Preventing High Blood Pressure
If you’ve been diagnosed with high blood pressure (also known as hypertension), you’re not alone; over 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. have this condition. Unfortunately, many people with hypertension aren’t aware they have it. Nicknamed “the silent killer,” high blood pressure rarely has obvious symptoms, but it can lead to life-threatening conditions like strokes and heart attacks. The good news is, with an early diagnosis and some healthy lifestyle changes, you can prevent high blood pressure other dangerous conditions. Understanding why high blood pressure develops can also help you prevent hypertension before it starts.
What is Blood Pressure, and How is it Measured?
Blood pressure is the measurement of the force of circulating blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. Every time the heart beats, it pumps blood into the arteries, which causes blood pressure to raise. This is known as systolic pressure. Diastolic pressure measures the falling pressure on the walls of your arteries between beats when the heart is at rest.
When you have your blood pressure read, your reading is made up of these two numbers, with systolic pressure usually listed first or above diastolic. For example, if your blood pressure is 120/80, it would mean your systolic pressure is 120, and your diastolic pressure is 80. Blood pressure readings are divided into four categories: normal, pre-hypertension, stage 1 hypertension, and stage 2 hypertension.
Since hypertension usually doesn’t have noticeable symptoms, it’s vital to monitor your blood pressure regularly with your health care provider. They will typically use a blood pressure monitor, gauge and stethoscope, or an electronic sensor to check both blood pressure values before making a diagnosis.
Who is at Risk for Developing High Blood Pressure?
Although anyone can develop high blood pressure in their lifetime, there are several factors that can increase your risk:
- Age: Blood pressure tends to increase with age
- Race & ethnicity: High blood pressure is most common in people with African-American, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, or Native American heritage
- Weight: Being overweight or obese
- Sex: Men are more likely to develop high blood pressure before age 55, while women are more likely to develop it after age 55
- Family history: A family history of high blood pressure
- Lifestyle habits: Eating too much sodium or too little potassium, drinking too much alcohol, smoking tobacco, eating too many saturated and trans fats, and a lack of exercise
How to Prevent High Blood Pressure
Some of the risk factors for high blood pressure are unavoidable, like age, ethnicity, and having a family history. However, making healthy lifestyle choices can help you keep your blood pressure within a healthy range and prevent future health conditions. Here are some easy steps you can take to decrease your risk:
Eat a Healthy Diet
Choosing healthy meals and snacks can help you avoid high blood pressure and its complications. It can also help you stay at a healthy weight.
Aim to eat a diet high in:
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Whole grains
- Low-fat dairy products
- Skinless poultry and fish
- Nuts and legumes
- Non-tropical vegetable oils
Avoid or limit:
- Saturated and trans fats
- Sodium
- Red meat
- Foods and beverages with processed sugars
Maintain a Healthy Weight
Since being overweight or obese increases your risk for high blood pressure, it’s important to maintain a healthy weight. Talk to your health care provider to determine a healthy weight range for you. Often, they will calculate your healthy weight based on the body mass index (BMI), although some health care providers also use hip and waist measurements to assess body fat.
If you’re already at a good weight for your height and age, maintain it with diet and regular exercise. If you’re at an unhealthy weight, it’s important to address it through healthy lifestyle changes. Being at a healthy weight can significantly decrease your risk factors for other serious health conditions, like Type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease.
Exercise Regularly
Exercise is a great way to help you maintain a healthy weight and lower your blood pressure. Adults should aim for getting at least 2 ½ hours of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise each week (about 30 minutes a day, five days a week) or 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous activity weekly, while children and adolescents should get an hour of exercise every day.
How can you gauge if an activity is considered moderate or vigorous? Moderate activities should feel somewhat difficult; you should be breathing harder, but not out of breath, and develop a light sweat after about 10 minutes. Some examples of moderate-intensity exercises include brisk walks and bicycling. Vigorous activity is more challenging; your breath should feel deep and rapid, you may be sweating after only a few minutes, and it’s difficult to say more than a few words without pausing for breath. This includes activities like jogging (over 5 mph), jumping rope, or soccer.
Limit Your Alcohol Intake
Excessive alcohol consumption can raise your blood pressure and cause weight gain, so make sure you’re not overindulging. Men should have no more than 2 alcoholic drinks a day and women should have no more than 1 drink a day.
Don’t Smoke
Smoking tobacco raises blood pressure and increases your risk of heart attacks and strokes. If you don’t currently smoke, don’t start. If you already smoke, talk to your health care provider for recommendations on how to quit.
Stress Management
Managing your stress levels can help lower your blood pressure and improve your overall physical and emotional health. Some techniques you can try to lower your stress include exercise, listening to soothing music, deep breathing techniques, enjoying relaxing hobbies, or meditation.
Get Enough Sleep
Research has shown that adults who sleep less than 7 hours a night are more likely to develop health issues, including heart disease, high blood pressure, depression, and obesity. Getting enough sleep helps to keep your heart and blood vessels healthy, and it provides the energy you need for regular exercise. You should try to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep nightly.
Medical Weight Loss Plans to Help You Prevent High Blood Pressure
Making healthy lifestyle choices can go a long way in improving your overall health and preventing high blood pressure. If you have pre-hypertension, lifestyle changes may be able to reverse the condition.
One of the main risk factors for high blood pressure is being overweight or obese. Having an unhealthy body weight is also tied in with making unhealthy food choices, less physical activity, and poor sleep quality, so addressing this issue can help you on many levels.
If you’ve struggled with losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight, contact Dr. Jennifer Hubert for more information about her medical weight loss programs. Dr. Hubert takes a holistic look at your weight loss challenges to develop a customized plan that will help you lose the weight and keep it off. She has helped numerous patients with high blood pressure develop sustainable, healthy habits that improve their numbers—and their lives. Contact Dr. Hubert’s office today to schedule your consultation.