Most Americans—nearly half—have high blood pressure. A promising daily breathing exercise of five minutes and other tried-and-true lifestyle methods could be able to alter that.
It's simple to concentrate too much on your cholesterol and triglyceride levels when it comes to heart health. But, hypertension poses a more severe risk. According to the American College of Cardiology, hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is the most modifiable risk factor for dying from cardiovascular disease even though it may not always grab attention.
Taking a deep breath might assist if that number prompts your blood pressure to increase. Really. Inspiratory muscle strength training (IMST), a specific type of deep breathing therapy, may be more powerful at lowering blood pressure than exercise, according to a 2022 Journal of Applied Physiology research. And each day, it only requires five minutes.
(What Relationship Exists Between Blood Pressure and Breathing?)
Heart health is merely one aspect of high blood pressure. Your respiratory system also play a role. Here comes IMST, a treatment method developed in the 1980s to aid those suffering from respiratory problems in building up their diaphragms and breathing muscles. As according Daniel Craighead, Ph.D., study lead researcher and assistant research professor of integrative physiology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, IMST involves using a small handheld device to offer resistance when you inhale. "In that sense, it's similar to a bench press in weightlifting.
Adults between the ages of 18 and 82 were sought out by Craighead and his team to investigate if IMST would have any positive effects on blood pressure. For six weeks, participants were instructed to take 30 breaths each day. While the other half focused on low-resistance, the other half of the group performed high-resistance IMST. Researchers discovered that people who just had IMST observed improvements in their blood pressure levels in just two weeks. Additionally, both the systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels were lowered by 9 mmHg and 4 mmHg, respectively, at the end of experiment. To put that into context, running or biking for 90 to 150 minutes a week would likely result in a 5- to 8-point decrease in SBP in those with hypertension.
(Try the DASH Diet)
The DASH diet, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, is so effective that it may lower systolic numbers by about 11 mmHg. It consists of various of fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, and low-fat dairy. Together, these nutritious foods provide a powerful mix of potassium, calcium, magnesium, and fibre that lowers blood pressure without limiting sodium intake. Watching the saltshaker, on the other hand, can lower your statistics even more if you're particularly driven.
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