TWICE AS MANY PEOPLE live with hypertension as 30 years ago. Today. almost half of all adults in Australia have high blood pressure, but many are not aware of this fact. I think that is a tragedy. Hypertension is another name for high blood pressure. The condition can lead to severe health complications and increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, and early death.
About four in ten women and over half of men with high blood pressure are unaware of the condition. Compounding this problem is that 53 percent of women and 62 percent of men with hypertension will not receive appropriate treatment, most unaware that they had hypertension.
All of this is quite troubling to me, and when I saw the numbers, I thought I better check in with you.
You may consider concepts such as ‘risk factor modification’ and ‘prevention’ to be dull. They may not initiate or sustain the levels of motivation needed to make and maintain comprehensive lifestyle changes. — Dr. Dean Ornish.
As you know, blood pressure is the force that blood exerts against the walls of our blood vessels. This pressure depends on the resistance of the blood vessels and how hard the heart has to work.
High blood pressure is a central risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Think heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and aneurysm. Keeping your blood pressure reasonable can be central to optimizing your health and reducing your chances of suffering from one of these health conditions.
Today, we explore why blood pressure can increase and how we can keep it within a normal range.
Lifestyle
By having a good lifestyle, you may be able to:
- Lower your blood pressure (and avoid getting high blood pressure in the first place).
- Reduce your need for prescribed medications.
- Help your blood pressure medicines work better if you need them.
- Drop your odds of suffering from a heart attack, stroke, or kidney disease.
Hopefully, I have convinced you that pursuing a good lifestyle can be pretty valuable. Let’s get a bit more granular, looking at what specifically you can do to be healthier.
1. Diet
Diet is the one on which I have to work the hardest. Let’s begin with this: There is no single diet that is optimum for everyone. Here are some things a healthy diet can include:
- Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains
- Nuts (such as walnuts and almonds)
- Beans, chickpeas, lentils, and similar foods
- Fish
- Fat-free or low-fat milk or milk products
The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) trial randomly assigned people with blood pressures of less than 160/80 to 95 mmHg to one of three diets: 1) a control diet low in fruits, vegetables, and legumes and high in snacks, sweets, meats, and saturated fat; 2) a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes and low in snacks and sweets; or 3) a combination diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and low-fat dairy products and low in snacks, sweets, meats, and saturated and total fat (this combination is the “DASH diet”).
The DASH diet includes four to five servings of fruit, four to five servings of vegetables, two to three servings of low-fat dairy per day, and less than 25 percent fat. The fruit and vegetable diet dropped blood pressure by 2.8/1.1 mmHg, and the combination diet reduced the blood pressure by 5.5/3.0.
Those with high blood pressure derived the most benefits. The DASH diet led to a blood pressure drop of 11.4/5.5 mmHg in those with hypertension, compared with 3.5/2.1 mmHg in those with normal blood pressures. The blood-pressure-lowering effects appeared maximal at the end of week two with any diets.
2. Weight
Let’s keep it simple: Eat less, move more, or both. Ideally, choose the last one. Still, I don’t know of any single weight-loss diet or activity that is best for all. For me, my physical activity centers on regular walking every day. Whatever you choose, stick with it.
3. Salt
Excess sodium intake has a central, if not predominant, role in elevated blood pressure. Does this mean that you need to avoid the salt shaker or not add any salt when cooking? No. I m worried about all sodium you may consume from food from the grocery store or restaurants. Eat less processed food. If it is in a jar, bag, box, or can, you might not want to eat it.
For me, what worked was selecting a couple of high-sodium foods and replacing them with lower salt ones. I then systematically removed high-sodium foods from my diet over time.
Does salt matter? As an example of the benefits of salt reduction, in the so-called DASH-Sodium trial, the lower sodium diet reduced systolic pressure by 8 mmHg in African-American participants and by 5 mmHg in non-African-American participants.
4. Alcohol
If you drink, for optimal health, try to limit your consumption to one (women) or two standard drinks (men) daily. A standard drink is a can or bottle with 12 ounces of beer. Alternatively, it is a 5-ounce glass of one or a shot of 1.5 ounces of whiskey.
5. Move!
I don’t mean only the gym. Walk, dance, or garden and you will reap benefits. If you are more sedentary, start by walking for minutes each day for a few weeks. Stick with it and work up to 45 minutes on most days (or switch to a different activity).
6. Bonus tip: Practice mindfulness
Lifestyle improvement can meaningfully change your health. Are you new to exercise? Check-in with a valued medical professional before you start and start your routine slowly. Thinking of creating home-cooked meals? You may wish to begin with meals that are low in sodium.
Set realistic and specific goals. For me, deadlines help. You got this! Thank you for joining me today.
