Manage Blood Pressure Naturally: What to Drink to Lower Blood Pressure Quickly

9 Drinks to Lower Blood Pressure

Whether you’re at home or on the go, if you need to lower your blood pressure quickly, there are many useful drinks you can turn to. Let’s talk about each one in detail.

1. Green tea

If you’re looking for a good morning drink for high blood pressure, green tea might be one of the best options you can find. It can be a good option for lowering blood pressure because it has multiple health benefits.

Not only does it directly lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure, but it will also help reduce glucose and cholesterol levels, which can be beneficial to heart health. It’s a perfect option to get you started in the morning or on cold days.

2. Hibiscus tea and other herbal teas

If green tea isn’t quite to your taste, herbal options, such as hibiscus tea, can serve as a healthy alternative. The best part is that this morning or evening beverage can also help if you want to lower high blood pressure.

Hibiscus tea, as an example, has been proven to help manage high blood pressure, even in patients who are not on any antihypertensive medications. It is shown to be primarily effective in reducing systolic blood pressure.

3. Beetroot juice

The benefits of beetroot for BP have been known for a long time. This is because it contains inorganic nitric oxide, which is a chemical that helps dilate the blood vessels, effectively lowering blood pressure. This is why nitric oxide is reduced in hypertension.

By drinking beet juice, you’re supplementing your body with nitric oxide. This is a very effective way to reduce blood pressure. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure are improved with beetroot juice. You can add a daily glass of beet juice as part of a healthy diet.

4. Pomegranate juice

Being made from a fruit, most people will agree that pomegranate juice is tasty. While it is a great beverage to drink throughout the day, it can also help manage high blood pressure, making it an even better option.

Regardless of how much was had (as little as 240ml) or how long, consuming pomegranate juice has been shown to have a positive effect on systolic and diastolic blood pressure. You can incorporate cold pomegranate juice as a daily beverage, and it is perfect at any time of day.

5. Celery juice

Celery is popular among people trying to start a healthy diet and lose weight, thanks to being low in calories. However, there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that celery can also be key to maintaining healthy blood pressure.

One review paper looked at studies where different forms of celery, including celery juice, were used as a means to reduce blood pressure. The consensus was that celery products were effective in controlling high blood pressure levels.

Although celery juice might not taste great for some, you can always mix it with something sweeter, like pomegranate juice, to make it more tolerable and still lower your blood pressure efficiently.

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6. Cranberry juice

It’s very likely that you’re familiar with the sour taste of cranberry juice, but you probably didn’t know that it’s a great drink if you’re looking to lower your blood pressure. Since cranberry juice tastes good, it is very easy to incorporate it into your diet.

It’s been found that cranberry juice is able to lower diastolic blood pressure, although it doesn’t seem to have a significant effect on systolic blood pressure. However, it also lowers blood glucose and triglycerides, which is beneficial for a heart-healthy diet.

7. Reduced-fat milk

If you’re living with high blood pressure, your doctor will advise you to reduce your fat intake as part of a heart-healthy diet. Consuming low-fat dairy products is one way to do this.

Besides being one way to stop consuming as much fat, products like reduced-fat milk have been shown to have a beneficial effect when it comes to BP, although diastolic blood pressure has not decreased to a significant extent.

Consuming more low-fat milk is a great way to control high blood pressure. You can add it to breakfast cereal, smoothies, drink it on its own, and more.

8. Kombucha

Kombucha is a drink obtained by fermenting black tea. It is fizzy, with a sweet and sour taste. There are a lot of health benefits that kombucha is claimed to have, including blood pressure-lowering effects.

In fact, kombucha has been scientifically proven to help in managing blood pressure. One study was able to show that it has many benefits for cardiovascular health besides being able to lower high blood pressure levels.

While kombucha may not be to everyone’s taste, drinking a little bit every day and building up from there can make it easier to get used to.

9. Lemon water

When it comes to treating high blood pressure without medication, lemon juice has long been used as an option and has been proven to be effective at that.

Of course, lemon juice is extremely sour, and not many people can tolerate that level of sourness. Fortunately, you can dilute lemon juice to make lemon water.

The effect it will have on high blood pressure levels will be less noticeable, but it is still a great option that can be substituted entirely for regular water.

Drinks to Avoid With High Blood Pressure

While there are drinks that are great if you want to lower blood pressure levels, there are also drinks you should stay away from if you have elevated blood pressure. Some drinks only raise blood pressure further, so let’s talk about a few of them.

Sugary and carbonated beverages

For years, soda and other sugary drinks have been criticized for being unhealthy. They are high in calories and full of added sugars, which can cause weight gain and impact blood pressure negatively.

A study was able to show that increased soft drink intake can increase both systolic and diastolic blood pressure over a 10-year period, even for people who did not have high blood pressure initially.

Whether you have high blood pressure or not, cutting out or limiting soft drink intake can be key to managing blood pressure and staying within a healthy weight range.

Energy drinks and high-caffeine beverages

Drinks with high levels of caffeine will almost always result in a higher than normal blood pressure reading, even soon after being consumed.

Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant, and besides making you feel more energetic, it gets your blood flowing faster by increasing your heart rate. However, that means it increases your blood pressure too.

This also means that beverages like coffee, tea, and especially energy drinks (which are simultaneously carbonated and high in sugar) should be avoided if you have high blood pressure.

Alcohol

Alcohol is established to increase blood pressure. It can be really hard to cut off drinking entirely, however, so people with high blood pressure or heart disease should aim for moderate alcohol consumption at the very most.

One drink for women and two drinks for men should be the limit you target.

Why Hydration Is Important for Blood Pressure Management

The human body is made mostly of water. To keep everything in the body working properly, it’s important to make sure that you stay properly hydrated. This applies to almost every system in the body.

Does drinking water lower blood pressure? To maintain healthy blood pressure levels, it is essential to make sure you’re well-hydrated. Plasma is the liquid part of what runs through your blood vessels, so when you’re dehydrated, your plasma volume decreases.

This means that dehydration can result in lower systolic and diastolic pressure readings since there’s less blood volume pushing through the cardiovascular system. Drinking enough water will help normalize your blood pressure.

Other Lifestyle Changes to Lower Blood Pressure

While there are heart-healthy drinks that help lower blood pressure levels, there are other lifestyle modifications that you can make that are more effective when it comes to managing blood pressure.

• A balanced diet is very effective when it comes to taking care of blood pressure. By consuming more heart-healthy nutrients like potassium, omega-3 fatty acids, and unsaturated fats and increasing your intake of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, you can improve your heart health. Also, avoid eating unhealthy foods high in trans and saturated fat, reduce added sugar consumption, avoid drinking too much alcohol, and decrease sodium intake.
• Exercising regularly can also be very beneficial for blood pressure management. Moderate physical activity can help keep your weight low and is directly beneficial for heart health.
• Stress can increase blood pressure. When you can manage stress well, you can keep your blood pressure under control more easily. Some stress management techniques you can use include music therapy, deep breathing exercises, relaxation, and physical activity.
• If you smoke, you should attempt to cut down or quit entirely. Smoking can increase the risk of many cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension. Nicotine replacement therapy can serve as a good first step to limiting your smoking.

The Cardi Health app can help you log your BP and keep track of how these lifestyle changes affect your readings. It might also make sticking to a balanced diet and exercise regimen easier, thanks to personalized plans.

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FAQ

What are some natural drinks to lower blood pressure?

Some drinks to naturally lower blood pressure include green tea, hibiscus tea, beetroot juice, pomegranate juice, celery juice, cranberry juice, reduced-fat milk, kombucha, and lemon water.

Are there any drinks to avoid if I have high blood pressure?

Yes, if you have high blood pressure, you should avoid sugary and carbonated beverages and high-caffeine drinks like energy drinks, and limit alcohol consumption.

Does staying hydrated affect blood pressure?

Absolutely. Proper hydration is essential as dehydration can lead to lower blood volume, affecting systolic and diastolic pressure readings.

Are there other lifestyle changes beneficial for managing blood pressure?

Yes, a balanced diet, regular exercise, stress management, and quitting smoking are all effective ways to manage blood pressure.

Final Considerations

Several fruit and vegetable juices can be very helpful when it comes to managing systemic hypertension. Drinks for lowering your blood pressure can also extend to low-fat milk, lemon water, and kombucha.

It is important to avoid consuming alcohol beyond moderate drinking (more than one drink for women or two for men) and keep away from carbonated and caffeine-containing drinks. This can help keep your BP within a healthy range.

Making these healthy choices can be hard initially, but if you keep at it, you’ll definitely feel the benefits in your health.

Written by

Robertas Pranevicius, MD

Robertas Pranevicius is a medical advisor at Cardi Health who earned his Master’s degree and cardiology residency from the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. He specializes in interventional cardiology and performs both diagnostic and therapeutic invasive procedures. In recent years, he has focused on structural heart disease treatment, such as transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).