The cause of hypertension varies from person to person. Some people have a family history of high blood pressure making it more likely that they too will suffer from the condition. For most people, the cause is usually ascribed to stress and or to being overweight and leading a sedentary lifestyle. You cannot do anything about a genetic predisposition to the condition, but the good news is that you can do something about these other contributing factors.
There is no cure for hypertension; the only thing we can do is to manage our condition with a preventative lifestyle. Our goal must be to keep our readings as close to normal levels for our age as possible.
Here are five practical tips for doing just that:
# 1. Take regular exercise:
The key to a successful exercise regime is to build it into our daily routine. As little as 20 to 30 minutes of exercise in which your heart rate is elevated is all that we need to do each day. Brisk walking, swimming, cycling and jogging are all good forms of exercise.
Taking daily exercise is a triple win situation for us. Exercise is one of the best antidotes to stress. Combined with a healthy, calorie-controlled diet, it can help you lose weight, which in turn has a beneficial effect on our condition. Exercise reduces our blood pressure levels for almost 24 hours.
# 2. Stop smoking tobacco products:
Smoking tobacco products does not directly cause hypertension. However, the damage it causes to our cardiovascular system is a major risk factor in our condition as well as being a leading cause of other life threatening conditions.
# 3. Take time out each day to relax:
We need to discover what really relaxes us and make it a part of our daily routine. It could be watching an old movie, listening to certain types of music, getting away to the country or taking up drawing or painting. Relaxing has an immediate beneficial effect on our condition. We should also do something positive about our work/life balance and take at least one day each week off work..
# 4.Heart-Healthy Food Choices:
The foods we eat play an important role in how our bodies deals with both high blood pressure and stress. Salt and some herbs will cause our blood pressure levels to skyrocket. A major cause of our hypertension is our high fat, high sodium, processed food rich modern diet. Link that to our modern sedentary lifestyle and there should be little wonder why so may of us are overweight.
We should try to eat at least five portions of fresh, raw or lightly cooked vegetables and fruits each day to help manage your condition making sure that we include at least one portion of leafy green vegetables in our daily diet. Soybeans, potatoes and nuts are superior to animal meat as a source of protein, but that does not mean we should become vegetarian. Choose lean, low-fat white meat such as chicken in preference to the more fatty red meats. Ideally, we should eat one portion of white fish and one portion of oily fish each week.
Calcium and magnesium deficiency can also be a cause of high blood pressure. Green, leafy vegetables are rich in calcium. Almonds and cashews are excellent sources of magnesium. Nuts and seeds are also a source of essential fatty acids, which produce hormone-like substances called prostaglandins that expand the veins and arteries. Foods rich in B vitamins, such as whole grains, green vegetables and eggs, help build resistance to stress.
# 5. A little of what you fancy does you good:
A little wine (especially red wine made from certain grape varieties) or even a tot of whiskey or brandy each day is good for the cardiovascular system. Be warned! The beneficial effects are quickly lost and harm caused if we have too much.
We cannot live without some blood pressure. Serious and even life threatening health issues can arise if our readings become too high for too long. There is no cure for this, only management. The best way to manage our hypertension is by following a preventative lifestyle.