make sure you avoid drugs that contain pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine.
Dehydration
Another thing that tightens up your blood vessels is not drinking enought water. And that causes raise of your blood pressure.
Hormonal Birth Control
Women who are overweight, or smokers, and older than 35, might experience raise of blood pressure if taking pills, injections, and other birth control devices which use hormones that narrow blood vessels.
Talking
Moving your mouth won’t raise your blood pressure, but if you’re moving your mouth to express emotional content with words, that will. And it doesn’t matter how old you are.
Antidepressants
Drugs that can change your mood, like venlafaxine (Effexor), monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), tricyclic antidepressants, and fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem), can also change your blood pressure, but for worse.