Blood pressure is commonly known as the force of your blood that is pushing against the walls of your arteries. Every time your heart beats, with the help of it pumps blood into your arteries. The blood pressure is highest when the heartbeat pumps the blood. This is known as the systolic pressure. When your heart is resting in between the beats, the blood pressure falls. This is known as diastolic pressure. The reading of your blood pressure uses two numbers to determine the systolic and diastolic pressure. Usually, the systolic number comes first and then the diastolic number.
How to Prevent High Blood Pressure?
In a survey, it has been seen 1 out of 3 adults have high blood pressure that can be otherwise termed as hypertension. But generally many of them cannot even realize that they have hypertension for a very long time. Usually, high blood pressure does not have any kind of symptoms or warning signs, yet it is associated with conditions that are life-threatening like stroke and heart attack. But the good news is that you can take certain measures to prevent having high blood pressure. There are many treatment methods that you can adopt to avoid having hypertension. Early diagnosis and some simple changes in your lifestyle and health can keep the high blood pressure from seriously damaging your overall health.
How to figure out High Blood Pressure?
Before starting any kind of diagnosis, you must know whether you have high blood pressure or not. It generally does not have any symptoms so going for regular check-ups to your doctor or clinic is the only option to know it. You can also visit your health care provider to know about your blood pressure. The things that your provider will use to find out your blood pressure are:
- A stethoscope
- A gauge
- A blood pressure cuff
- An electronic sensor
How to Change Your Food and Lifestyle Habits?
Before high blood pressure affects your body, it is important to take care of certain food habits or completely change them to avoid it. By just starting some new food and lifestyle habits, you can easily prevent having high blood pressure or even if you have it, you can reduce the medication to control your high blood pressure levels. Mentioned below are some of the habits that you should introduce to keep away hypertension from your body.
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Counting Calories
The very first thing that you need to do for avoiding high blood pressure is to count and cut down on calories. It is the best thing that you can do to get out of the risk of having hypertension. Write down the foods that you are eating and then check your calorie intake. If needed, you can take the help of your doctor or health care provider to know how much calorie intake is good for you.
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Reducing Portion Sizes
Another way you can avoid having high blood pressure is to reduce the portions of food items in your daily diet. Reducing the food intake amount can help you to manage the blood pressure by losing weight. You can check the high blood pressure levels of your body with the help of a blood pressure watch. You can read the reviews on blood pressure watch reviews on bestreviews.guide, check whether it is efficient and then buy one for yourself. It is effective for those who need to check their pressure every day.
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Avoid Extra Sodium
If you are currently having a high-in-sodium diet, then you stop it immediately because it may increase the blood pressure levels of your body. It is even better if you stop taking extra sodium in your food items. Lesser the sodium intake, lower the blood pressure and you will be able to manage it better. Some tips to reduce your sodium intake are:
- Use a diary for the food items with sodium to track the amount of intake each day.
- Avoid having more than 1 teaspoon of sodium or salt each day.
- Take suggestions from your doctor about the kind of food items you can include in your diet chart.
- Read the nutritional facts written on the label of food items.
- Avoid having packaged and processed food items that have more sodium in them.
- Avoid having fast foods and lunch meats.
- Try to avoid seasonings without salt.
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Eating Healthy
To avoid having high blood pressure, you must stick to a healthy diet. It includes fresh vegetables and fruits, low-fat dairy products, legumes, whole grains, seeds, and nuts. You can also include poultry items and lean protein like lean meats in your diet to manage high blood pressure. Some of the best options to include in your diet are:
- Apples
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Dates
- Melons
- Citrus fruits
- Pineapples
- Spinach
- Beet greens
- Fat-free yogurt
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Exercising Regularly
Exercise is the best way to avoid having high blood pressure and it can help you to maintain your body weight too. You can try some aerobic exercises in moderate intensity for about 2 to 2.5 hours every week. Brisk walking is also beneficial in case you do not want to opt for exercise. In this, your heartbeats are harder, thus more oxygen reaches your heart than usual.
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Stress Management
Along with healthy food habits and lifestyle, you must also learn to manage your stress. This can drastically improve your mental health and change your physical health. This is also the best way to avoid or reduce high blood pressure levels. Some of the techniques for stress management are:
- Meditating
- Focusing on something that makes you calm and peaceful
- Doing activities that make you relaxed
- Listening to good music
- Exercising
What to Avoid for Keeping High Blood Pressure Away?
There are certain things that you should completely avoid to prevent yourself from getting diagnosed with high blood pressure. Some of the things that you need to avoid are:
- Canned products
- Alcohol
- Smoking
- Sugar intake
- Pickles and other sour items
