One of the biggest concerns as we grow older is our blood pressure, and what raises it. It’s known that there are a variety of influences for it to elevate, while there are also effective ways to counteract the reactions. It begins with making lifestyle changes.
What’s recommended is to constantly track your blood pressure, as most aren’t even unaware it may be elevated. It can slowly creep up on you, or just naturally increase over the years as stress and age compounds, this influenced by a variety of factors.
The biggest most obvious reason is those who are obese or sedentary. If this happens to be you, the first step is consulting your health practitioner or guide. Losing just ten pounds is known to lower blood pressure.
Watch What You Eat
An unhealthy diet with minimal physical activity accelerates the risk of high blood pressure. What’s recommended is exercising for at least 30 minute a day, which can just be walking, so make it a priority.
Avoid foods which contain salt as it’s a key trigger, by eating more fruits and vegetables. Attempt to incorporate as many one item food products into your diet as possible, and you’ll begin to feel the results immediately.
Stress A Factor
Stress is one of the biggest contributors to high blood pressure. What this hectic world pushes is stress in most areas our lives. If you’re dealing with high levels of stress, then it’s vital to calm yourself down.
It’s known that excessive alcohol and tobacco can also contribute to elevated blood pressure, so consider stopping or limiting your consumption. There are now a variety of natural or prescription products to rid of these habits.
Monitoring Your Health
Certain medical conditions contributes to high blood pressure which are tied to your lifestyle. Kidney disease can be a result as well as a cause. Sleeping disorders which disrupts breathing during sleep also increases blood pressure.
The side effects of certain medications are known to spike an increase, along with certain types of anti-depressants and cold medications are known culprits. Be especially aware of oral contraceptives, anorexia drugs, nasal decongestants, and steroids.
Controlling Blood Pressure
Although you can somewhat control the factors which raises blood pressure, at times you can’t. For instance, certain races such as African Americans are more prone, as are those over fifty are at higher risk. Your family history can also play a role.
These are situations that you obviously have no control over, but are factors. All you can do in these cases is to regulate your diet, exercise regularly, control your lifestyle habits, etc.
High blood pressure is one of the known contributors to stroke, along with heart and kidney disease. Just leading a healthier simpler lifestyle can help in its reduction, placing you in a better state.
Lowering Your Blood Pressure
If you have high blood pressure, what’s needed are immediate preventative measures to lower it, this regardless of the cause. It comes down to what you eat, how much you exercise, and reducing your vices which affects its volatility.
Make sure that you continuously check it regularly, as it should become a necessary and routine procedure, this to monitor its stability, making sure that it’s not spiking dramatically.
Since there are a variety of reasons for high blood pressure, there are also a variety of ways to lower it.
The Effects Of High Blood Pressure
What’s known for certain is that high blood pressure damages your blood vessels, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, so you don’t want it to compound.
Making lifestyle changes is the most effective way. If preventative maintenance doesn’t work, then you’ll need to resort to medication, which can become expensive while having potential side effects.
If you drink too much caffeine for instance, it’s recommended that you decrease to one cup a day if you’re prone, as coffee is a diuretic which results in your heart beating faster.
What a faster heart beat does is it raises your blood pressure much like an overheating car. So try other products such as green tea as an alternate.
Excessive Body Weight A Contributor
If you’re obese then you’re at risk, so start eating healthier. A fitness program is extremely beneficial, so adopt a routine which is suitable. Make sure you track your progress, as by doing so, you’ll know what’s working and what’s not.
Comply to a low fat diet which has plenty of nutrients. Avoid sodium, or at least limit your intake. The consumption of sodium is almost impossible to track however, as it doesn’t affect everyone the same, so it’s just best to regulate it.
Foods Which Affects Your Blood Pressure
What you eat is the biggest contributor to your blood pressure, so gauge your diet, this by consuming more of the following: calcium, potassium, magnesium, vitamins A & C, fiber, complex carbohydrates, and polyunsaturated fats.
Foods To Avoid
Sugar, especially common table sugar or sucrose. The problem with sugar is that most will automatically add more of it to their foods, unaware that it most likely already contains excess amounts already, which contributes to the problem.
Alter what you eat by adopting a diet that’s high in potassium, which reduces blood pressure by it lowering the effects of adrenaline. The key becomes reducing salt while simultaneously increasing potassium.
Foods Which Reduces Blood Pressure
• The essential oil that’s found in onions are extremely beneficial. It’s found that consuming it on a daily basis reduces your systolic levels
• Tomatoes are found to be beneficiary, as what they contain are high amounts of natural GABA, which helps in lowering blood pressure
• Broccoli and carrots contain compounds which lessens blood pressure. It’s found that to keep your levels safe, eat more of these foods as a precaution
• Garlic is excellent for the heart, as eating just one clove a day has shown to be effective
• Celery, especially its leaves are found to lower blood pressure
Once you chose to eat healthier, it instantly has an effect on your health. So choose to exercise daily, while practicing preventative maintenance by consuming as many natural foods as possible, this to deter the ravages of high blood pressure.