Easy Steps for Avoiding High Blood Pressure
Easy Steps for Avoiding High Blood Pressure
Living with high blood pressure or hypertension can put you at risk of developing additional health problems. The biggest of these health issues could be dealing with a stroke or having a heart attack.
Other health issues that you can suffer from due to having high blood pressure include:
* Kidney failure
* Congestive Heart failure
* Vision loss
* Memory loss
* Fluid in your lungs
* Angina
* Erectile dysfunction
It is a fact that 74% of Americans who have congestive heart failure have high blood pressure readings. The following are the risk factors for developing this life threatening disease.
* Age
* Obesity
* Heredity
* Gender
* Smoking
* Diabetes
* Lack of exercise
How to Avoid High Blood Pressure
If any of the above risk factors apply to you then it is time to take steps to avoid becoming a statistic. The top things you can do to reduce your chances of developing high blood pressure include:
* Reducing salt in your diet
* Eating a healthy diet
* Exercise regularly
* Lose weight
* Stop smoking
* Decrease your stress levels
* Use your prescription medicines correctly
All of these are not that hard to put into place. You can easily reduce your salt intake by removing the salt shaker from your kitchen. When grocery shopping start reading food labels and start choosing products which are low in sodium.
Make small changes in your diet by increasing your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. Add a fruit with your cereal for breakfast and have a small salad with lunch and dinner. Try to eat more lean poultry and fish and limit the number of times you eat red meat each week.
If you need to lose weight start off by eating your dinner from a smaller plate. In fact try to make breakfast the largest meal of the day, lunch should be a little smaller and then for dinner just have a portion of protein along with vegetables. By cutting out carbohydrates such as potatoes, rice and pasta you are also reducing your caloric intake each day.
If you smoke or drink alcohol try to limit the number of drinks you have each week and try to cut down or quit smoking. If you enjoy smoking after dinner switch this out with an after dinner walk instead. You will feel better and a nice walk after dinner will help you sleep better at night.
When it comes to taking any type of prescription medicine always follow your doctor’s orders. Don’t self diagnose and skip doses and if you do miss a dose don’t automatically double up without checking if it is safe to do so.
By implementing a few healthy lifestyle changes you can dramatically reduce your chances of developing hypertension and other related health issues.