Hypertension, also named as ‘the silent killer’ as most people are not even aware that they are suffering from it. It is due to the fact that there are no symptoms of it and thus making it more dangerous. Therefore, other than checking your blood pressure regularly, there’s no sure way to know if it’s within the healthy range.
However, a few changes in your lifestyle can help you manage your blood pressure and can also prevent blood pressure to get high. Take a look at the numbers:
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Change 1: Lose Weight
Benefit: For every 20 pounds you lose, your systolic blood pressure will get reduced by 5 to 20 points. For an overweight person, losing as little as 10 pounds can help lower blood pressure. Your aim should be to get your BMI between 18.5 and 24.9, which is recommended for a normal person.
Change 2: Follow the DASH diet
Benefit: The DASH diet is rich in fruits and vegetables and low-fat dairy. Following this particular diet can make your systolic blood pressure to drop 8 to 14 points.
Change 3: Cut back on sodium
Benefit: watch your systolic blood pressure drop 2 to 8 points if you limit sodium intake to 2,400 milligrams per day.
Change 4: Exercise
Benefit: A routine 30 minutes exercise daily can help lower your blood pressure by 4 to 9 points.
Change 5: Drink less alcohol
Benefit: Your systolic blood pressure gets lower by 2 to 4 points when you limit yourself to one alcoholic drink a day (for females) or two drinks (for males).
Hypertension may be a silent killer but adopting a few lifestyle changes can help you manage it better.
