Even medical people who have researched blood pressure for decades admit that the cause is unknown for about 95% of high blood pressure problems and you could have it without even knowing, even if you’re otherwise healthy. For this reason it’s important that you know what your blood pressure is and have it checked on a regular basis.
As you know, smoking and coffee causes a temporary rise in your blood pressure, so don’t smoke or drink coffee for at least thirty minutes before you have your blood pressure taken. If you’re a smoker, you should know that you have a higher risk of developing high blood pressure than a non-smoker.
Other reasons that increase your risk include high cholesterol, diabetes, stroke, heart disease, or other medical conditions, or if you’re over the age of 60, or if you are of menopausal age. When you check your blood pressure, it is normal that there will be fluctuations, and a one time high reading doesn’t necessarily mean you have hypertension. Be alarmed when those readings are consistently high, because that is the time when a diagnosis is made. The medications that you are taking may also contribute to the rise in your blood pressure.
There are changes you can make in your diet and in your lifestyle that can help reduce the risk and possibly even prevent high blood pressure. These are listed below. The more you can adopt into your life, the more you lower your risk for developing hypertension.
Do not drink more than two or three drinks per day
Don’t be obese
Your fat intake should be less than 30%
Limit the content of salt in your food
Exercise regularly
Don’t smoke
Try to get 1000 mg of calcium daily. You can get calcium from broccoli, salmon, tofu etc.
You can get potassium from veggies, fruits, nuts and low fat dairy products. Your potassium intake should be 2500 – 3000 mg per day.
You should have 350 – 400 mg of magnesium. Dark green veggies, grains, seafood and soybeans are the source.
Get a good night’s sleep. Inadequate sleep can actually raise your blood pressure even higher if you already have hypertension.
Relax more. Reduce the stress in your life, particularly if you have risk factors for high blood pressure. Consider taking up yoga or meditation to learn how to relax.
Cutting back on coffee will help you to reduce blood pressure. Limit you coffee to 2 cups per day.
One more thing that you can do to lower your blood pressure is by utilizing my Natural High Blood Pressure Program. I developed this program to help you lower your readings naturally.
This program consists only few simple exercises and just do it only for few minutes. This program has very high success rate in lowering the blood pressure.
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Christian Goodman is a best known writer of health guides and a researcher on hypertension medications. His recent innovation is to keep blood pressure down. Please visit his blog to learn more about him.
Tags: health, hypertension medications
