3 Method to Avoid High Blood Pressure - Method2 Staying Fit

1 Exercise regularly to maintain a healthy blood pressure. Being physically active lowers your risk of high blood pressure by 20% to 50%. Doctors recommend 30 to 60 minutes of exercise each day, or a total of 150 minutes per week. It is important to be consistent. Your systolic blood pressure can be lowered by as much as 5 to 10 mm of mercury from exercise.

2 Keep your weight within a healthy range. You are 2 to 6 times more likely to develop high blood pressure if you are overweight or obese.

·         By maintaining a healthy weight, your waist is trimmed down, too. Experts claim that a large waist circumference can be a predictor of high blood pressure and heart disease. Studies show that waist measurements of 40 inches (102 cm) or more for men, 35 inches (89 cm) or more for women are linked to high blood pressure. Waist measurements vary by ethnicity. For example, for Asian men, the linked waist measurement is 36 inches (90 cm) or more and 32 inches (81 cm) or more for Asian women.

·         While the mechanism of its role is still unknown, one theory is that peripheral insulin resistance leads to impaired glucose intolerance and hyperinsulinemia. While a variety of mechanisms have been proposed to explain how hyperinsulinemia leads to increased hypertension, none have been proven definitively.

3 Get enough sleep every night. Sleeping 7 to 8 hours every night may help prevent high blood pressure. Sleep helps to keep your nervous system healthy and to regulate stress hormones. Too little sleep, less than 6 hours, could hurt your body’s ability to regulate stress hormones over time.

4 Stop the use of all tobacco products and avoid secondhand smoke. Blood pressure is temporarily increased for many minutes after a cigarette is smoked. Atherosclerosis (fatty buildups in arteries), cancer, and other lung problems can also be caused by smoking and secondhand smoke exposure.

5 Nip problems in the bud early. If your blood pressure is occasionally high, but not that way every time you go to the doctor, you may still have a problem. Studies indicate that occasional high blood pressure can be a sign of a chronic problem in the future or even a strong predictor of strokes. Discuss this with your doctor. By catching any problems now, you may be able to alleviate problems in the future.