Blood Pressure stuff

Since I come from a family of high blood pressure folks and my mother died of a massive stroke at 65, this ole thing called "high blood pressure" has always been of interest to me. Since I have been in some kind of athletics starting at the age of 10, exercise has always helped me condition my system to have normal normal blood pressure. Since normal is considered 120/80 I have always been able to stay very close to those numbers; however, I have found that since the aging process has set in a little, my blood pressure will many times measure above that(I just took it before writing this and it was 127/77). Not bad but still a tad bit above the perfect reading. I have also learned that taking your blood pressure should be done at least three times to get an accurate reading. It is also said that if your blood pressure reads high on the first try but then goes down you really do not have high blood pressure. Another extreme example is when I go to the dentist and they take my blood pressure it is way higher than normal. Duh!! With all of the pain I have had while in the dentist chair is it any wonder that my blood pressure shoots to the moon? Now to my point! I just read an interesting article by a medical doctor that recommends ways to prevent and control your blood pressure without taking a bunch of drugs, fact is you will not have to take any if you follow this advice. 1. If you are overweight, weight reduction can bring down pressure by five points. 2. Salt restriction lowers pressure for most. Salt restriction isn't just not adding salt in cooking or at the table. Only 10 percent of our daily salt intake comes in those ways. Most of our salt is found in foods to which salt has been added before it arrives in our homes. Reducing salt intake lowers pressure by five points. 3. Stick to a diet consisting mostly of fruits, vegetables, grains and low-fat dairy products. That kind of diet reduces pressure by about six points. 4. Exercise(see I knew we would get to this one sooner or later) is another effective way to get pressure down. The goal is 30 minutes(where have you heard this before?) on most days of the week. 5. Finally, increasing your daily potassium can take four points off blood pressure. Foods rich in potassium include baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beans(white, lima, and kidney), prunes, squash, bananas, spinach, Brussels sprouts, oranges, and orange juice, and milk. Doing all of the above should put your pressure in normal ranges without medicines(and you can stick your tongue out at the drug companies, and increase your savings account all at the same time).

Go for it, the formula is simple,

Mike Greer