How to Quickly Lower Your Blood Pressure

One in every three adults has high blood pressure, according to the American Heart Association. High blood pressure can cause a host of complications, including damage to your arteries, heart failure, ruptured blood vessels in your brain, aneurysms and memory trouble. Various changes in your lifestyle can help you reduce high blood pressure over time. Some methods allow you to lower your blood pressure more quickly than others. These include adding certain foods to your diet, exercising and cutting down on alcohol and caffeine.

Create an aerobic routine. Aerobic activity makes your heart stronger and can lower your systolic blood pressure (the number at the top of a blood pressure reading) by as much as 10 millimeters, according to the Mayo Clinic. Aerobic activity includes any exercise that increases your heart and breathing rate, such as dancing, running and biking.

Change your diet. A healthy diet can lower your blood pressure over time. According to nutritionist Joy Bauer, eight foods can quickly lower your blood pressure. These include skim milk, spinach, unsalted sunflower seeds, beans, baked white potatoes, bananas, soybeans and dark chocolate.

Try to relax. Simply relaxing or practicing slow, deep breathing techniques can reduce your blood pressure quickly. Join a yoga or Tai chi class to learn proper breathing techniques.

Consider medications. For some people, the aforementioned activities will not be sufficient to lower your blood pressure to safe levels. Medication may be the only option to lower your blood pressure quickly. These include thiazide diuretics, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors.

Reduce alcohol consumption. According to the Mayo Clinic, too much alcohol can raise blood pressure and reduce the effectiveness of high blood pressure medications.