Following positive changes in your lifestyle can effectively help you control your blood pressure to normal levels every day. Adopting healthy lifestyle habits is an effective first step in both preventing and controlling high blood pressure. If in spite of these changes, your high blood pressure still persists, you may need to take BP medications to effectively control your BP.
Eat Healthily
Most high blood pressure cases are due to eating foods high in salt content and saturated fats. One of the best diet plans to control high blood pressure (HBP) today is called the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension ) eating plan. The DASH approach has been consistently clinically studied especially with regards to how food nutrients affect a person’s blood pressure. When combining a number of food groups, studies have found that a diet combination consisting of foods having low amounts of cholesterol, and total and saturated fat as well as lowfat dairy products, and a large amount of vegetables and fruits are the most effective diet combination to lower or control your blood pressure. By following the DASH plan, you will need to eat foods with reduced or no amount of sweetened beverages, sweets, red meats fats and take in moderate amounts of nuts, fish, poultry and whole grains. The DASH plan also takes into account the role salt plays in increasing blood pressure. That is why it prescribes using salt only around 1,500 milligrams per day.
Attain and Maintain a Normal Weight
Having a normal weight means that you have an average weight suited for your height. It is a glaring fact that being overweight, especially, being obese greatly increases your risk for developing high blood pressure. There is a direct proportion to your increase in weight to an increased likelihood of developing HBP. If you are moderately overweight, losing about 10 pounds can significantly lower your blood pressure whether you have HBP or not.
Obesity and excess weight also are major factors that can lead to many types of cardiovascular diseases. Your chance of getting diabetes and high cholesterol are enhanced if you are overweight and even more so if you are obese.
Physical Activity
A person with high blood pressure should indulge in safe cardio exercises that closely observe the heart rate of a person. Cardio workouts help burn calories faster and make the heart healthier. Even doing some light walking for at least 20 minutes can do wonders for your health and make your heart a lot healthier compared to living a sedentary life.
Limit Alcohol Intake
Besides potentially damaging the liver, kidneys and brain, alcohol consumption also helps to raise a person’s blood pressure and damage the heart as well. Alcoholic drinks contain calories which you need to burn in order for them not to turn into fat. If you really need to drink, then drink only in moderation say, two drinks for men and 1 drink for women a day.
Stop Smoking
Smoking causes the arterial walls to become rigid which may lead to atherosclerosis. It also damages the blood vessel walls. Even if there is no direct link between smoking and high blood pressure, smoking can indirectly lead to HBP because of its tendency to harden the arteries. If you are a smoker and have quit, your likelihood of suffering from a heart attack is significantly lessened especially during and after the first year. Smoking does also cause a lot of problems in health and there are so many important health reasons to quit smoking than continuing with the habit.
COMMENTS