Nutritional Aid in Fighting High Blood Pressure

Hypertension is basically the pressure exerted by our blood against our arteries as a result of the heart pumping blood through our veins. High blood pressure or hypertension is a common silent killer disease that has no age limit. It afflicts the young who are still in elementary school, middle-age workers, and even senior citizens.

The American Heart Association and the U.S Department of Health Human Services reveal that one-third of all Americans suffer from hypertension. This statistic is also evident in the rest of the world. The ailment has been blamed for the many deaths that occur annually and has a direct link to coronary heart disease or heart failure and even kidney problems. When left to run high, high blood pressure can cause a lot of damage to vital body organs.

There is therefore an urgent need to treat and finally lower our high blood pressure.

High blood pressure could be attributed to the way we live.

Modern lifestyles are sedentary in nature and require sitting behind a desk, consuming salty sugary greasy snacks with very little activity, if any.

When we accumulate many hours of little activity void of exercise, lifestyle diseases are likely to arise in our lives.

Hypertension falls in two categories. There are people who suffer from high or low blood pressure.

High blood pressure is where too much blood tries to penetrate through narrow veins or veins being too small to contain blood thus forcing one's heart to overwork itself. This is characterized by very hard or fast heartbeats with inherent bouts of dizziness.

Low blood pressure is a situation where the volume of blood in one's body is inadequate which also tends to overwork the heart as it tries to pump the limited volume of blood through the circulatory system.

This could be attributed to failure to produce adequate amounts of blood cells.
This condition leads to lowering one's energy levels, listlessness or lethargy, and also bouts of dizziness.

It is good practice to frequently check one's blood pressure on waking from sleep prior to doing anything. Ensure to record the readings daily and consult your physician when drastic changes in readings are observed.

Dizziness and headaches are common symptoms that require a check upon one's blood pressure.

Automatic blood pressure monitors are gadgets one needs to keep in the house to help us monitor pressure on a regular basis.

Ensure to buy a good accurate monitor.

High blood pressure has no symptoms. This is why it afflicts many people who may not even be aware of its presence in their bodies. It encroaches upon victims silently, hence the term “silent killer”. Its onset is usually marked with headaches, palpitations and in some cases, blurred vision. There are times when even stress can bring about high blood pressure. When the doctor checks your blood pressure, the reading is usually given as a ratio (systolic to diastolic ratio).

Anybody whose systolic to diastolic ratio falls above 120/80mmHg (millimeter of mercury which is the standard measure for hypertension) is considered to be suffering from high blood pressure. The lowering of hypertension helps in reducing its negative effects or damage it is likely to cause in our bodies. Although medical care is highly advocated, hypertension is mainly controlled by maintaining a life style that promotes good health. This implies that the keeping of a strict diet geared towards maintaining a particular level of nutrition with regards to our in-take of foods is necessary.

Doctors recommend that patients of high blood pressure maintain a low fat diet of dairy products (milk and margarine) that are rich in vitamin D. Avoid butter. Leafy green vegetables, sardines and pilchards are essential in the provision of calcium which is good for lowering high blood pressure when taken in adequate supplies.

A reasonably high in-take of foods that contain potassium is also recommended due to its ability to reduce high blood pressure and strokes. Such food should include; tomato sauce from ripe tomatoes, avocados, bananas, dried apricots and potatoes.

Patients of high blood pressure are also advised to consume foods that have a lot of vitamin C, basically an antioxidant which has been proven to aid in the building of new body cells while repairing damaged cells. It also helps the body in the absorption of iron, defends the body against heart disease and high blood pressure. Recommended foods that provide vitamin C include guavas, red and green pepper, citrus fruits, pawpaw, grapefruit, strawberries, melons, potatoes, cabbage and broccoli.

Research has also proved that some phytochemicals which are non-nutrient compounds that are derived from foods do help in boosting immunity and also fight against heart diseases and high blood pressure. Phytochemicals that combat high blood pressure mainly come from garlic, onions, leeks and celery.

A diet that is rich in omega-3 fatty acids is highly recommended the greatest source of these fatty acids is soya bean oil. This is followed by dried walnuts, fresh salmon, mackerel, baked kipper, shellfish and most canned or grilled fish.

High blood pressure can be successfully controlled to enable everybody to live a long healthy life.