You exercise,you eat right, but your last few check ups have you more than a little perturbed. So what has your blood pressure boiling? Well.... your blood pressure actually! Until you hit your mid 40's, the blood pressure you've always bragged about, a well worth the exercise effort of 110/70, has slowly begun creeping up! While your numbers used to be well within the limits of ballsy braggadocio..today you walked out with 135/85 rolling around in the back of your mind and you just can't shake it. You still exercise regularly, your cardio is spot on and you are the one who gladly turns down all of the sodium soaked, saturated fat favorites at your local bistro. So what gives? Well the good news is, you're still doing everything right AND while 135/85 isn't what you'd like to post on FaceBook...it's not off the charts either. We used to consider 140/90 the cut offs for what we considered boarder line high Systolic (your top number) and Diastolic (your bottom digits)...bad news is, we've since dropped that considerably to a cut off of more like 120/80...YIKES! I know, I know....try not to stress..YEA STRESS... now that's something we can talk about but first, take some solace in the fact that in general, the chance of having high blood pressure increases as you get older.
Before age 55, men have a greater chance of having high blood pressure. Women are more likely to have high blood pressure after menopause.
While we can't control the fact that we're all getting older and with that little fact comes the good, the difficult to accept and the down right ridiculous...we can control our stress.
Blood pressure depends on a combination of two factors:
-how forcefully the heart pumps blood around the body and
-how narrowed or relaxed your arteries are.
Hypertension occurs when blood is forced through the arteries at an increased pressure and guess what...STRESS plays a HUGE ROLE in how this will increase your numbers. Now, BEING THE HEALTH AND FITNESS DIVA...I have an option for you to try. IT worked for me. I was always running a 'CHECK HER PULSE AND SEE IF SHE'S ALIVE" ..108/65ish blood pressure. for most all f my adult life UNTIL..you guessed it, My early 40's and up it TRIED TO CREEP. Until that is,
refusing defeat, I dug my heals in ... did my research and realized that the only thing I was not attending to that could make a difference was My STRESS LEVEL.
SO, in an attempt to keep my posts shorter and sweet, bottom line, I researched more and read about and BOUGHT a unit called RESPERATE! A lovely .."makes you feel euphoric" deep breathing machine that with the melody of what sounds like Pachelbel's Canon, slowly lowers your breathing rate to 10 breaths per minute or LESS! It's based on the fact that breathing deeply and mindfully helps stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system to trigger a relaxation response throughout the body. Like all exercise, when repeated enough, the body responds and it's ability to reduce its destructive effects of stress are strengthened.
Your body's ability to lower it's blood pressure often follows suit as it falls in line with the parasympathetic parade. If your doctor is concerned and suggests medicaiton, by all means, avail yourself of its benefits. BUT why not( while doing so), also invest in a time tested exercise that may just give the body a chance to eventually regulate this on it's own. If not, you'll be healther all the way around by lower your stress levels... period! We'll discuss more on this matter on other Wellness Wednesdays to come but take it to the bank and cash the check now,STRESS KILLS...END OF DISCUSSION! RESPERATE did work for me and It brough me right back down to yesterdays reading of 110/72...I'll take it. NO I DO NOT have a deal with the company. Kinda wish I did cause this sucker works. Use it a few times a week...lying down..quiet music.guided deep breathing....ahhhh. Now that's what I call a tip worth taking.
Resperate can be purchased on line, so check out their website by the 'same name', for details and if you get the same result, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
I'll leave you with my favorite quote of all, The last sentence ever spoken by Mattie Stepanek....
"Choose to inhale, don't breathe simply to exist." -Mattie J.T. Stepanek (1990-2004), Poet and Peacemaker
Until Tomorrow....
Power ON,
Candace
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