Lowering Your Blood Pressue
July 29th, 2009 | by Clare |
High blood pressure is a major health problem that affects many people - a lot of whom don’t even realize that they have it. Often, people are told that changes in their diet and exercise habits are enough to control blood pressure, without the use of medication. This is especially helpful for people with mild to moderate blood pressure levels.
Reducing your sodium intake is one of the most important factors in reducing your blood pressure level. Those affected with high blood pressure often claim that reducing their sodium intake reduces their blood pressure as well.You’ll need to get some nutritional information and starting shifting your diet away from high-sodium foods.
Eating more fruits and vegetabls and even some grains increases your intake of important vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Studies suggest that people with a diet high in these foods and low in fats can reduce blood pressure in a small, but significant way.
Adding exercise to this change in diet can improve the blood pressure reduction.Exercise not only helps lower hypertension, but even people without hypertension have longer life expectancies if they exercise regularly. An added bonus is that studies suggest that exercise not only reduces the risk for cardiovascular and other diseases, but can help prevent obesity, which is another high blood pressure risk factor.
Exercise is a key ingredient for many successful behavioral change programs.Exercise is especially important as it makes you feel good about your efforts, reduces stress, which also is a major contributor to hypertension.
Eating well and exercising are the cornerstone to reducing your blood pressure levels.But there are other factors that also affect your blood pressure.Reducing your alcohol and caffeine intake will also reduce your blood pressure. You should strive to drink these things only in moderation, or not at all.Quitting smoking also makes a big differenc,too.These are serious issues. You may find that you cannot simply give these things up.Sometimes it may take many months or even a year to get rid of these behaviors.
If you reduce your stress levels, it will help lower your blood pressure as well. This is a lifelong task, but can prove to be one of the most important things you can do for your health.If your stress is really bad, you might want to go to a stress control workshop.
Since these dietary and exercises changes will help reduce the need for hypertension medication, you should consult with your doctor to give you the lower dosages that will now be required.
You should check your blood pressure often to see if these changes are having a positive effect.Fortunately, it is rather easy in this day and age to monitor your blood pressure on a daily basis . Blood pressure home monitors are readily available and reasonably priced. Ther are digital home monitors now that are much improved over the earlier types and very easy to use. I say “now” because when the digital models first were introduced, their accuracy was suspect. But now they are okay.
Controlling your blood pressure takes commitment and effort. It’s difficult because you don’t feel sick or any pain. High blood pressure wears your body down more quickly than would be the case if you didn’t have it. That’s why they refer to it as the “Silent Killer.“