STEPS TO CONTROL HYPERTENSION

1. Visit your Doctor
Make the doc your first port of call. Your high blood pressure may be 'secondary hypertension', brought about by kidney problems, so going for a check up is vital.
2. Quit Smoking
As if it needed saying quit smoking asap. Smoking narrows the arteries and makes it harder for the blood to circulate, thereby upping blood pressure. It;s simple physics - narrow a tube, and it' harder for liquid to pass through.
3. Lower your salt but increase your potassium intake
Too much sodium - taken in via salt in the diet - causes fluid retention, which puts an increased burden on the heart and circulation. However, potassium - found in celery, bananas, fish, watercress, tomatoes and multimineral supplements - is sodium's worst nightmare, causing it to be excreted from the body.
4. Think calcium and magnesium
The two master minerals when it comes to keeping your heart healthy, calcium and magnesium are vital when it comes to blood clotting, regulating heart rhythm and the nervous system. Magnesium is required to metabolise calcium, hence the tendency to think of them as working together. Find them in milk, cheese, oily fish, nuts, dried apricots and supplements.
5. Go green
Too much caffeine, via coffee and soft drinks, has been linked with heightened blood pressure. If a gentle pick-me-up beverage is desired, opt for Green Tea, which is lower in caffeine, and has a whole heap of antioxidant properties to aid general health too.
6. Have hawthorn
Primitive societies used hawthorn berries for heart troubles, which is no surprise since it acts as a vasodilator, opening up the veins and arteries and thus helping the blood flow as it should rather than being under too much pressure. Long-since used by herbalists, you can also seek hawthorn out in supplement form.
7. Smell to get well
Aromatherapy has plenty of weapons in the battle against high blood pressure. Take your pick from the following: Ylang-ylang, lavender, and Clary Sage. Follow the instructions, whether it involves burning, sprinkling in baths, and feel the tension flow away.
8. Fish oils
Essential Fatty Acids, of which omega-3 is the hardest hitter, have been strongly linked to preventing heart disease and keeping circulation on an even keel. Find them in oily fish such as mackerel, herring and sardines; fish oil supplements; and flaxseed oil, which was formerly known as linseed oil and used too soften cricket bats.
9. Rutin
Rutin is a flavonoid that's extracted from various plants and trees from the Fava D'Anta tree in Brazil to Green Buckwheat in Kent. As well as functioning brilliantly as an antioxidant, neutralising cell-damaging free radicals, it's also a good anticoagulant with an ability to thin the blood, thus enabling it to flow more freely. You'll find Rutin in supplements.
10. Ginger
Rather like the impressive Ginkgo Biloba, ginger functions as a vasodilator, widening the veins in the body's extremities. It not only warms you up, but also improves the circulation and stimulates the heartbeat, making it beat more strongly. Indeed, a Japanese study involving ginger recently found that while the blood pressure was lowered, the heartbeat was slowed down...Ginger also has an anticoagulant effect. Look out for it in tea and supplements.
Remember, if you are unsure about anything mentioned above, seek appropriate advice or talk to you doctor!