How to Strive for Healthy Blood Pressure in 12 Easy Steps
Maintaining a healthy blood pressure, 100-120/60-80 mmHg, is incredibly important for your overall health. The higher your blood pressure, the more risk you have for heart issues, such as heart attack and stroke. Elevated blood pressure can also damage your brain, eyes, and kidneys.
Your blood pressure is recorded as two numbers:
● Systolic blood pressure (the top number): indicates how much pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls when the heart beats.
● Diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number): indicates how much pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls while the heart is resting between beats.
Systolic blood pressure often rises with age due to increasing stiffness in the large arteries, plaque buildup, calcium in the vessel walls, and increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases. Diastolic blood pressure often increases with stiffness in our arteries.
Oftentimes there are no symptoms of elevated blood pressure. The only way to evaluate your blood pressure is to measure it. Elevated blood pressure usually occurs over time and can be due to lifestyle choices, like unbalanced diet and lack of exercise. Other predisposing conditions are diabetes and obesity. Women can also develop hypertension during pregnancy.
The good news is that often with appropriate lifestyle changes, people can decrease their blood pressure and prevent disease. When my patient Andy implemented some of the suggestions below, his elevated blood pressure came back down into the normal range and has stayed there. For Andy, this was motivating, as he has avoided using medications to lower his blood pressure.
12 SUGGESTIONS FOR REDUCING BLOOD PRESSURE:
1. Implement healthy fats/oils: extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, flaxseed oil and coconut oil
2. Ideal cooking methods: eat some raw foods daily; steaming and roasting are better than boiling and frying
3. Increase plant foods: increase your daily intake of fruits, vegetables, nuts/seeds, and legumes
4. Focus on fiber: minimum daily goal=35 grams
5. Use generous amounts of fresh garlic, onions, shallots, leeks, and scallions in your diet
6. Decrease simple sugars in your diet (including fruit juice); fructose is the number one dietary cause of hypertension
7. Hydration: use filtered water; drink ½ your bodyweight in ounces
8. Eliminate caffeine
9. Be mindful of sodium consumption (watch for hidden sources in processed foods, condiments, dressings, club soda, etc.)
10. Eat cold water fish such as salmon, halibut, sardines, tuna, mackerel, herring 2-3 times per week
11. Incorporate exercise/movement into your life. Strive for 30-60 minutes six days per week
12. Make stress management a priority. While it is impossible to avoid, we must learn ways to manage stress and keep it at a minimum
Of course, you are welcome to consult us for a more personalized approach utilizing individualized dietary recommendations, vitamins, minerals and herbs for your unique condition.
Breath is life,
Rachel Oppitz, ND
