Health And Diet Tips: Blood Pressure

Showing posts with label Blood Pressure. Show all posts

How to Track Your Weight, Diet, Exercise & Blood Pressure

When you have a specific goal in mind such as losing weight or lowering your blood pressure, tracking your progress can help you stay motivated. By monitoring your data over time, you'll be able to notice patterns that are standing in the way of your efforts, such as foods you may be eating that cause you to feel sluggish or exercises that aren't helping you meet your goals. At its most basic, you'll only need a notebook and a simple spreadsheet to track your values -- though you can also use any number of computer or mobile phone applications to do the same thing.

Things You'll Need

Spreadsheet software
Notebook
Scale
Blood pressure monitor

Tips For You

Create a spreadsheet that includes columns named "Weight," "Blood Pressure," "Minutes Exercised" and "Calories Consumed." Create rows with the dates by week; for example, "April 1," then "April 8," then "April 15" and so on.
Weigh yourself and take your blood pressure and enter those values into the top-most "Weight" and "Blood Pressure" columns on your spreadsheet.
Write down everything you eat in a notebook, putting the day's date at the top of the page. For example, you might write "Friday, April 1" at the top. Then write down all foods and drinks -- including alcohol and candy -- you eat. At the end of the day, use an online calorie calculator, such as the USDA's SuperTracker to count how many calories you consumed that day. Write the number near the bottom of the notebook page. If it's easier, you can also use any number of online food tracker apps, which provide the calories in foods automatically.
Write the number of minutes you exercised each day into the notebook, on the appropriate day. Also write down the type of exercises you did -- including strength training, cardio and gentle exercise such as walking around the block -- and any notes about how you felt. Maybe you were tired or didn't feel well, or you had a great workout that left you feeling energized; writing this stuff down can help you look back at what you were doing the day before that might have contributed to that feeling.
Tally your total calorie intake at the end of the week and the number of minutes you exercised, then write them into the "Minutes Exercised" and "Calories Consumed" columns of your spreadsheet. Also weigh yourself and take your blood pressure and enter the values into the spreadsheet.
Review your spreadsheet and your daily notes to look for ways to improve your performance. If you found you were feeling tired one day, look at the days before and determine whether you consumed too many or too few nutritious calories, for example.

How Does Weight Loss Lower Blood Pressure?

How Weight Contributes to Hypertension

Excess weight often leads to hypertension. A larger body requires more blood in order to provide adequate nutrients and oxygen to the body's tissues. Greater blood volume results in more pressure exerted against the walls of the arteries. Thus, blood pressure increases as a result of extra body weight.

Waist Measurement Recommendations

Specifically, carrying weight primarily around the waist is often a factor in developing high blood pressure. A waist measurement of 40 or more for men and 35 or more for women increases the risk of experiencing hypertension. Thus, if an individual's waist size is greater than these recommendations, weight loss would lower the risk of developing hypertension and lower blood pressure in those already dealing with hypertension.

Losing Weight to Lower Blood Pressure

According to the Mayo Clinic, losing as little as 10 pounds can significantly lower blood pressure. Generally, those individuals who are attempting to lose weight will do so by eating healthier and incorporating exercise into their daily routines. Eating healthier and regular exercise can lower blood pressure several points.

How Does Diet Affect Blood Pressure?

What Is Blood Pressure?

One of the first things your doctor is likely going to prescribe if you are diagnosed with high blood pressure is a change in your diet. Many patients can control their blood pressure problems almost completely with dietary restrictions. However, many do not know why they need to make these changes. Sometimes this lack of knowledge can cause them to be unmotivated to make the necessary changes. Understanding how the food you eat affects your blood pressure starts with understanding what blood pressure is. Blood pressure is a measure of the force of the blood in your body as it pushes against the walls of the blood vessels. When this pressure is too high, it puts stress on the blood vessels, arteries and heart. Few people know what actually causes high blood pressure, but it can be treated with dietary changes.

The Effect of Salt on Blood Pressure

Salt is the main culprit when it comes to foods that increase blood pressure. Foods that are high in salt are also high in sodium. When you eat too much sodium, the body knows that it needs to flush out some of this mineral, and therefore it retains water to clean itself out. When you are already suffering from high blood pressure, this water retention can make it rise even higher. On the other hand, reducing your salt and sodium intake can help your body release some of this water, and this may help lower your blood pressure.

The Effect of Fat and Calories on Blood Pressure

A heart-healthy diet is also one that is low in fat and calories. Fat and calories do not directly affect blood pressure, but they indirectly affect it. A diet that is high in fat and calories will cause most people to gain weight. Being overweight is one risk factor for high blood pressure. Blood pressure will rise and fall with your weight, and the amount of fat in your diet will contribute to this. Studies have shown that losing even 10 pounds will lower blood pressure dramatically for those who have been diagnosed with hypertension.

Other Foods That Effect Blood Pressure

Alcohol and caffeine also affect blood pressure. No one knows exactly why, but increased alcohol consumption causes blood pressure to rise. Those who are working to control their blood pressure should only consume one or two alcoholic beverages a day. Of course, alcohol also contains empty calories that can increase weight gain. Caffeine is another food that causes increases in blood pressure, even for those who do not have problems with hypertension. This spike in blood pressure is particularly dangerous for people who rarely consume caffeine, as the blood pressure spikes can be quite high for these people. Soft drinks seem to be the most dangerous sources of caffeine for those watching their blood pressure, but research has not yet been able to prove why.