High Blood Pressure? Chances are you might not know.
Claire Greenhouse
PT and Nutrition Coach
This month’s guest lifestyle blog is from PT and Nutrition Coach, Claire Greenhouse. Claire specialises in female health and is a Level 3 PT and Level 4 Nutrition Coach. Helping women who are feeling lethargic, defeated or determined to hit their fitness goals lose weight or gain muscle – whatever it is they want to do, she is there to help them achieve their goals.
High Blood Pressure? Chances are you might not know.
If you want to avoid having a stroke or heart attack, this is going to be really important.
Let’s talk about a silent killer – high blood pressure.
According to Blood Pressure UK around one in three adults in the UK has high blood pressure.
Worryingly, there are more than 5 million people (in England alone) that are undiagnosed and that’s part of the problem.
People are not even aware they have high blood pressure as there are rarely any symptoms.
High blood pressure is responsible for more than half of all strokes and heart attacks.
It’s also a risk factor for heart disease, kidney disease, and vascular dementia.
If you’re drinking regularly and heavily, are inactive and overweight, and consume a lot of salt in your diet then your chances of hypertension are increased.
Monitoring your blood pressure
An ideal blood pressure reading is between 90/60mmHg (millimetres of mercury) and 120/80mmHg.
You have high blood pressure if your readings are consistently above 140/90mmHg.
The only way to check this is with a blood pressure monitor.
The good news is, for the vast majority of people, we can reduce high blood pressure through lifestyle choices:
Reduce salt intake
Most of us eat too much salt, UK guidelines are less than 6 g (teaspoon a day).
According to British Heart Foundation, we average way more than this – 8.4g a day which is 40% higher than the recommendation.
The problem with this is the sodium in the salt causes more water in your blood vessels and leads to more pressure.
Now it might be fairly obvious that crisps and salty nuts contain a high amount of salt.
However everyday foods like bread, cereal, processed meat like bacon, stock cubes, and sauces also contain high amounts of salt.
Most food items now have a traffic light system but not all. If you’d like to find out how to understand food labels click here.
A great alternative to adding salt to our food is to experiment with different spices or switch to LoSalt which has less sodium.
Remember it can take a few weeks for your taste buds to adjust so be patient and stick with it.
Reduce saturated fats (bad fats)
Consuming too much fat, especially saturated fat raises cholesterol which blocks arteries and increases the risk of stroke or heart attack.
Saturated fats are found in red meats, butter, cheese, chocolate, crisps, and biscuits.
The government recommends that men eat no more than 30g of saturated fat a day, and women have no more than 20g.
Increase Unsaturated Fats (good fats)
Not all fats are bad, in fact, we need fat in our diet and unsaturated fat can help lower cholesterol.
Unsaturated fats are found in oily fish, avocado, olive oil, some nuts, and seeds.
Foods that help reduce blood pressure
No surprises here but fruit and vegetables help lower blood pressure.
In particular, foods high in potassium helps excrete sodium.
This lessens the effect of sodium by helping ease tension in blood vessels for adults who are otherwise healthy.
NOTE: potassium can be harmful to people with kidney disease or blood pressure medications so speak to your GP first.
Here are some examples of fruit and vegetables that are great to help lower blood pressure:
Tomato juice, banana, apricots, fat-free/skimmed milk, mushrooms, beans and lentils, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cabbage, sprouts, spinach, broccoli, peas, yogurt, chicken, salmon, tuna, eggs.
Reduce alcohol intake
Drinking excessively can raise your blood pressure plus alcohol contains a lot of calories which can also make it easy to put on weight.
Not a great combination!
The reason that alcohol increases blood pressure, is because the hormone renin is elevated, which causes the blood vessels to constrict.
This means that they get smaller in diameter. Renin also decreases how much fluid the body eliminates as urine.
There is no safe recommendation for alcohol consumption but the government recommendation is 14 units per week.
That’s the equivalent of 6 small glasses of wine, 6 pints of normal beer and 5 pints of cider.
You don’t need to give up alcohol completely, it’s just about being sensible.
Try adding in spacer drinks, like water or soft drinks before you have another one.
Add more soft drinks to your alcohol if you like spirits.
Try light or lower alcohol versions.
Ensure you have alcohol-free days.
Reducing your weight
Its estimated obesity accounts for 65-78% of cases of hypertension.
One way to reduce the risk is to get more active and exercise.
UK guidelines currently recommend 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week.
That’s 3x 50min sessions per week.
Of course, it can be split into 30 mins sessions or even shorter, whatever works for you.
The main thing is to start and build up gradually and sensibly.
In particular, any form of cardio, such as walking, riding a bike, or running is very beneficial for your cardiovascular system.
It will strengthen your heart and keep your arteries clear – it will also lift your mood, what can be better than that?
Summary
If you’re looking for support to get fitter, stronger, and have more energy then that’s what I can help with.
Interested in finding out more?
I’ve created a free guide called “Why Can’t I lose Weight – A Simple Guide to Fat Loss for Women”
Click here to download your free copy.
Contact Claire
If you’re in need of help around female health, nutrition and exercise then why not book in for a consultation with me?
Call me on 07843 685998 or email claire@claireg-personaltrainer.co.uk
