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Blood pressure is defined as the pressure that’s put on the walls of the arteries as blood is pumped by way of the circulatory system. Blood runs through our veins and arteries at a certain pressure. Within natural limits, this pressure is not harmful. However, if this pressure increases, the heart is overworked and the arteries develop abnormal interior tissue growth. This further blocks the passage of blood, leading to increasing blood pressure. Finally, the heart muscle itself thickens, making the heart progressively weaker.

Efforts to lower high blood pressure date back to the beginnings of recorded history. Ancient healing systems such as yoga and herbal medicine sciences such as ayurveda prescribed methods to lower high blood pressure long before modern medicinal intervention. Then and now, there is a great emphasis on changing unhealthy lifestyles to lower high blood pressure. Doctors do not focus only on treating high blood pressure but also on assessing a patient’s overall risk to cardiovascular disease.

Not taking measures to lower high blood pressure can finally result in serious heart disease. Strokes, heart attacks and heart failure are often the result. Another serious health complication caused by high blood pressure is kidney failure. High blood pressure is often not detected until it leads to other health issues. Occasionally, there might be symptoms such as nausea, headaches, dizziness, heart palpitation (rapid beating) and arrhythmia (irregular heart beat).

A lot of drugs such as aspirin and other anti-clotting agents have reduced the incidence of heart attacks and strokes in patients with high blood pressure. Patients are now trained to monitor their own blood pressures regularly, recognize warning signs and to seek medical treatment immediately when required.

In some cases, patients inherit their susceptibility to high blood pressure from their parents. Congenital high blood pressure is harder to treat than other forms because the problem is an integral part of the genetic makeup. Thankfully, advanced medical research is developing newer methods to lower high blood pressure of every origin.

Many commonly used medicines can cause high blood pressure as side effects. Such medicines include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, steroids and contraceptives. Obesity invariably leads to high blood pressure because of the excessive body weight and the additional pressure it puts on the heart and arterial system. An unhealthy diet rich in salt and fats, coupled with a sedentary lifestyle devoid of exercise, is another culprit. High blood pressure – often to a fatal extent – can also be attributed to excessive use of alcohol and intoxicating drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine.

Good thing is that, modern medical science has gone to great lengths to find ways to lower high blood pressure. By itself, high blood pressure or arterial hypertension is almost never a serious health threat. However, doctors attempt to lower high blood pressure in their patients because it can have serious long-term consequences.

Get to know more about hypertension.

These days lots of individuals in their Forties and Fifties are being told that they have high blood pressure and that unless they induce major lifestyle alterations soon, then they will have to take blood pressure tablets for the remainder of their lives. The fact is, that once your body gets used to these tablets it is extremely hard to get off them.

Therefore, if you have been given this word of warning, take it seriously. The doctor’s advice can take different forms, but it usually encompasses: lose weight; quit smoking and drinking; take more exercise and consume less salt.

In the spirit of this latter piece of advice, I have put three low salt soup recipes from three different countries in this piece. I hope you enjoy them.

Recipe One: Germany

Two Bean Soup (Zwei Bohnensuppe) (Serves Four)

1 1/4 cups white beans, dry 1 cup cut green beans 1 green onion, diced 1 potato, peeled & chopped 2 tbls unbleached flour

Garnish =================== 4 oz ham, chopped 1/4 cup celery,chopped 1 onion, yellow, diced 1 tbls unsalted butter (optional) 3/4 cup beef broth, unsalted 1/4 tsp pepper 1 parsley, sprig

The beans can be either fresh or frozen, but do not use canned. Boil the beans until softish; add the potato and continue to boil. Add the flour to thicken when the potato is cooked. Stir well. Serve in bowls and then add the garnish. Crispy bread is a good accompaniment.

Recipe Two: Ireland

Sorrel Soup (Serves Eight)

1 lb Sorrel 3 oz unsalted butter (or margarine) 1 large onion, chopped 2 tbsp flour (heaped) 2 1/2 l stock 2 tbsp breadcrumbs 1 pepper 2 egg yolks 150 ml cream

Wash the sorrel well and chop it up. Heat the butter or margarine in a saucepan and just soften the sorrel and onion in it. Sprinkle the flour on to the vegetables and mix well. Let it cook for around 1 minute. In the meantime bring the stock to the boil, then add to the pan. Add the breadcrumbs, add pepper to taste, and bring to the boil, then simmer for about 1 hour covered. (It can become liquidized at this point, if liked). Whisk the egg yolks with the cream and add a little of the hot soup to the mixture, stirring well; then add gradually to the soup pot, stirring well on the heat, being careful not to let it boil.

Recipe Three: Russia

Borsch (Serves eight)

1 cup navy beans, dried 2 1/2 lb beef, lean 1/2 lb slab bacon 10 cups cold water 1 bay leaf 8 whole peppercorns 2 cloves garlic 2 tblsp parsley, dried 1 carrot 1 celery stalk 1 red onion, big, chopped 1 tsp salt (optional) 8 beetroots for soup 2 beetroots, small 2 cups green cabbage, shredded 2 leeks, big, sliced 3 potatoes, cut into eighths 1 can (1 lb 13 oz) tomatoes 1 tbspn tomato paste 3 tbspn red wine vinegar 1 lb kielbasa (optional) 2 tbspn flour 1 tbspn butter, melted 1/2 cup sour cream (optional)

Cover beans with water and permit to soak overnight; cook until tender; drain; set aside. Place beef, bacon and water in large soup pot; bring to the boil. Skim fat from surface. Add bay leaf, peppercorns, garlic, parsley, carrot, celery, onion. Cover and simmer on a low heat for around 1 1/2 hours.

Scrub beetroots for soup and cook in boiling water until soft, around 45 minutes; drain and dispose of water; cool. Peel and cut each beetroot into eighths. Scrub small beetroots; grate; cover with water and soak.

Remove meat from soup; lay aside. Strain soup into another pot and add cooked beetroot, cabbage, leeks, potatoes, tomatoes, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, beef and bacon.

Return to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes. Cut kielbasa into pieces and add with navy beans to soup. Simmer 20 minutes more. Mix flour and butter together to form a paste. Stir into soup to thicken slightly. Strain raw beets, saving liquid yet discarding beetroots. Add beetroot liquid to soup.

Additional sugar or vinegar can be added for a sweeter or sourer flavour. Cut meat and place in individual soup bowls. Pour hot soup with vegetables on to meat. Garnish every serving with a spoonful of sour cream, if desired.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on several of topics, but is currently involved with work on high blood pressure charts. If you want to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at High Blood Pressure Recipes.