According to an editorial in the Lancet, the risk of getting high blood pressure or hypertension as it is called in the medical community, is greater than 90 percent. Now, one in three people in the US has hypertension.
The new revised food pyramid of what is a supposed to be healthy diet, some breed of high grain, low fat food combination, has been scientifically proven to be a poor choice for hypertensive risk or even if you have high blood pressure already.
Over a decade ago, in 1998, ground breaking research showed that nearly 2/3 of people who had high blood pressure were also insulin resistant. In other words, high blood sugar and hypertension walk hand in hand.
In that study, they also found that if you were not the type where your blood pressure would drop overnight while you were sleeping, you were also at risk for cardiovascular problems. Eating a high grain diet that converts to sugar in the blood, further increases diabetic risk, and also has the potential to increase blood pressure. If you are the type of person who has hypertension because of your blood sugar levels, then getting your blood sugars normalized will also bring your blood pressure within normal ranges.
Because both blood pressure and blood sugar difficulties can potentially have no symptoms at all, it is a good idea of have both checked regularly after the age of 40. It is interesting to note that there are around 100 drugs that are prescribed for people with hypertension and in the July 2003 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, it was reported that despite the number of drugs available and the current knowledge of hypertension, no real progress has been made to control it in the population. Also in the June 2003 study by the British Medical Association, 97 percent of the people taking hypertensive medication had suffered side effects, strong enough to be deemed significant. That suggests that you have 3 chances out of 100 to have no side effects if you choose to take medication for your hypertension.
There is another way. Lifestyle changes have been shown to normalize blood pressure in around 85 percent of people who have hypertension. The first and biggest strategy is to begin to normalize your weight. Once you begin to adopt healthier eating patterns you can begin to adapt these twelve strategies to beat your high blood pressure.
Begin to walk. Work up slowly so that you can walk for longer and longer distances. You can even work up to power walking where you walk briskly for at least 30 minutes every day. Brisk aerobic exercise increases oxygen levels so that your heart works more efficiently. Keep trying to increase your speed and your distance so that you are increasing your strength and stamina.
Take time to breathe deeply. Sit in a chair with your back straight. Breathe as deeply as you can for five or ten minutes. Stress hormones elevate a kidney enzyme called renin which actually raises blood pressure. By slowly deep breathing and expanding your belly you exhale all the tension out of your body. Adding qi gong, tai chi or yoga to that deep breathing is another great stress buster.
Add more potassium rich foods to your diet. Naturally potassium rich foods include fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products, whole grains, meat, poultry and fish. You need to watch the amount of animal protein that you eat because eating too much causes your body acid levels to rise which actually depletes potassium levels. Highly potassium rich foods include, bananas, oranges, apricots, strawberries, avocados, halibut, broccoli, tuna, parsley, spinach, potatoes, squash, Brussels sprouts, crimini mushrooms, kidney beans, eggplant, peas, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, chard, bell peppers, dried prunes, raisins, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers and cabbage.
It is important to read food labels to reduce sodium intake. By becoming a label reader, you will become more aware of how much salt is in prepared foods. Better yet, buy as little processed food as possible. Among those people with high blood pressure certain demographics are salt sensitive. Because there is no specific test to show which individuals are sensitive to salt it is important to be aware of how much salt you are using and reduce it as much as possible.
Add a half an ounce of dark chocolate that contains at least 70 percent cocoa to your diet. Dark chocolate contains flavanols which add elasticity to blood vessels. More elastic blood vessels can lower blood pressure.
Ask your doctor about adding Coenzyme Q10 to your daily regimen. CoQ10 is an antioxidant that has been shown to lower hypertension and improve energy production.
Add one alcoholic beverage to lower your blood pressure. Studies show that ¼ to ½ a drink per day will reduce blood pressure more than no drink at all. One drink per day has been shown in studies to lower risk of heart disease and is protective of the heart. Any more is detrimental.
Caffeine has been shown in studies to cause hypertension by tightening blood vessels. This can actually accentuate the effects of stress and raise blood pressure. By using decaf coffee, tea and other beverages, you are less likely to have a spike in blood pressure if you become stressed.
Try hibiscus tea. Participants in a study that drank 3 cups of hibiscus tea daily had a significant decrease in hypertension over a six week period. The drop in blood pressure was consistent with results that would have been obtained by using a blood pressure medication. It is the phytochemicals in the hibiscus that are responsible, so look for teas that list hibiscus near the top of the list of ingredients.
If you work more than 41 hours per week you risk adding hypertension to your list of health complaints by 15 percent. People who work overtime a lot are too tired to exercise and eat healthfully. These tough economic times not only add stress to your daily life, they add overtime, too. Try to rest and eat well as often as possible.
If you have hypertension and you are on medications, studies show that you can lower your blood pressure further by breathing deeply and slowly while listening to soothing music for 30 minutes per day.
If you snore loudly, maybe it's time to get it checked out. People who snore loudly, generally have additional sleep apnea. Many apnea sufferers also have high aldosterone counts. Aldosterone is a hormone that can boost blood pressure. Studies show that at least half of all apnea sufferers have elevated blood pressure.
By adopting healthy strategies and lifestyle choices, you can lower your blood pressure while being monitored by your health care professional.
No comments:
Post a Comment