Your symptoms are silent, but, with the advice of qualified doctors, it can be a bad thing that would be far from you.
We live in a world of pressures in which work, accounts, projects and even your love for football generate stress, and there is no one who does not look for a way to relax. The problem is that most seek refuge in cigarettes, alcohol (in excess), salty food or sweets. Bad combination for your body and your heart, because you could go on a straight road to hypertension.
This is nothing more than high blood pressure, which, if constant, can lead to strokes, heart failure or heart attacks. This condition is also known as “the silent killer”, because it has no obvious symptoms, such as pain, that make you go to the doctor to check you out. That is why it is recommended that you check your pressure at home periodically (here, later, we will tell you how to do it).
On the other hand, fortunately, you don’t have to live in a limited way so that your blood pressure doesn’t give you problems. Here are a series of very easy to follow tips that can tidy up your blood flow. But before we will explain a couple of things?
When you take the pressure, you will see two numbers on the reading monitor (for example, 120/80). The first (the one above) indicates systolic pressure (the maximum pressure of the heart when it contracts); and the second, the diastolic (blood pressure between heartbeats). If the systolic is most of the time above 140 points, it is considered high (120 or less is normal); the diastolic would be high if it is usually above 90 points (80 or a little less is ideal). If you drink caffeine or are a little stressed there may be peaks that reach the limits. As long as they are not the constant, you should not fear.
Once this is clarified, let’s fully enter the tips that can save your life.
White outside; welcome the whole
You already knew it; However, we remind you: refined foods such as white rice or bread are more friends of hypertension than yours.
Do this : In a study at the University of Aberdeen in the United States, people who ate three daily servings of whole grains for 12 weeks lowered their systolic blood pressure from 5 to 6 mmHg (millimeters of mercury). So you just have to include three servings of brown rice, oatmeal, rye, barley, whole grain corn, quinoa or bran in your daily diet.
Interestingly: Lowering 5 mmHg in your systolic blood pressure reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and that of a heart attack by 15 percent; lowering it to 6 mmHg reduces it to 25 percent
Expand yourself!
Did you need motivation to go to the gym? According to research published in The New Mayo Clinic, with losing only a few kilos you can expand your arteries. In the study, when healthy people gained three kilos, their blood vessels affected their ability to dilate, which is an important factor in developing high blood pressure, a heart attack or even erectile dysfunction.
Do this: Take care of your diet and exercise. In the same study it was seen that, after losing weight, the blood vessels returned to their original state. Dr. Virend Somers, author of the study, says that each fat cell is “a factory of deadly substances that cause inflammation.”
Somers’ recommendation is to lose weight gradually, as it prevents you from gaining the one you lost in the future.
Interestingly: 22 percent of people with high blood pressure do not know they suffer from this disease.
Sweetens your life
You can significantly lower your blood pressure by eating chocolate. In an Italian study, people who had symptoms of hypertension were able to control it by eating 3.5 ounces of chocolate daily for 15 days. Participants in the study were able to lower their systolic blood pressure 4.5 points, and 4.2 diastolic blood pressure thanks to chocolate flavonoids (antioxidants).
Do this: But not all chocolates help lower your blood pressure, you have to choose the right one, and that is the darkest one you find, because it contains more antioxidants and less sugar, which can act against the benefits of chocolate, according to a Yale investigation. How to know how good the dark is? If it is composed of 65 percent cocoa or more, you have chosen the right one.
Interestingly: Dark chocolate also helps control prediabetes when the same amount is consumed to regulate blood pressure.
Play music
A good tune is the perfect tool to relax your arteries. Listening to 30 minutes a day of music, combined with breathing exercises, can lower systolic blood pressure by just over 4 points after three months, according to a study done in Italy.
Breathing with an inhalation / exhalation ratio of 1 to 2 while listening to soft music with a steady rhythm relaxes your blood vessels, says Dr. Randall Zusman, director of the hypertension division of the heart center of Massachusetts General Hospital.
Do this: The key is to choose the right music, says Michael Miller, co-author of another study about music. In this study it was found that people who followed the breaths accompanied by music at a steady and calm pace, dilated their vessels 26 percent, while those who listened to music that made them anxious experienced a 6 percent contraction of their blood vessels. According to Miller, the emotional connection to music is the key to lowering your pressure.
Interestingly: All kinds of music works as long as you consider it relaxing. In the studio people heard from Mozart to the ballads of Maroon 5.
Laugh out loud
Laughing constantly, like when you watch a comic movie, causes your blood vessels to dilate 22 percent according to a study by the University of Maryland, in the United States. The simple act of laughing causes the tissue in the inner walls of your blood vessels to expand and blood flow to increase, reducing blood pressure, says Dr. Miller. “The magnitude of the change is similar to the benefit you get from aerobic activities, but without muscle pain or fatigue,” he says.
Do this: You have to laugh for 15 minutes to get the benefits (forced smiles and mock laughs do not fall into this section). To maximize its effect you have to laugh almost out loud, so if the Internet is not enough for you, take a look at your elementary yearbooks. That always works out.
Interestingly: Another study in Florida showed that those who have suffered from a coronary condition laugh significantly less than those who have not had heart problems.
It has been said to bed!
Men who have sex twice a week are 66 percent less likely to develop cardiovascular disease than those who have it less than once a month on average, according to a study by the University of Paisley in Scotland.
People who had sex at least once every two weeks lowered their blood pressure significantly compared to those without sex, in addition to their blood vessels responding better to stress.
Do this: Ask your girlfriend for forgiveness or find a partner, because doing things on your own does not help much. Researchers believe that the positive effects of sex as a couple have a lot to do with intimacy. Oxytocin, the hormone associated with stress reduction, is released during sex as a couple, particularly in orgasm, not during masturbation. Apparently, couple sex makes the release of this hormone more effective, says Dr. Stuart Brody, author of the study.
Interestingly: Sex is also a good exercise routine. You burn 60 calories for every half hour of action in bed, and the average blood pressure during orgasm when you’re up is 160/80.
Sugar also counts
Too many sweets can accelerate the rhythm of your heart. According to a study in Switzerland, when people consumed 60 grams of fructose, their systolic blood pressure skyrocketed up to six points after two hours. To make matters worse, the hearts of the people who were in the study increased eight beats above their maximum per minute. “Your blood vessels do not relax after eating fructose,” says Dr. Clive Brown, author of the study. “So your heart is forced to beat harder and faster.”
Do this: Avoid eating sweets in large portions. They are sweetened with fructose or sucrose-rich corn syrup, both contain 50 percent fructose.
Interestingly: In 2001, it was estimated that in the United States alone, people consumed 28.4 kilos per capita of high-fructose corn syrup. Most of it came from bottled soft drinks and, for many scientists, this is the main cause of obesity today.
Get your teeth
Garlic supplements can be as effective as prescription medications to lower blood pressure, says an Australian study. When scientists reviewed 11 studies in this regard, they determined that people who took between 699 and 900 mg of garlic powder a day reduced their systolic pressure to five points. Researchers believe that a chemical called allicin may be partially responsible for this benefit.
Do this: You do not need to purchase a garlic supplement. “A clove of raw garlic contains the same amount of allicin as any supplement,” says Dr. Karin Reid, author of the study.
Interestingly: Among other benefits, outside the legends that serve to ward off vampires, the consumption of garlic also helps prevent colon cancer, but not garlic supplements.