Notes by Nourish

You’ve almost certainly heard of high blood pressure, aka hypertension, but low blood pressure is also a common ailment among many. That’s why I’ve put together this little two-part blog series on How to Raise Low Pressure Naturally.
I’ll also be writing a small blog series on high blood pressure soon if that sounds like you. Keep a lookout 🙂

Interestingly, our blood pressure levels change continuously during the day. They’re constantly rebalancing themselves after we’ve been standing up or sitting for a long time or if we’re dehydrated. Even if the temperature is warm or after we’ve eaten.

Blood pressure helps our vital organs, including our brain, heart, kidneys and lungs to get enough blood and oxygen to function optimally.

What is Blood Pressure?

Blood pressure is a measure of the force that our heart uses to pump blood around our body.
It’s measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg) and is given as 2 figures:

systolic pressure – the pressure when your heart pushes blood out

diastolic pressure – the pressure when your heart rests between beats

As a general rule of thumb, if you take your blood pressure reading and all is well, it should read around 120/80 in healthy adults.

What is Low Blood Pressure?

Low blood pressure, also known as hypotension, is if your blood pressure reading is commonly lower than 120/80. The value for low blood pressure is a reading around and below 90/60. It means that the pressure of blood circulating around the body is lower than normal.

What Are The Symptoms of Low Blood Pressure?

Just like high blood pressure (hypertension), low blood pressure may come with no symptoms. However, there are times that symptoms can arise as a result of not enough blood and oxygen getting to some parts of your body. These include:

• feeling dizzy, faint or light-headed
• nausea
• blurred vision
• feeling faint or actually fainting
• headaches
• a general feeling of weakness and fatigue
• feeling confused
• difficulty breathing
• awareness of your heartbeat (palpitations)

What Causes Low Blood Pressure?

Low pressure can occur for a whole variety of different reasons.

For some people, they simply have a blood pressure level that is naturally low. There is no specific cause or reason why.
It’s likely to be a result of genetics, lifestyle and diet.

Other causes may be one of the following:

Medications

There are some medications that are known to cause low pressure.
Typically the types of medication include antidepressants, diuretics, beta-blockers and medications to lower blood pressure (that work a little too well in this case!). The symptoms in this case are typically known when you stand up. You suddenly feel dizzy, light-headed or faint.

Dehydration

Water helps increase the volume of blood, therefore without sufficient amounts, low blood pressure can occur.

Orthostatic Hypotension

Also known as Postural hypotension, this is when your blood pressure drops when you go from lying down to sitting up or from sitting to standing. It’s very obvious during exercise, such as in a yoga class where you go from sitting to standing and then lying down quite quickly.

Prolonged Sitting (followed by standing up quickly)

Nutrient deficiency (more on that later)

Anaemia

Diabetes

Neurological conditions e.g Parkinsons Disease

Shock or injury

If you experience serious shock or injury, this can cause your blood pressure to suddenly drop. One example of this is an allergic reaction called anaphylactic shock. Serious burns are another example.  

Heart problems

Pregnancy

Adrenal gland issues

Anxiety

Anxiety is also a reason for blood pressure to drop. Sometimes when people are anxious, they don’t breathe properly. As a result, this causes blood vessels to dilate (widen) and blood pressure to decrease.

Conversely, blood pressure changes are also linked to causing anxiety. Symptoms of both high and low blood pressure include changes in heart rate, lightheadedness, and dizziness, all of which can cause anxiety or trigger panic attacks in some people.

Now that we know what the symptoms are and what the causes are if this sounds like you, check out part 2. Here’s we’ll cover How to Raise Low Pressure Naturally.

Emily Nöth

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Please remember that you should always obtain the all-clear from your doctor before starting any new supplement plan or diet if you’re on any medication