What To Drink To Lower Blood Pressure Fast

 Key takeaways:

• Tea and juices like pomegranate, apple, orange, beetroot, and tomato juice have a positive hypotensive effect on high blood pressure, so they may be good for people who want to lower their blood pressure.
• To maintain healthy blood pressure, avoid drinks like alcohol and energy drinks that contain lots of caffeine.
• Other healthy eating and snacking habits, as well as lifestyle changes like exercising, are some approaches to maintaining your blood pressure besides your medications.

Blood pressure is the measure of the force that pumped blood exerts on the wall of the arteries. For adults, normal blood pressure ranges from 90/60mmHg to 120/80mmHg while high blood pressure reads 140/90mmHg or higher. 

The top value of the blood pressure reading indicates your systolic blood pressure, which is the pressure in your arteries when your heart is beating. The lower value is your diastolic blood pressure and it measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart rests between beats.

Prehypertension is when your blood pressure is slightly above the normal range. With prehypertension, your systolic blood pressure can be up to 138 mm/Hg, and diastolic blood pressure can be up to 88 mm/Hg.

High blood pressure is also known as hypertension and it doesn’t have a singular cause. People at higher risk of this medical condition include older people, people with a family history of hypertension, the obese or overweight, physically inactive people, smokers, people who take alcohol, and stressed out people. 

While no food or drink is a "magic remedy" for high blood pressure, adopting a healthy diet is a management strategy for hypertension that can help prevent cardiovascular complications and mortality. A healthy diet encompasses what you eat and drink.

Below are some drinks you can take to help manage or lower your blood pressure if you have hypertension.

 Juices that can help lower blood pressure

Taking these juices may be beneficial for lowering blood pressure:

 1. Pomegranate Juice

Pomegranates contain antioxidative substances and a high amount of fiber, boosting their health benefits. They have an abundance of phenolic compounds that act as antioxidants.

In a randomized controlled trial, consuming 200 ml of pomegranate juice per day for 6 weeks significantly reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure in people with hypertension.

 2. Beet juice

Beetroot is a vegetable often used in salads. It is rich in fiber and nitrate and has an anti-inflammatory property. 

Evidence from a systematic review shows that beetroot juice helps reduce blood pressure and will benefit prehypertensive patients as a supplement. This hypotensive property of beetroot juice is due to the concentration of nitrate (NO3) in this drink. 

 3. Apple juice

Apple juice is a good drink option for people with high blood pressure. Apples are rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They are also helpful in reducing the risks of certain diseases, like stroke and diabetes. 

A review article on the effect of apple consumption on cardiovascular diseases shows that they have the potential to prevent cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus.

The hypotensive properties of apples can be traced to them containing polyphenols, which, when acted on by enzymes in your body, could be converted to smaller phenolic compounds with a higher effect on the body.

 4. Tomato juice

Taking tomato juice may be helpful in lowering blood pressure. Tomato is a popular vegetable in salads, soups, sauces, pasta, sandwiches, and more. They contain several vitamins and minerals and have numerous health benefits.

A study associates tomato juice consumption with hypotensive effects on both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in elderly people with grade 1 hypertension. Grade 1 hypertension is regarded as systolic blood pressure between 140 and 159 mm/Hg and/or diastolic blood pressure between  90 and 99 mm/Hg.

The decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressure was significant in patients who consumed up to 44–82 g of tomato in a day. Tomatoes were also found in the study to reduce the risk of hypertension by up to 36% in patients who consumed more than 110 grams per day. 

Systolic and diastolic blood pressure were significantly reduced in hypertensive patients who consumed 70–400 g of tomato-based products a day.

 5. Grapefruit juice

Grapefruit juice paired with felodipine appears to reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure in elderly patients.

However, the grapefruit-felodipine interaction increases with intake frequency and the amount of grapefruit juice; hence, researchers recommend that you have a 2-3 day break between grapefruit juice intakes to avoid this interaction. 

Felodipine is a drug used to treat hypertension. It prevents you from developing heart disease, heart attacks, and stroke if you have hypertension. 

 6. Tart Cherry juice

Tart cherries have a bright red color that differentiates them from sweet cherries, which have a deep red or sometimes purple color. This fruit contains lots of minerals and chemical compounds that make it a great antioxidant.

In a randomized controlled study involving 37 qualified participants between the ages of 65 and 85 who consumed less than 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure was observed in people with hypertension after drinking 480 ml of tart cherry juice a day for 12 weeks. However, no significant effect was observed on diastolic blood pressure.

However, the evidence is not yet conclusive, as larger and longer follow-up studies are needed to further assess the cardio-protective effects of tart cherry juice. 

 7. Cranberry juice

Cranberry is a fruit that contains lots of vitamins and has a high antioxidative property that makes it anti-inflammatory. 

A meta-analysis published in Clinical Nutrition shows that the intake of cranberry juice significantly reduced systolic blood pressure. Researchers observed that this reduction was pronounced in people above 50 years.

 Teas that can help lower blood pressure

Teas that can help reduce blood pressure include:

 1. Black Tea

Black tea is a beverage made from the fermented leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. It can be consumed as is or flavored with milk or lemon.

This beverage has several health benefits, including promoting heart health, improving focus, and reducing the risk of certain diseases like cancer.

In promoting heart health, black tea can reduce blood pressure in people with pre-hypertensive and hypertensive ranges, as described in a meta-analysis involving 834 individuals. These data suggest that long-term (≥12 weeks) ingestion of tea could result in a significant reduction in blood pressure.

 2. Green Tea

Green tea may also be beneficial for lowering blood pressure. Similar to black tea, green tea is derived from the leaves and buds of the Camellia sinensis plant. But, this time, when the plant has not gone through the withering and oxidation process. 

The mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of green tea are mainly attributed to its flavonoid-like polyphenol contents, such as catechins.

A meta-analysis study shows that consuming green tea for 2 weeks or more reduces systolic and diastolic blood pressure in adults over 18 years old. However, this analysis excluded children and pregnant women.

 Drinks to avoid when you have high blood pressure

Consuming certain drinks increases your blood pressure and puts you at risk of heart disease, stroke, heart attacks, and other complications of hypertension. 

Here are some drinks you should avoid to manage hypertension:

 1. Alcohol

Alcohol is one drink that should be avoided if you have high blood pressure. While alcohol might be the center of celebrations and gatherings, it is associated with an increased risk of digestive and cardiovascular health conditions, mental disorders, and cancer.

Evidence shows that a medium to high intake of alcohol increases systolic and diastolic blood pressure 13 hours after intake.

 2. Energy drinks

Energy drinks contain high amounts of caffeine—about 150 mg— which gives alertness, energy, and improved cognitive function. 

One study shows that systolic and diastolic blood pressure increases by 0.8 mmHg and 0.5 mmHg, respectively, per 100 mg of caffeine consumed in energy drinks.

 Other effective tips for lowering blood pressure

Maintaining your blood pressure doesn’t always require medications. Several lifestyle and dietary changes can help, including: 

 Losing some weight

Being overweight or obese increases your blood pressure, and it interrupts smooth breathing while sleeping. This condition is also called sleep apnea. 

Maintaining a healthy weight can reduce blood pressure by 5.4 mmHg in a span of 3 months.

 Increasing your physical activity

Besides being an effective way to lose weight, increasing your physical activity increases your heart rate and improves your breathing. These benefits strengthen your heart and help it work with less effort. 

Medical experts recommend 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity exercise every week. Some exercises you can try include brisk walking, riding a bike, swimming, dancing, cycling, or hiking. 

 Maintaining a healthy diet

In addition to taking the drinks mentioned above, you need to adopt healthy eating and snacking dietary habits.

The recommended meal plan is the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. This meal plan includes eating low-fat dairy products and consuming more nuts, fish, poultry, beans, and vegetable oil. 

 Quitting smoking

Smoking is yet another habit you need to quit to have a healthy heart. People with hypertension are at risk of several cardiovascular diseases, and smoking will only contribute to this heightened risk. 

Smoking contains 7,000 toxic substances that cause inflammation, swelling, and narrowing of the blood vessels, all of which researchers link to a high risk of cardiovascular disease.

While there is no direct association between smoking and increased blood pressure, it is important to quit this habit as it is toxic to your heart health.

 Final words

Hypertension is a major global problem that increases the risk of cardiovascular complications. Consuming drinks like green tea, black tea, apple juice, tomato juice, and others highlighted in this article that have hypotensive effects will help as adjuncts in the management of high blood pressure. 

However, these should not be considered a substitute for antihypertensive medications prescribed by a healthcare professional, as further studies are needed to validate their efficacy and optimal dose.

Avoid alcohol and energy drinks, which have an extremely high caffeine content and can increase your blood pressure. Adopting the DASH meal plan and making lifestyle changes like exercising more, maintaining a healthy weight, and quitting smoking are other effective ways to control high blood pressure.