Nobody likes stressful situations, but is it bad for your health and wellbeing? Can stress cause high blood pressure? Let’s find out.
When people are faced with a stressful situation, their blood pressure spikes temporarily, but what about in the long term? Do all of these short-term spikes eventually lead to a long-term, chronic issue that results in hypertension?
While researchers are still not sure, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to effectively manage your stress. In fact, doing exercise for 30 minutes per day can lower your stress levels while also improving your blood pressure.
Stress and Blood Pressure
When people experience a stressful situation, their body produces a surge of hormones to help you deal with it. However, these hormones will also temporarily increase your blood pressure levels, narrowing your blood vessels and increasing your heart rate.
While there is no direct relation between stress and chronic hypertension, it may affect you indirectly. For example, if you react to stress in an unhealthy way, this can increase your risk of high blood pressure.
Some of these unhealthy behaviors include smoking, eating unhealthy foods, and drinking too much alcohol. In addition, health conditions like anxiety, depression, and isolation may be connected to stress and heart disease.
Besides leading to unhealthy behaviors, the stress hormones may damage your arteries, which can result in hypertension and heart disease. Also, keep in mind that symptoms related to depression and anxiety may also cause you to forget to take your medications.
To summarize, stress will lead to temporary spikes in blood pressure, but not in the long term (at least directly). Nevertheless, these short-term spikes can also damage your blood vessels similarly to chronic hypertension if they happen frequently.
Reducing Stress and Hypertension
Effective stress management techniques can improve your blood pressure by creating healthy behavior changes. By putting into practice healthy ways to manage your stress, you can benefit your mental health, heart health, and more.
For instance, you can simplify your schedule, practice breathing techniques, exercise regularly, get restful sleep, and try yoga or meditation. As you try out different techniques, be willing to experiment so you can find what works best for you.
The Outlook
The good news is that currently there is no evidence of stress directly increases your risk of high blood pressure. Still, the not-so-good news is that they may lead to unhealthy habits that will increase your risk. Moreover, if you experience stress on a frequent basis, you may experience short-term blood pressure spikes that negatively impact your health.
Fortunately, there are a couple of things you can do like exercising regularly or taking supplements like L-arginine Plus. It contains ingredients that effectively promote circulation, blood pressure health, energy levels, and more. Try L-arginine Plus along with different stress management techniques to give your heart the support it deserves.