WHAT IS HYPERTENSION?
Hypertension is a common and chronic condition in which blood pressure is unusually high. More than a billion people worldwide suffer from high blood pressure and it affects more than 30% of Americans and 40% of people in the UK. Later we will share breathing exercises to lower blood pressure naturally, but first, we will explore what causes hypertension, why reversing it is important, and factors that increase the risk for it.
WHAT CAUSES HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
Our heart beats all day, every day, pumping blood around our body. It circulates oxygenated blood around the arteries and veins, feeding the brain, muscles, tissues, and cells with oxygen, and it pumps deoxygenated blood toward the lungs to replenish the oxygen supply. As the heart works, blood pushes against the artery walls. This creates pressure that, like all of the body’s homeostatic functions, is constantly fluctuating to meet changing demands.
Blood pressure is regulated by motion-sensitive nerve endings called baroreceptors. High blood pressure occurs when the baroreceptors aren’t working properly, or when blood flow is restricted – in exactly the same way that water pressure might cause your garden hose to fly off the tap because of a kink or blockage. When the blood vessels are dilated and functional, blood flows easily and blood pressure stays within normal levels. Conversely, when the arteries become constricted by fatty deposits, or hardened with age, blood can’t flow so easily, and pressure increases.
When this happens, the heart will begin working harder in order to ensure that blood still circulates around the body. The extra pressure this produces provides a temporary solution, but it puts a strain on the heart and blood vessels, which, long-term, results in damage.
WHY LOWERING HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE IS IMPORTANT
Healthy circulation is vital. Without it, the organs, muscles, and cells cannot access the oxygen and nutrients they need to survive. If you have ever had a dead leg from sitting down for too long, you will be familiar with the sensation of pins and needles that occurs because of constricted blood flow. You can walk this feeling off, but when blood vessels are constantly restricted, the reduced blood flow will be detrimental to the heart and the brain. Lack of oxygen to any part of these organs can cause cells to die. Over time this can lead to poor quality of life, cognitive decline, and increased risk of dementia, disability, heart failure, aneurysms, heart attack, and stroke (among other things).
HYPERTENSION RISK FACTORS
The risk of hypertension increases significantly with age and 2 in 3 people over the age of 65 have it. Additional risk factors include genetic predisposition, obesity, diabetes, and unhealthy lifestyle choices such as unmanaged stress, smoking, poor diet, lack of exercise, and excessive alcohol consumption.
HOW CAN I LOWER MY BLOOD PRESSURE NATURALLY?
If you want to lower your blood pressure naturally, then look no further than your breath. While it may sound unbelievable, research shows breathing techniques to lower blood pressure can be equally as effective as walking for 30 minutes daily or taking blood pressure medication.
Dr. Buteyko first made the connection between high blood pressure (hypertension) and poor breathing patterns during a routine clinic in October 1952. At the time, his hypertension was worsening and he wondered whether it might be caused by over breathing. He tested this hypothesis and described his findings in an interview on Russian television, saying:
“I decided to check right away whether that was the case. How? By reducing and slowing down my breathing. I already had a headache, and my heart and right kidney were in pain, so I began cutting down on my breathing. My headache disappeared, the pain in my right kidney ceased, and my heartache discontinued within less than a minute after I reduced my breathing. To prove it was a true discovery, I inhaled deeply five times and pain pierced my head, heart, and kidney. I tried my method again and everything returned to normal.”
Since this discovery, there has been a multitude of research supporting Dr. Buyteko’s findings. One study, which was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, had participants take just 30 slow, deep breaths a day, 6 days a week, for 6 weeks. By strength-training their breathing muscles with this deep breathing exercise, the participants of the study not only reduced their blood pressure notably but also improved their endothelial function.
The endothelium is a thin membrane that lines the inside of the blood vessels, and the cells of the endothelium release substances that cause blood vessels to relax so that blood can flow freely. Improving endothelial function not only reduces blood pressure, but also promotes vascular homeostasis, and decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease, blood clots, heart attack, and stroke., All of these benefits can be achieved with just the breath, and below we will share several ‘how-to’ tips to help you do so.
BREATHING TECHNIQUES TO LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE
1. PRACTICE DAILY BREATHING EXERCISES TO LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE
Bringing your focus to your breath creates an instant de-stressing and calming effect and just 5 minutes a day can have a positive impact on your blood pressure levels. When it comes to choosing breathing techniques to lower blood pressure, there is no one, single best exercise. There are several Buteyko breathing exercises that can be found in various books, webinars, and online training courses offered by Buteyko Clinic International, and we recommend you experiment and find the one that works best for you. To help you get started, we’ve outlined a simple and effective breathing exercise to try below.
BUTEYKO BREATHE LIGHT EXERCISE DIRECTIONS:
- Sit up straight in a chair or cross-legged on the floor or lie down on your back. If sitting, imagine a piece of string gently pulling you upwards towards the ceiling from the crown of your head.
- Place your hands on your chest and tummy, or in your lap.
- Observe your breath as it enters and leaves your nose. Feel the slightly colder air entering your nose and feel the slightly warmer air leaving your nose.
- Begin to reduce the speed of each breath as it enters and leaves your nose.
- Breathing should be light, slow, quiet, and calm.
- Slow down your breathing so that you feel hardly any air entering and leaving your nostrils. Your breathing should be so quiet that the fine hairs in the nostrils do not move.
- The goal is to create a feeling that you would like to take in more air. To create air hunger, your breathing now should be “less” than it was when you started.
- If you feel stressed or lose control of your breathing, the air hunger is too strong. When this happens, take a rest for 20 or 30 seconds and start again. It is normal at the beginning to take a rest a few times during the exercise.
- Continue practicing the exercise for around four minutes.
2. RETRAIN YOURSELF TO BREATHE OPTIMALLY
When it comes to lowering blood pressure, even more helpful than a daily breathing exercise, is retraining yourself to breathe optimally. Below are 5 general guidelines for breath retraining. Every time you remember to breathe this way it will calm down your nervous system, reduce stress, and instantly lower your blood pressure. Perhaps more importantly though, if you retrain yourself to breathe this way in your daily life, you can improve your blood pressure long-term.
BREATHE THROUGH YOUR NOSE
Most people breathe through their mouths frequently and aren’t even aware that they are doing so. If this applies to you, training yourself to breathe through your nose full-time will create increased resistance, which has been demonstrated in several studies to notably lower blood pressure.
Nasal breathing is additionally beneficial because it improves oxygen uptake and circulation, it naturally slows down your breathing, and it increases the output of nitric oxide.
Nitric oxide supports blood vessel health and is a vasodilator, which means it relaxes and widens the inner muscles of the blood vessels, and in so doing, it increases blood flow and lowers blood pressure. As an added benefit, nasal breathing also helps to filter the air you take in and can support immunity by reducing the amount of pollutants and disease-causing microbes that enter your body. To support the transition to nasal breathing, it can be helpful to tape your mouth shut with MyoTape while you sleep.
BREATHE LIGHT
Many people unconsciously over breathe, and this is especially common among mouth breathers and people who are stressed or anxious. Overbreathing reduces nitric oxide and oxygen uptake, and it depletes carbon dioxide in the blood vessels. This in turn, constricts the smooth muscles in the blood vessels and airways, increases adrenaline output and stress, and raises blood pressure. Breathing lightly and creating a slight air hunger can correct these changes and create an instant anti-stress, anti-anxiety, and relaxation effect.
BREATHE SLOW
It is generally acknowledged in scientific literature that a regular practice of slow breathing can help to improve blood pressure long term. One 2006 study compared the impact of slow breathing and mental relaxation on blood pressure. Both triggered the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS), which supports the body in resting, digesting, and repairing, and both reduced respiratory rate, heart rate, and blood pressure. However, slow breathing resulted in a greater drop in systolic and diastolic blood pressure than mental relaxation.
The blood pressure-lowering effects of slow breathing is at least partially due to the connection between hypertension and stress. Scientists have reported that people with high blood pressure experience significantly higher respiratory rates under stress than those with normal blood pressure, indicating a heightened stress response. By slowing down the breath, you dial down the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) which fuels stress and the fight/flight response, and activate the PNS. This activation lowers heart rate and dilates blood vessels, which reduces blood pressure.
BREATHE DEEP
Another incorrect breathing tendency that many people have is breathing shallow, utilizing only the upper chest cavity. Shallow breathing activates the stress response and makes you feel tense and anxious. Conversely, taking deep breaths that expand the belly allows you to take in more oxygen and supports the smooth flow of blood. It also helps to activate the PNS which causes the heart rate to slow down, the blood vessels to dilate, and blood pressure to decrease.
IMPLEMENT THIS BREATHING INTO YOUR DAILY ROUTINE
Retaining yourself to breathe lightly, slowly, and deeply through your nose at all times will take some practice and a lot of repetitive self-correction. To get started simply make a pact to yourself to check in with your breath frequently throughout the day. The more you check in and self-correct, the quicker the retraining will be.
A helpful way to ensure you don’t forget your check-ins is to incorporate this breathing into routine mundane tasks such as making your bed, cooking, or doing the laundry. You may also try leaving sticky note reminders to breathe slowly and deeply around your house or work desk or even set an hourly alarm on your phone to stop and check in with your breathing. This transition period may seem tedious, but with time it will become your natural way of breathing, and the myriad of health benefits you will receive will make the initial effort worthwhile.
3. TEST FOR SLEEP APNEA
If you have high blood pressure, it is worth investigating whether or not you have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as well. These two conditions are closely related and although they are not always connected, it is now well-known that OSA is one of the common secondary causes of blood pressure elevation. In fact, a 2020 study found that around 50 percent of all OSA patients have hypertension, and 30 to 40 percent of hypertension patients have OSA (though this often goes undiagnosed).
One potential reason why the two frequently co-occur is because they are both linked to chronic stress and sympathetic nervous system (SNA) activation. Another explanation is that the hypoxic (low oxygen) burden that happens throughout the night in OSA patients can lead to higher blood pressure in the daytime. An additional reason may be explained through the baroreflex response.
The baroreflex is one of the body’s homeostatic (balancing) mechanisms and it helps to maintain blood pressure at nearly constant levels. The function of the baroreflex during sleep depends on the sleep state. Its sensitivity increases during light non-REM sleep and its function is optimized during deep non-REM sleep. These phases of dreamless, restorative sleep are crucial for wellbeing. Unfortunately, baroreflex function is often impaired in people with sleep apnea during non-REM sleep. It is believed that lower baroreflex sensitivity and an increased ventilatory (breathing) response to CO2 may cause a stronger stress response, which increases daytime stress and potentially contributes to daytime hypertension.
Due to the above-mentioned effects of OSA, identifying sleep apnea and treating it if you have it, is a fundamental step for effectively improving the control of hypertension. Fortunately, both conditions can typically be improved with breath retraining and all you need to do is follow the breathing guidelines outlined above to achieve this.
ADDITIONAL TIPS FOR LOWERING BLOOD PRESSURE NATURALLY:
While breath exercises and retraining can have a notable impact on blood pressure, for the best results, we recommend you also implement the following lifestyle modifications.
- Exercise daily
- Eat a high-fiber, wholefoods based diet, rich in fruits and vegetables, and limit your intake of caffeine, sugar, and processed, fried, and fast food
- Limit alcohol intake
- Quit smoking
- Lose excess body weight
- Ensure you get enough high-quality sleep
- Reduce stress
- Speak to your healthcare practitioner about taking a magnesium supplement. Research suggests that magnesium can help to lower stress, increase nitric oxide levels, relax the blood vessels, and reduce blood pressure in those who are deficient in it.,
4 WAYS TO MODERATE YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE DURING EXERCISE
If you’re wondering whether or not you can moderate blood pressure during exercise, the answer is Yes! This is great news because exercise is incredibly helpful for lowering high blood pressure long-term, however, without actively moderating your blood pressure, it can become dangerously high during the actual exercise activity. This is because exercise forces the heart to pump more blood and subjects the body to more stress which leads to a temporary increase in blood pressure. Depending on how high your blood pressure currently is, even small spikes can put you at a greater risk for arterial rupture, heart attack, and stroke. Fortunately, you can experience the myriad of exercise benefits safely by learning how to moderate your blood pressure.
1. PRACTICE NOSE BREATHING TO LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE
One simple and impactful way to moderate and lower your blood pressure is to breathe through your nose instead of your mouth while exercising (and ideally all the time). In 1990, scientists investigated how nasal breathing impacted systolic blood pressure in healthy men during exercise. Participants used nasal dilators to increase their nasal airflow by almost 30 percent. With the dilators in place, all of the participants were able to cycle at maximum load without mouth breathing. They also all experienced a much smaller increase in systolic blood pressure than normal. It was thought that the facilitated nasal breathing decreased the ventilatory load, meaning that the breathing muscles did not have to work so hard, and that this was responsible for the smaller spike in systolic blood pressure.
2. USE THE BREATHE LIGHT EXERCISE
The Breathe Light exercise outlined in the ‘Breathing Techniques to Lower Blood Pressure’ section above involves breathing less air than normal. This creates a tolerable air hunger – the feeling that you would like to breathe more air. It’s a little like putting your body on an “air diet.” When it comes to preventing blood pressure from climbing too high during workouts, the benefits of practicing the Breathe Light exercise are threefold.
Firstly, it helps train the body to tolerate higher levels of carbon dioxide. This is beneficial because higher levels of carbon dioxide widens the blood vessels which brings down blood pressure. This tolerance to higher levels of carbon dioxide can also significantly reduce deep, rapid breathing, and, in turn, reduce hyperventilation and fatigue. Secondly, the Breathe Light exercise helps to keep carbon dioxide levels at healthy levels during exercise (and while at rest). This, in turn, ensures less cramps and lowers blood pressure during and after exercise. Lastly, the Breathe Light exercise improves blood flow to vital organs which would typically be cut off because of deep, rapid breathing.
3. START SLOWLY & EXERCISE CONSISTENTLY
Exercising on occasion and going hard when you do is a recipe for disaster. It is far safer and more supportive to start slow, gradually build, and then maintain a consistent and regular exercise regime. Doing so is important because without regular exercise your carbon dioxide levels can decrease to an unhealthy level, and this can make you more prone to hyperventilation and cause blood pressure spikes to be more severe while exercising. In fact, a 2011 study found that while regular workouts significantly reduce a person’s chance of heart attack and other acute cardiac events, sporadic exercise – especially among weekend warriors – increases the chance of acute cardiac events and sudden cardiac death.
4. TURN YOUR ANAEROBIC WORKOUTS INTO AEROBIC WORKOUTS
Aerobic means ‘with air’. It refers to the body producing energy with the use of oxygen and usually involves sustained cardiovascular activities. Anaerobic means ‘without air’. It refers to the body producing energy without oxygen and usually involves short bursts of powerful muscle contractions.
Aerobic exercise is considered the gold standard for lowering systolic and diastolic blood pressure and warding off cardiovascular disease. But anaerobic exercise comes with several benefits as well, and should not be overlooked. For instance, it strengthens the heart and muscles, and boosts the metabolism so that you can lose excess weight (which fuels hypertension) more easily.
If you want to get the direct blood pressure-lowering benefits of aerobic exercise while performing an anaerobic activity, you may be able to achieve this by practicing Breathe Light during your workout. The mechanism of the Breathe Light exercise increases carbon dioxide in the blood to healthy levels, and this allows the blood to transport oxygen more efficiently. This in turn, will make the body work in an aerobic environment, even though you are performing an anaerobic exercise.
WORD OF CAUTION
Please note, if you have hypertension it is important that you speak to your doctor before starting any new exercise regime. Also, if your blood pressure is between 180/100mmHg – 199/109 mmHg it’s advised to avoid extreme sports, anything that puts strain on your heart, and High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) until your blood pressure is in a healthier range.
REFERENCES:
- Public Awareness of Health-Related Risks From Uncontrolled Hypertension
- Time‐Efficient Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training Lowers Blood Pressure and Improves Endothelial Function, NO Bioavailability, and Oxidative Stress in Midlife/Older Adults With Above‐Normal Blood Pressure
- Time‐Efficient Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training Lowers Blood Pressure and Improves Endothelial Function, NO Bioavailability, and Oxidative Stress in Midlife/Older Adults With Above‐Normal Blood Pressure
- Time‐Efficient Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training Lowers Blood Pressure and Improves Endothelial Function, NO Bioavailability, and Oxidative Stress in Midlife/Older Adults With Above‐Normal Blood Pressure
- Endothelial Function for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Management
- Effects of mental relaxation and slow breathing in essential hypertension
- Heightened Stress Reactivity in Response to an Attachment Related Stressor in Patients With Medically Treated Primary Hypertension
- Baroreflex Control of Sympathetic Nerve Activity and Heart Rate in Obstructive Sleep Apnea
- The association between different features of sleep‐disordered breathing and blood pressure: A cross‐sectional study
- Stress in obstructive sleep apnea
- Stress in obstructive sleep apnea
- The role of magnesium in hypertension and cardiovascular disease
- Effects of Magnesium Supplementation on Blood Pressure
- Association of episodic physical and sexual activity with triggering of acute cardiac events: systematic review and meta-analysis
- Exercise, physical activity and your blood pressure
