Lifestyles to Avoid Or Limit to Lower High Blood Pressure
There are several ways that a person with high blood pressure can do right away to lower his/her high blood pressure.
One is to avoid or limit certain lifestyles.
Remember that untreated or unchecked hypertension will result in grave consequences including stroke which can put a person in a wheelchair for the remainder of his/her life! Below are some of the lifestyle changes recommended: Don't smoke cigarettes or use any tobacco product The nicotine in cigarettes and other tobacco products are stimulants that cause your blood vessels to constrict and your heart to beat faster, which temporarily raises your blood pressure.
If you quit smoking or using other tobacco products, you can not only lower your blood pressure but you can significantly lower your risk of heart disease and heart attack, and reduce your chances for other health-related problems like lung cancer.
Limit caffeine intake Avoid caffeine; even one or two cups of fresh ground coffee can raise blood pressure.
If a person already has hypertension, coffee will usually complicate the problem even further.
Caffeine is a stimulant that causes the heart to beat faster.
When the heart beats faster, the blood pressure rises.
If you are a person who drinks a lot of caffeine (more than 4 caffeinated drinks/day), you may need to taper yourself off of the caffeine to prevent withdrawal symptoms such as headaches.
Limit your alcohol intake In some people, alcohol causes blood pressure to rise quite a lot.
If you drink alcohol, limit it to no more than 1 or 2 drinks per day.
One drink is a can of beer or a glass of wine.
If your blood pressure increases with alcohol, it's best not to drink any alcohol.
Also avoid drugs.
Excessive use of drugs and alcohol can damage many organs in the body including the liver and the kidneys.
When these organs are damaged, they can cause a build-up of fluids in the body.
Extra fluids make the heart beat harder and this increases the blood pressure.
Many drugs are stimulants.
These cause the heart to beat faster.
As we stated earlier, the faster the heart beats, the higher the blood pressure goes.
By cutting out drugs and alcohol, you'll succeed in reducing your blood pressure.
Limit your sodium intake Not everyone is affected by sodium, but sodium can increase blood pressure in some people.
Most people who have this problem should limit the sodium in their diet each day to less than 2,400 mg.
Your doctor may tell you to limit your sodium even more.
Don't add salt to your food.
Check food labels for sodium.
While some foods obviously have a lot of sodium, such as potato chips, you may not realize how much sodium is in things like bread and cheese.
Avoid salt (sodium).
Sodium causes you to retain fluids, which makes your blood have more fluid volume.
When your blood has more volume, your heart has to pump harder to move that excess volume throughout the body.
This causes the blood pressure to go up.
Remember, it's not just the salt that you put on your food while cooking or at the table, it's also the amount of sodium that's in the food that you buy.
You should become "label conscious" and buy "low sodium" foods.
Preserved foods, tinned foods, bakery products and MSG, all tend to have sodium content.
Many American diets include up to 5,000 milligrams of sodium daily which nearly all medical professionals consider extremely unhealthy.
Medical professionals often prescribe LOW sodium diets that consist of between 1100 and 1500 milligrams daily.
The American Heart Association advises that the human body actually can function with as little as only 200mg of sodium daily.
If one can't live without a "salty" flavor, there are multiple brands of what amounts to fake salt products on the market.
Not just low or "lite" salt products but salt substitutes.
While all of the above tips are effective in lowering your blood pressure without medications, sometimes they are not enough.
If your blood pressure stays at 140 mmHg over 90 mmHg (usually written 140/90) or higher even while using these tips, you should see your doctor.
The consequences of untreated or unchecked hypertension include stroke which can put a person in a wheelchair for the remainder of his/her life.
Stroke sometimes can alter a person's brain function enough such that speech is permanently disrupted.
Kidney failure is another consequence which can require that a person be put on kidney dialysis for life.
If you find that engaging in prevention tactics is boring to you, just write stroke and kidney failure on a piece of paper & tape that to your refrigerator as a reminder of what can happen to you with high blood pressure.
All rights reserved.
Article may be re-printed as long as the content remains intact and unchanged and link remains active.
One is to avoid or limit certain lifestyles.
Remember that untreated or unchecked hypertension will result in grave consequences including stroke which can put a person in a wheelchair for the remainder of his/her life! Below are some of the lifestyle changes recommended: Don't smoke cigarettes or use any tobacco product The nicotine in cigarettes and other tobacco products are stimulants that cause your blood vessels to constrict and your heart to beat faster, which temporarily raises your blood pressure.
If you quit smoking or using other tobacco products, you can not only lower your blood pressure but you can significantly lower your risk of heart disease and heart attack, and reduce your chances for other health-related problems like lung cancer.
Limit caffeine intake Avoid caffeine; even one or two cups of fresh ground coffee can raise blood pressure.
If a person already has hypertension, coffee will usually complicate the problem even further.
Caffeine is a stimulant that causes the heart to beat faster.
When the heart beats faster, the blood pressure rises.
If you are a person who drinks a lot of caffeine (more than 4 caffeinated drinks/day), you may need to taper yourself off of the caffeine to prevent withdrawal symptoms such as headaches.
Limit your alcohol intake In some people, alcohol causes blood pressure to rise quite a lot.
If you drink alcohol, limit it to no more than 1 or 2 drinks per day.
One drink is a can of beer or a glass of wine.
If your blood pressure increases with alcohol, it's best not to drink any alcohol.
Also avoid drugs.
Excessive use of drugs and alcohol can damage many organs in the body including the liver and the kidneys.
When these organs are damaged, they can cause a build-up of fluids in the body.
Extra fluids make the heart beat harder and this increases the blood pressure.
Many drugs are stimulants.
These cause the heart to beat faster.
As we stated earlier, the faster the heart beats, the higher the blood pressure goes.
By cutting out drugs and alcohol, you'll succeed in reducing your blood pressure.
Limit your sodium intake Not everyone is affected by sodium, but sodium can increase blood pressure in some people.
Most people who have this problem should limit the sodium in their diet each day to less than 2,400 mg.
Your doctor may tell you to limit your sodium even more.
Don't add salt to your food.
Check food labels for sodium.
While some foods obviously have a lot of sodium, such as potato chips, you may not realize how much sodium is in things like bread and cheese.
Avoid salt (sodium).
Sodium causes you to retain fluids, which makes your blood have more fluid volume.
When your blood has more volume, your heart has to pump harder to move that excess volume throughout the body.
This causes the blood pressure to go up.
Remember, it's not just the salt that you put on your food while cooking or at the table, it's also the amount of sodium that's in the food that you buy.
You should become "label conscious" and buy "low sodium" foods.
Preserved foods, tinned foods, bakery products and MSG, all tend to have sodium content.
Many American diets include up to 5,000 milligrams of sodium daily which nearly all medical professionals consider extremely unhealthy.
Medical professionals often prescribe LOW sodium diets that consist of between 1100 and 1500 milligrams daily.
The American Heart Association advises that the human body actually can function with as little as only 200mg of sodium daily.
If one can't live without a "salty" flavor, there are multiple brands of what amounts to fake salt products on the market.
Not just low or "lite" salt products but salt substitutes.
While all of the above tips are effective in lowering your blood pressure without medications, sometimes they are not enough.
If your blood pressure stays at 140 mmHg over 90 mmHg (usually written 140/90) or higher even while using these tips, you should see your doctor.
The consequences of untreated or unchecked hypertension include stroke which can put a person in a wheelchair for the remainder of his/her life.
Stroke sometimes can alter a person's brain function enough such that speech is permanently disrupted.
Kidney failure is another consequence which can require that a person be put on kidney dialysis for life.
If you find that engaging in prevention tactics is boring to you, just write stroke and kidney failure on a piece of paper & tape that to your refrigerator as a reminder of what can happen to you with high blood pressure.
All rights reserved.
Article may be re-printed as long as the content remains intact and unchanged and link remains active.