If you have been told by your doctor that you have a high blood pressure then you are probably wondering exactly what this means especially if it is a new diagnosis. High Blood Pressure (or hypertension) is when blood moves through your arteries at a high pressure than what is normal. Using medical speak your blood pressure should be somewhere in the region of 120/80 or less. Anything over this would be classed as a high blood pressure. Your doctor will be able to give you more advice on exactly what this means.
If you are over the age of 18 then you should get your blood pressure checked every other year. This can be done in just a few minutes by your doctor. I am sure most of us have had this done at some time or another.
It is essential that you check this regularly and if you are diagnosed get it treated as high blood pressure can cause problems. These problems include a stroke, heart disease, a heart attack or kidney failure.
Having a high blood pressure diagnosis is nothing something that you should overly panic about as it is something that can be improved and in some cases even cured.
The main way that high blood pressure is effectively treated is by change of lifestyle. These changes can include:
Giving up smoking or any use of tobacco
If you are overweight you should lose weight
Take up regular exercise
Eat a healthy, low fat diet
Avoid salt
Cut down your caffeine and alcohol intake
Most of these we can implement without too much difficulty. With a bit of motivation we can kick the habit of smoking and our doctor can tell us the ways to fit exercise into our daily routine. The really hard part is to enjoy a low fat, healthy diet that is low in salt and not bland.
Bland food as part of any healthy eating plan or diet is where most of us fall down. We can handle a few days eating lettuce and salads, grilled chicken and vegetables with no snacks but after 3-4 days of this our body is actually crying out for proper food. This is usually where we fall at the first huddle and go back to our old habits.
The trick is to ensure that the foods you eat are varied. This will help make sure that you don’t get bored of eating the same food every day and slip back to your old ways. One of the best things you can do is join a heart health diet program like the Medifast program. After you join make sure to stop by and grab a Medifast coupon to save you money.
Even better than this there are super foods that you can eat which are not only healthy but actively help a high blood pressure.
Foods that contain calcium and vitamin D are essential to help lower blood pressure. Apart from milk you can find these in salmon, nuts and dark green leafy vegetables.
Foods which are rich in potassium also help. – foods such as bananas, oranges, watermelon, and baked white potatoes.
Sodium is something that should be avoided as much as possible if you are suffering from high blood pressure, so avoid putting salt on dinners and foods with a high salt content as much as possible.
With a varied, healthy diet you are in the best position to lower and maintain your blood pressure rate.
