There are simple lifestyle chances you can make that could lower your blood sugar level to the manageable minimum.
Blood pressure is the best predictor of a future heart attack or stroke; it is also the best measure of the function and well-being of your arteries. When your blood pressure is elevated while at rest, that means that your arteries are sick and dysfunctional, likely constricting and limiting blood flow. When your blood pressure is normal, that means your arteries are dilated and providing adequate blood flow to your heart, brain, and muscles.
A normal blood pressure should be less than 120/80, anything above this is elevated. If it reaches 140/90 that is the standard cut off for hypertension, the point when you qualify for medication therapy, as your hypertension has made you high risk for a cardiovascular event. Antihypertensive medications can lower blood pressure and help decrease your future risk for a heart attack or stroke, but they can have numerous side effects:
- Dizziness
- Depression
- Decreased energy
- Erectile dysfunction
- Wheezing
- Decreased exercise performance
- Decreased libido
- And a variety of more serious side effects as well.
Below are several steps that are as effective as adding a medication, without those side effects, and they are pretty easy to implement:
Step 1: Eat five cups of vegetables and fruits every day
Vegetables and fruits provide nutrients such as potassium, vitamin K, vitamin C, flavonoids, and an array of other compounds that make your arteries dilate. Everyone should eat at least five cups of produce every day, and the more colourful the better. It is amazing that doing something so simple is as effective as taking a drug.
Step 2: Exercise for 30 minutes daily
No doubt about it, exercise is great for blood pressure control. Dance, walk, bicycle, or go to the gym and find something that makes you sweat. Any activity that gets your heart rate up improves your blood vessel function and will improve your blood pressure.
Step 3: Lose 10 pounds
I won’t say weight loss is easy, but it is super effective at lowering blood pressure. Losing 10 pounds is as effective in controlling BP as taking a BP drug.
Step 4: Spend 10 minutes meditating daily
If you are not good at meditating, then try using an app like heart Math, which gives you feedback and makes meditating easier. Studies show that adding meditation or using heart Math, is as effective as taking blood pressure medication.
Step 5: Yes limit salt intake, but more important is to limit your sugar
For people with hypertension, decreasing salt intake from a typical American sodium intake of 3,800 mg per day to 2,500 mg per day lowers the top blood pressure reading (systolic) about 5 mm of Hg points, and the lower blood pressure reading (diastolic) 2.5. Yet for the average American with elevated blood pressure, the typical benefit from cutting your salt intake is only a 2 point reduction.
On the other hand, new research suggests that sugar has a bigger impact on blood pressure than salt. The challenge in making this distinction is that most processed foods are often loaded with both.
Eat garlic or take garlic extract supplements
Fresh garlic or garlic extract are both widely used by people to lower blood pressure According to one clinical study, a time-release garlic extract preparation may have a greater effect than regular garlic powder tablets .
Reduce excess stress
We live in stressful times. Workplace and family demands, national and international politics — they all contribute to stress. Finding ways to reduce your own stress is important for your health and your blood pressure. Relieving stress starts with recognizing your stress triggers and your relaxation inducers. Practice deep breathing, take a walk, watch a comedy, and listen to relaxing music. These are some of the ways people successfully relieve stress.
Stop smoking
Stopping smoking is good for your health all-around. Smoking causes an immediate but temporary increase in your blood pressure and an increase in your heart rate.
In the long term, the chemicals in tobacco can increase your blood pressure by damaging your blood vessel walls and narrowing your arteries. The hardened arteries cause higher blood pressure. The chemicals in tobacco can affect your blood vessels even if you’re around second-hand smoke. Children around second-hand smoke had higher blood pressure than a control group
Findings
- Eating more sugar increases systolic blood pressure 6.9 mm Hg points and diastolic blood pressure 5.6 mm Hg in the short term, and 7.6/6.1 mm Hg if followed for more than 8 weeks.
- Drinking a 24-ounce soft drink can increase blood pressure by 15 systolic and 9 diastolic points and raise heart rate by 9 beats per minute.
- People who consume 25% more calories from sugar (which is easy to do) have a 300% increase in death rate due to cardiovascular disease.
- A high-fructose (sugar) diet for just 2 weeks increases blood pressure 7 mm Hg systolic and 5 diastolic, but also raises pulse rate, triglycerides, fasting insulin and is associated with fatty liver.
- The good news is there is no harm noted from eating more fruit, so don’t fret over having an apple, a peach, or a cup of berries. Do avoid fruit juice and dried fruit.
For the past 100,000 years, humans consumed not more than a few pounds of sugar per year in the form of hard-earned honey, maple syrup, or sugar cane. It is only in the last few years that our intake has leaped to 100 to 150 pounds per year. Today, one in six people get 25% of all their calories from sugar, which is way too much! No wonder rates for diabetes and insulin resistance are skyrocketing at epidemic rates, and so is the rate for memory loss.
The bottom line is that we should all be eating more clean protein, more healthy fat, and more fibre from vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, and fruits. We should use more herbs and spices to make our food taste delicious, and by adding more herbs and spices we don’t need to use as much sugar and salt.