Causes of High Diastolic Blood Pressure Readings and What to Do About Them

You're probably familiar with the blood pressure cuff your doctor uses but do you really understand what he is measuring?

Blood pressure is the force that the heart places on the walls of your blood vessels when it pumps and relaxes. When the heart pumps the pressure goes up and this is called systolic pressure. When the heart relaxes, the pressure goes down and this is know as diastolic pressure.

A normal blood pressure reading is considered to be 120 systolic and 80 diastolic. If your diastolic is between 80 and 100 you are pre-hypertensive. If it is over 100 you have hypertension and will probably be placed on medications.

If you have a high diastolic reading you probably have a high systolic reading as well. It really doesn't matter though because high diastolic pressure carries the same life threatening conditions as systolic.

High diastolic blood pressure is more common in young adults, teens and even children. It's been suggested that birth weight may have a direct connection to this condition.

The three principal cause of high diastolic pressure are:

Obesity: Overweight people with a high Body Mass Index place additional pressure on the arterial system creating higher blood pressure. Excess fat and cholesterol can stiffen the arteries and clog them with plaque causing the heart to have to pump harder.

Diet: One of the biggest contributors to HBP and the principal cause of obesity, is an unhealthy diet rich in salt, saturated fats and trans-fatty acids. A diet with these characteristics can damage blood vessels at the cell level. This diet encourages oxidation which weakens cells, hardens arteries, and creates plaque.

Smoking: Putting nicotine in your body is not a good idea. Nicotine constricts the blood vessels increasing blood pressure and also causes the heart to beat faster.

So if you are an overweight smoker who thinks Burger King is gourmet food, you are probably in real danger.

The obvious solution is to set aside time to exercise. Thirty minutes of walking or cycling will have an immediate impact on your blood pressure ading as well as exercise the heart muscle and arteries.

Eat a diet rich in antioxidants and vasodilators. Antioxidants fight free radicals which cause oxidation. Vasodilators allow the blood vessels to dilate and handle the pressure more efficiently. Fresh fruits and vegetables are great sources for both these characteristics.

Just say no to tobacco.

The more our society tries to make life convenient the further we get from the natural fuels that our body requires. Unfortunately, convenience and automation have a cost. That cost is nearly 70 million Americans with high blood pressure. Now is the time to take responsibility for your health and make the changes you need to avoid stroke, kidney failure and heart attack and ensure a longer healthier life.

Your heart will thank you.

Type 2 Diabetes - Do You Have Roller Coaster Blood Sugar Readings?

First of all, when you received your type 2 diabetes diagnosis your blood sugar levels were too high, and then for reasons you are not too sure about yet, they seem to be all over the place. You don't understand why because you eat the same foods!

It is only when your levels rise too high, or sink too low, that blood sugar has serious consequences for your:

mood
weight
energy level
and maybe even your life

We are all different ... there is not one eating plan to suit all people with type 2 diabetes. How your body and your blood sugar respond to certain types of food, activity, stress and illness will also be different. This is one of the reasons you might like to work closely with a dietitian so your eating plan can be individualized.

An effective method to keep track of your eating habits and all that can affect your blood sugar level, is to create a food diary where you would include your:

blood sugar reading records
menstrual cycle dates
illness
stress, or
shift changes at work

Show detailed information, for example if you nibbled on meal ingredients as you were putting your meal together, if you had a snack while preparing dinner. A week of gathering this information will reveal a little more than you think!

Some days you think you eat the same as on other occasions, but here are some factors you may not always take into account:

quantity ... unless you measure every single time, your quantities may be different

food combinations ... did you eat two different types of fruit, for example one small apple as opposed to a large banana, or did you eat a smaller amount of protein this time with your carbs

health ... changes such as illness, menstrual cycle, pain and other factors can affect your blood sugars

stress ... your blood sugars respond to physical and mental stress. Work or relationship problems can cause stress which will cause an elevation in your blood sugars

alcohol ... alcohol interferes with your metabolism for several hours giving you lower blood sugar levels

blood sugar level checks ... are you doing these checks at the same time? Timing is everything ... if you are checking 90 minutes after eating one meal, and then 3 hours after eating the next ... well that would not be a true comparison

expired strips ... your readings will also be affected if you are testing with expired strips. Not getting enough blood will also affect your reading.

Don't forget to take your food diary along to your health care provider for an accurate evaluation of your roller coaster blood sugar levels.