If you have high blood pressure, you may have to take medicine for a long time to control your blood pressure.
However, lifestyle plays an important role in the prevention and treatment of hypertension. If you can effectively control hypertension by improving your lifestyle during prehypertension or mild hypertension, then you can use no, late or less drugs.
What has to be explained is that if hypertension is diagnosed, the doctor instructs you to take medicine for treatment. While controlling blood pressure through a healthy lifestyle, you still need to take medicine well and follow up regularly.
Here are 9 lifestyle change tips that can help you reduce and keep your blood pressure stable.
To lose weight and shrink one’s stomach
Blood pressure usually increases with weight gain. Sleep apnea (sleep apnea) caused by obesity will further increase hypertension.
For overweight and obese people, losing weight is one of the most effective lifestyles to control blood pressure. As long as you lose 9 kg of weight, your blood pressure can begin to drop effectively.
In addition to losing weight, you should also pay attention to your waist circumference. The more fat on your waist, the greater the risk of hypertension.
Generally speaking, for Chinese, if the waist circumference of men exceeds 95cm and that of women exceeds 90cm, one should be careful.
Exercise regularly
Regular exercise at least five days a week and at least 30 minutes a day can reduce blood pressure by up to 4 ~ 9 mmHg. Therefore, it is very important to keep exercising.
Once you stop exercising, your blood pressure may rebound.
If a person has only a slight increase in blood pressure and is in the early stage of hypertension, sports can prevent it from developing into hypertension. For patients with hypertension, regular physical exercise can help blood pressure drop to a safe level.
The best exercise methods to lower blood pressure include:
- Walking, jogging, cycling, swimming and dancing
Strength training can also lower blood pressure.
Rehabilitation doctors can help you make a set of exercise plans, and you can bring medical records to consult them.
Healthy diet
A diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products and low saturated fat and cholesterol can reduce blood pressure by up to 14 mmHg.
This dietary plan is also called “antihypertensive diet” or “deshu diet” (DASH).
Changing your eating habits is not easy, but you can try the following tips to gradually adapt to a healthy diet:
- Keep a good diary of meals: Even if you only keep a record of your daily diet for one week, You can also take this opportunity to see clearly. My real eating habit is how. The contents to be recorded include: Type, amount, time and reason for choice of diet. Potassium supplement: Potassium can reduce the blood pressure raising effect of sodium. Better sources of potassium than potassium-containing supplements are fruits, vegetables and other foods. You can consult a doctor about the appropriate blood potassium level. Be a wise consumer: When buying food, please carefully read the food nutrition list; When going out for dinner, you should also stick to your healthy meal plan.
Eat less salt and monosodium glutamate
Salt is the main way we eat sodium. Other seasonings rich in sodium include monosodium glutamate (as well as chicken essence, mushroom essence, etc.), oyster sauce, instant noodle seasoning bags, etc.
Slightly reduce sodium intake in diet, blood pressure may drop by 2 ~ 8 mmHg.
The effect of sodium intake on blood pressure varies from person to person. It is generally recommended that the daily sodium intake should not be higher than 2.3 g (equivalent to about 6 g of salt). However, for people with high salt sensitivity, it is recommended that the daily sodium intake should be at least lower than 1.5 g (equivalent to about 4 g of salt).
These sensitive groups include:
- African-American; People over 51 years of age; Patients with hypertension, diabetes or chronic kidney disease.
Regarding the reduction of sodium intake in diet, the following suggestions are made:
- Learn to look at the nutritional composition table: Buy low-sodium foods and beverages as much as possible. Eat less fine foods: Natural foods contain very little sodium, In the process, a lot of sodium is added. No salt: A teaspoon of salt contains 2.3 g of sodium. For seasoning, you can use more herbs or spices such as pepper and cinnamon instead of salt. Slow down: If you are not used to the sudden decrease in salt in your diet, you can choose to gradually reduce the amount so that your taste will gradually adapt.
Quit smoking and drinking
Drinking alcohol will not only raise blood pressure, but also reduce the antihypertensive effect of drugs.
Every time you smoke a cigarette, your blood pressure will continue to be high for the next few minutes. Quitting smoking helps blood pressure return to normal levels.
As long as you quit smoking, no matter how old you are or how old you are when you quit smoking, your quality of life can be improved.
Drink less coffee
The effect of caffeine on blood pressure has been controversial. For people who seldom drink coffee, caffeine can raise blood pressure by 10 mmHg, but for people who drink coffee regularly, caffeine has no effect on their blood pressure.
Although the effect of long-term caffeine intake on blood pressure is still unknown, it may still slightly increase blood pressure.
To verify whether caffeine has a boosting effect on your blood pressure, you can take your blood pressure within 30 minutes after drinking caffeinated beverages. If your blood pressure rises by 5 ~ 10 mmHg, you are more sensitive to the boosting effect of caffeine.
You need to tell your doctor about the effect of caffeine on your blood pressure.
Reduce psychological pressure
Long-term high psychological stress contributes greatly to the occurrence and development of hypertension. If you are used to choosing unhealthy diet, drinking or smoking to relieve temporary stress, then such stress is bound to cause hypertension.
Think about what’s reasons that make you feel stressed, whether it is work, family, economic status, or specific diseases. Once the reason is clear, you need to consider how to eliminate or relieve such stress.
If you can’t relieve all the pressure, at least you can deal with it through a healthier lifestyle.
You can try:
- Adjustment Expectations: Give yourself enough time to do things. Learn to say no, Do what you can. Try to accept what you can’t change. Think about controllable problems. Make a plan to solve: When confronted with difficulties at work, You can discuss it with your boss, When confronted with family problems, Discuss with family members. Understanding stressors: Try to avoid people and things that put pressure on you. For example, Keep out of touch with people who interfere with you and avoid the rush hour while driving. Relax and exercise properly: Sit quietly and take a deep breath for 15 to 20 minutes every day. Enjoy the activities that relax you slowly, instead of completing the so-called “relaxation activities” at a fast pace nervously. Learn to be grateful: Expressing gratitude to others can help relieve stress.
Family blood pressure monitoring, regular doctor visits
Family self-measurement of blood pressure is conducive to closely monitoring blood pressure changes, accurately knowing the effect of medication and lifestyle changes on blood pressure control, and facilitating timely adjustment of treatment plans.
Sphygmomanometers are easy to buy. Every time you go to a doctor, you can show the blood pressure for nearly a week to the doctor.
Regular visits to doctors are crucial to controlling blood pressure. If blood pressure is well controlled, you can see a doctor every six months to one year. If there are other diseases or complications, the interval may need to be shorter.
If the blood pressure is not well controlled, the number of follow-up visits needs to be more.
Get the support of relatives and friends
The support of family and friends will help stabilize your blood pressure. They will encourage you to take good care of yourself, drive you to see a doctor regularly, or exercise with you to help you control your blood pressure.
In addition to family and friends, if you feel that you need more psychological support, you can consider joining the group of patients. The people there can not only cheer you up, but also provide feasible solutions to your problems.
Responsible Editor: Ding Ruoshui