Release the Pressure: More Healthy Heart Tips

By Jude Emery, for Revive Your Life

Editor’s Note: This is the second article in a series on cardiovascular health which will publish over the coming weeks. I would specifically like to point out the link to the “Cardiovascular Risk Factors” tool. As part of the continued enhancement of the Revive Your Life community, we are proud to introduce the first of what will be many professionally-designed, interactive tools meant to improve the user experience and quality of information provided by this site. In the coming weeks, look for additional interactive tools to be introduced as well as a dedicated “Tools” page where all will be located.

Hypertension (or high blood pressure) affects one out of every three American adults. One in four people with high blood pressure don’t even know they have it. It is often called the “silent killer” because you can have it for many years and experience no symptoms.  I was one of the fortunate few who had symptoms: a throbbing headache in my temples and blurry vision in one eye.

Blood pressure is a measure of how hard your heart has to work to pump blood throughout your body. The first number (systolic pressure) measures the pressure on your blood when your heart contracts. The second number (diastolic pressure) is the pressure on your blood when your heart is at rest. Blood pressure readings are classified as follows:

• Normal - less than 120/80
• Prehypertension - between 120/80 and 140/90
• Hypertension - above 140/90

Over time, untreated hypertension can cause your arteries to stiffen, making it harder for your heart to pump blood through them. After years of working harder than it should, your heart can become enlarged and eventually wear out. Sometimes weakened blood vessels in the brain can burst, resulting in a stroke. Prolonged hypertension is also one of the leading causes of kidney failure. That’s a lot of serious problems caused by something you usually can’t even feel!

Click to estimate your cardiovascular risk using our interactive tool!

Fortunately, there are several lifestyle changes you can make to help you to keep your blood pressure in check. Like our approach in the first post in this series, let’s look at these from the perspective of what we should be adding to our daily routines instead of what we should avoid.

1. Reread the first post in this series and implement those changes

This is not just a gimmick to get you to go back and read my previous rantings. Many of the foods that help you control your cholesterol also have a positive impact on your blood pressure. For example, walnuts and olive oil both contain chemicals that make your blood vessels more flexible, making it easier for blood to move through them. Some research indicates that Omega-3 fatty acids may also have a moderate effect on lowering blood pressure.

Your cholesterol level itself can also influence your blood pressure. Cholesterol and other fatty molecules can thicken your blood, making it harder for your heart to push blood where it is needed and increasing your blood pressure in the process.

2. Eat more fresh foods

There has been a long-standing link between a high sodium diet and high blood pressure. When you have excess sodium in your blood, your body pulls water out of your cells to keep your blood from becoming too “salty”. This extra fluid increases the pressure within the circulatory system and makes your heart work harder to move blood throughout your body. The USDA recommends a daily sodium intake of less than 2,400 mg (about the amount found in 1 teaspoon of table salt). The average American takes in over 4,000 mg a day!

Even more astonishing is the breakdown of where all that sodium comes from. About 12% of the sodium we consume is found naturally in the foods we eat. By comparison, the much maligned salt shaker accounts for only 11%. The other 77% comes from the processed foods that make up the bulk of the typical American diet. If you want to play a fun game (or are just really bored) the next time you go shopping, try to guess how much sodium a food contains before checking the label. You’ll be surprised by some of the results and quickly see why it is so easy to take in too much sodium. On the other hand, it is almost impossible to get too much sodium if you focus on making fresh foods a large part of your diet.

3. Eat more beans and greens

For individuals who are not “salt-sensitive”, cutting your intake of sodium may not have a huge impact on its own. Current research suggests that potassium and magnesium may be just as important as sodium when it comes to controlling your blood pressure.

If you think back to high school biology, you might remember learning about something called the sodium-potassium pump. Potassium works in tandem with sodium to help regulate the fluid in your cells. If you don’t have enough potassium in your bloodstream, your body is going to have a hard time balancing out the effects of sodium. The ideal ratio is 5 parts potassium for every 1 part sodium. By contrast, the average American diet provides more than twice as much sodium as it does potassium.

Magnesium is another mineral that plays an important role in lowering blood pressure. Magnesium relaxes the smooth muscle in in your body, including your blood vessels. When blood vessels are relaxed, they offer less resistance to the flow of blood, dropping your BP and taking a load off of your heart. You should aim for about 5,000 mg of potassium and 500 mg of magnesium a day. Beans, fish, yams, squash, spinach, chard and bananas are some excellent sources of potassium. You can get a good dose of magnesium from chard, spinach, nuts, whole grains, pumpkin seeds and black beans.

4. Eat more low-fat dairy

You probably know that calcium is great for maintaining healthy bones and teeth. But did you know that recent studies show it may also be involved in the regulation of blood pressure? One theory suggests that calcium acts like a natural diuretic, helping to flush excess sodium and water from the body. Another proposes that calcium helps to control the release of a hormone that can cause an increase in blood pressure.

Whatever the mechanism, it seems that calcium is an important part of the equation. To help keep your blood pressure in check, you need at least 1,250 mg of calcium a day. The average American gets about half this amount each day. While consuming low-fat milk and yogurt are excellent ways to boost your calcium intake, you aren’t limited to dairy products as your sole sources of calcium. Spinach, broccoli, sesame seeds, and tofu are some other foods you can eat to get more calcium.

5. Relax more

Your body is designed to cope with stress by triggering a rush of hormones to produce what is called the fight-or-flight response. These hormones cause your heart to speed up and your blood vessels to narrow, increasing your blood pressure. To our ancient ancestors, this mechanism came in handy when facing a wild animal or some other physical threat. Unfortunately, our bodies respond the same way to modern-day threats like losing a job or rushing around to get the kids to school in time. While there is no concrete evidence that stress causes chronic high blood pressure, it is clear that stress does produce a temporary spike in blood pressure.

Even these temporary rises in blood pressure can damage your blood vessels and heart if they occur often enough. Luckily, there are endless options to choose from when it comes to reducing stress in your life. Yoga, breathing exercises, scaling back your schedule, listening to soothing music, taking a bubble bath…whatever works for you. Just make sure you take some time to unwind when you feel stress getting the best of you.

6. Exercise more

Here it is again…the gotcha of more exercise. I know it’s redundant, but it might be the most important thing you can do to keep your blood pressure under control. Getting regular physical activity can lower your blood pressure by an average of 5-10 mm Hg, making it as effective as some medications.

Aerobic exercise, like walking, jogging or swimming, strengthens your heart, allowing it to pump blood with less effort. That means less force on your blood vessels, which translates to lower blood pressure. Regular exercise can also help you lose extra pounds. Research has shown that even a 10 pound reduction in weight can produce a drop in blood pressure, make hypertension medications more effective, and reduce cardiovascular risk. You don’t need to spend hours on a treadmill to reap the benefits of exercise. Shoot for 30 minutes of aerobic exercise a few times a week and build up from there. The blood pressure benefits of physical activity are only as permanent as your exercise routine, so find some activities you enjoy and stick to it.

We’ve covered what you can do to protect yourself from the two most well-known cardiovascular risk factors: high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Ongoing research is uncovering a host of new indicators that may play a role in the development of heart disease as well. In the next post in this series, we’ll take a look at some of these indicators and see how they fit into the heart-health equation.

Comments

Enter your email address to receive FREE life-changing updates from Revive Your Life !

You can also subscribe to the RYL RSS feed!



• Get Ripped And Build Strength Without Weights
• How Your iPod Can Improve Your Health
• How to Boost Your Self-Esteem (and Happiness!)
• Do You Suffer from Hyperventilation Syndrome?
• Tired? Allergies May Be Causing Your Fatigue
• The Impact of Magnesium Deficiency on Well-Being
• How Boredom Can Screw With Your Life and Happiness
• Wellness and The Bucket Theory

What is your biggest financial goal for 2010?

• Find a job
• Pay off debt
• Increase savings
• Make more money
• Give more to charity

View Results

 Loading ...
• Caffeinism: A Cause of Mental Illness?
• Buying Magnesium Supplements? 3 Reasons To Consider Sustained Release Technology
• Singing - A Catalyst For Healthy Living
• Constantly Arguing In Your Relationship? A Breakup May Be Inevitable
• Grocery Bill Out of Control? Buy More and Stay Healthy!
• A Free Ride - Should I Pay for My Child’s Education?
• Is Big Food Profiting at the Expense of Our Health?
• Stop Complaining! A Conversation Hostage Plea
• Winner of the Self-Improvement Book Bundle
• iPhone and iPod Apps to Make You Healthy

Copyright © 2008-09 RYL Global Partners, LLC · Revolution theme by Brian Gardner · Legal Disclaimer · Privacy Policy