The Silent Killer
There has been talk in the news that having high blood pressure is a risk factor for increased complications should you become sick with the coronavirus. May is National High Blood Pressure Education Month, so I’d like to take a few moments to go over some ways you can improve your blood pressure through lifestyle!
According to the American Heart Association, over half of all adults in the US have hypertension or high blood pressure—that’s over 100,000 million people! Both of my parents had it and at one point, my mom was on four blood pressure medications and it was still not controlled. I wish I knew then what I know now as far as finding ways to reduce blood pressure without adding another medication!
Hypertension is called the silent killer because it often has no symptoms to alert us of its presence. If it is left untreated, it can lead to strokes, heart disease and heart attacks. So let’s talk about blood pressure readings and what the numbers mean according to the American Heart Association.
The top number is systolic pressure and that measures the amount of pressure in the arteries when your heart muscle contracts; the bottom number is the amount of pressure in the arteries between heart beats. A normal blood pressure reading is lower than 120/80 mm Hg, elevated is systolic 120-129 and diastolic less than 80, stage 1 is systolic 130-139 or diastolic 80 -89, stage 2 is systolic >140 or diastolic >90. A hypertensive crisis is systolic >180 and/or diastolic >120.
We often think of excess salt as the cause of high blood pressure and that can be the case as well as being overweight, smoking cigarettes, and/or lack of exercise. There is a genetic component as well, but by changing the factors we can control, we can lower our blood pressure in a couple months through exercise, diet and stress management! If you are overweight and have high blood pressure, Sanjiv Patel, MD and cardiologist at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center says that losing even a small amount of weight can have an effect on lowering blood pressure. “Shedding 10 pounds can drop your systolic blood pressure by as many as 10 to 12 points.”
One way to start losing those pounds is through exercise or movement, starting at 15-30 minutes a day and building up to 60 minutes a day. Think of what your favorite activity might be, like walking and try to do that daily. Recently, my facebook challenge was walking 10,000 steps a day and some days it was really challenging to get those steps in. It’s about making the choice to help ourselves that can motivate us. Other exercises include biking, swimming, light weights with more reps. You might mix things up with some jump roping, jogging on the mini trampoline, climbing up and down the stairs while doing the light weights. Exercising regularly trains the heart to expand and contract, which makes the heart pump more efficiently as you get in shape—your heart is a muscle just like your biceps or quads that gets stronger through exercise!
The second way to help reduce blood pressure is through your diet and one of the first steps I have my clients take is through increasing the amount of water they drink a day. The second part of diet includes limiting sodium and learning to read labels on the foods we buy, keeping sodium less than 2300 mg a day or 1 tsp salt. Most Americans average 3400 mg a day; if a person has high blood pressure or heart failure, they are told to eat less than 1500 mg a day. Some of the saltiest foods include breads, pizza, sandwiches with cold cuts, canned soups and processed foods. The American Heart Association promotes the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) and you can search that on the internet for hundreds of recipes. Besides limiting sodium, this diet limits sugar, saturated and trans fats while increasing vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, beans, whole grains and fish.
The third way we can take an active part in managing high blood pressure is through stress management. While we all have different ways to manage stress, it is imperative that we take time out to perform this act of self care. Stress increases our cortisol levels and excessive stress has been shown to contribute to hypertension. Please check back on my self care blogs to find ways that you can reduce your stress, whether that is through a walk, putting a puzzle together, turning off the news, listening to classical music, practicing yoga, reading a book or visiting with a friend.
If you would like one on one help in changing these lifestyle factors that influence your cardiovascular health, I would love to support you through my 90 day “Take Back Your Health” program. It takes 21 days to change a habit, 90 days to change your lifestyle. I’m here for you!