Exercise is king – again

Exercise is king

Like most mature adults, I am taking medication for high blood pressure. Which I find really irritating. That’s why I’ve been looking for ways to lower my blood pressure enough that I don’t need the chemical medications I’m taking.

As always, the research caught my eye, where I found so many offers that I almost got lost in research instead of what I was actually trying to do.

1. I hate to admit it, but the first thing that came up was losing weight, taking particular note of waist measurements (less than 40 inches for men, 35 inches for women), so assuming there are others out there like I am passing on some of them to you.

The following is from the Mayo Clinic staff

“Blood pressure often rises as weight increases. Being overweight can also cause trouble breathing while you sleep (sleep apnea), which further increases blood pressure.

Weight loss is one of the most effective lifestyle changes for controlling blood pressure. Losing just 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) can help lower your blood pressure.

In addition to losing weight, you generally need to keep an eye on your waist as well. Carrying too much weight around the waist can increase the risk of hypertension. “

2. Then exercise: – Just 30 minutes most days of the week (I try to drive 5), it can have a huge impact and can lower your blood pressure by 4-9 ml of mercury (mm Hg). I am so ready for it! The best options: walking, jogging, biking, swimming or dancing, or even strength training.

I think most of us can do a walk or two and for me, if it’s not an option, I do some floor exercises at home. For the weights, I use a couple of bottles of water and sit on the edge of the couch to exercise my legs.

3. Maintain a healthy diet. It is recommended that you be a smart shopper. Read food labels when shopping and follow your healthy eating plan when dining out, too. It is not always easy, but the benefits are huge.

Try to eat less processed foods. Only a small amount of sodium is found naturally in food. Most of the sodium is added during processing. Checking the labels will show the amount of sodium (salt) and sugars of various types that are added during processing. These are added so much to increase the shelf life of a product that it doesn’t appeal to me in the least.

These days I have started freezing my own vegetables, which I found a lot less complicated and difficult than I thought. So now I have a freezer full of frozen veggies that are sugar free, salt which I certainly added to the water. But, I just blanched the veggies and used the same water for the ones that don’t add a strong flavor to the water. So my salt use is kept to a minimum.

Then I went through some foods etc that can help lower blood pressure. Now, I’ve never gone for flavored teas much except green and Earl Gray, but on the research front I found the following.

Hibiscus tea contains phytochemicals that play a role in lowering blood pressure, soy contains isoflavones that can also help lower your systolic blood pressure reading (the one at the top). They also aid in the production of nitric oxide enzymes, which aid in the relaxation of blood vessels, lowering blood pressure.

4. Stop smoking

5. Work to reduce your stress levels.

6. Every cell in the body has a receptor for vitamin D, so work to absorb or take in vitamin D. It can be found mainly in the rays of the sun. It should be noted that if you live more than 35% above or below the equator, this can lead to very little absorption, as the sun’s rays are weaker. However, expose your arms and legs to the sun for 5 to 45 minutes between 10 a.m. M. And 3 p.m. M., It is usually enough to meet the daily needs of most skin types.

It can be found in fatty fish, fish liver oil, and egg yolks, among others. Every cell in our body has a receptor for vitamin D. Its deficiency is also linked to type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, high blood pressure, and thyroid problems.

Thanks to Authority Nutrition at Healthline.

Overweight people may also need higher amounts of the vitamin.

Don’t forget the alcohol

Generally, more than one drink a day for women and men over 65, or more than two a day for men 65 and younger. One drink equals 12 ounces of beer, five ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80 proof liquor.

Drinking more than a moderate amount of alcohol can raise your blood pressure in several ways. It can also reduce the effectiveness of blood pressure medications.

Sadly (for me), caffeine is bad for blood pressure levels too. But of course, reducing my intake has been pretty good, so I can’t complain.

Generally, in general –

Blood pressure should be less than 120/80

To avoid high cholesterol: keep the numbers below

100 mg for LDL (bad) cholesterol.

60 mg + for HDL (good) cholesterol.

If you are overweight, or to avoid being overweight, observe that waist measurements remain below 40 inches (men and 35 inches) women.

Exercise regularly

Eat less than 7% of your calories from saturated fat.

Eat less than 200 mg of diet foods with cholesterol.

So if we want to avoid or reverse our dependency on chemicals, following a diet plan that can really help is really a no-brainer, isn’t it?

One final note, statins are partly responsible for making receptors tired and memory loss. I think it’s another reason to be able to avoid having to take those medications.

This research is an amazing way to find and, where possible, avoid the common situations many of us encounter when we reach adulthood – for some, this doesn’t just mean when we are over 55 years old.