Hypertension guide

High blood pressure around the world is becoming a bigger problem every year. It greatly increases the risk of developing heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States, and stroke, which is the third leading cause of death. In fact, it is estimated that one out of three people or about 68 million people have high blood pressure in the U.S. That should be enough for everyone to take notice, but unfortunately until it becomes critical you won't know it's an issue until you're tested.

So what normally happens to most of us when we get tested? We're given some numbers and told if it's okay, not to worry, or it's too high. Until we have an issue and get into the numbers, we probably are at a loss as to where we stand. Starting with what is considered perfect, we are striving for 120/80. The 120 is the maximum pressure during the individual heartbeat, or the systolic pressure. The 80 represents the minimum or diastolic pressure.

When we get up to 140/90, we are getting into the mild stage of hypertension, and it would be a good idea at this point to take corrective action. At the 160/100 point, treatment will be required. At 180/110, we are in the severe stages and are at serious, immediate danger of heart disease, kidney issues and stroke.

The good news with all of this is that making the right lifestyle choices will bring it down, and since we know what causes high blood pressure we know what to do to prevent it from rising. So here are five things you can do to control blood pressure:

1. Eat less salt. Perhaps the biggest cause of high blood pressure for many people, it will help immensely to eliminate all salt in cooking and added to food at the table. Most of the salt we eat comes with the food we purchase, which will be harder to control. Checking labels to control salt will help, and staying away from processed foods will help even more.

2. Keep weight under control. Fat secretes all sorts of substances. One of these is angiotensinogen, which has a constricting effect on blood vessels, which will lead to high blood pressure.

3. Eat more fruits and vegetables. They contain very small amounts of sodium, and the more you eat of them the less you'll eat of high-sodium foods. Also, they are high in potassium, which regulates the body's water balance. Finally, fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants, which prevent and repair damage caused to the arteries.

4. Drink less alcohol. Alcohol has calories, and calories cause weight gain. Most experts are in agreement that cutting back from heavy to moderate drinking will have the biggest effect on blood pressure reduction. Keeping to less than 21 units of alcohol a week for men and 14 for women is considered moderate. A medium glass of wine or a pint of normal-strength beer would account for two units of alcohol.

5. Exercise. This is really quite simple. When you exercise, such as doing interval cardio training, your heart gets stronger. As a result is able to pump blood through the arteries more vigorously. This will cause less pressure in your arteries, thus lowering your blood pressure.

You can learn more about what causes high blood pressure on our site, as it has truly become the silent killer in the United States and elsewhere. Getting with an interval cardio training program or any intense cardio will certainly get the blood pumping, and lowering hypertension. Rich Carroll is a writer and health enthusiast living in London.

View the original article here