Fight Hypertension

Many people who suffer from hypertension can easily control their blood pressure with simple changes to their lifestyle. They may or may not realize that diet and exercise are two of the main factors when it comes to health. Too many people don't want to take responsibility for their health and want a simple solution. They want to be able to eat and drink to excess, not exercise, and pop a pill to solve all of their problems. But that isn't the way the human body was designed to work. We were meant to be active beings, eating healthy foods, and not being dependent on chemicals.

Blood pressure is a vital sign measurement that determines how strong the blood pressure is against your artery walls. The pressure is caused by the force of your heart pumping blood into the artery versus the resistance of the artery against it. When you see a blood pressure reading, there'll be one number on top that's bigger, and a smaller number below it. The upper number gives you the pressure of your heart pumping. The lower number represents the pressure of your heart relaxing between pumps. The normal range for the first number, the systolic pressure, is between 120 and 140. The normal range for the second number, diastolic pressure, ranges from 70 to 90. These numbers change throughout the day and also change depending on whether you are sitting or standing, so don't be too concerned if you get blood pressure readings slightly higher or lower than the numbers in the range.

To keep your blood pressure in check, follow this simple regimen for a month and see how much your blood pressure improves.

Exercise: You don't need to be a marathon runner or even do strenuous exercise. Just try to exercise for thirty minutes a day at least five days a week. This may simply be walking around your office building for 30 minutes over your lunch break. Or, if the weather is bad, go to your local mall and walk inside for half and hour. If you are not used to exercise, start slowly and work up to thirty minutes.

Diet: Experts now recommend the DASH diet. This is an acronym for "Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension." The diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, and low fat dairy foods, and low in saturated and total fat. It also is low in cholesterol, high in dietary fiber, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, and moderately high in protein. It includes 7-8 daily servings of grains and grain products, 4-5 servings of vegetable, 4-5 servings of fruits, 2-3 servings of low fat dairy foods, 2 or less servings of meat, fish, and poultry, and very small amounts of nuts, seeds, and legumes.

Dean Novosat writes for http://www.dealingwithhypertension.com a site about health and wellness and how to control Hypertension.