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Expected Levels of Systolic And Diastolic Blood Pressure

July 5th, 2011

The real order that the numbers involved in a blood pressure reading are given is systolic over diastolic. The systolic pressure is higher, because it is the reading taken when the heart actually pumps or beats and the diastolic pressure is lower because it is taken whilst the heart sucks in a fresh quantity of blood to pump around.

There are approximate figures that people quote as 'standard', yet there is no clear, authoritative consensus what these numbers are. In the west, most authorities will say that any reading under 120/80 is good. However, there are numerous medical professionals who will say that 140/80 does not need treatment, other than to lose a couple of pounds, if you are over weight.

This makes it very difficult for the unqualified person to ascertain for him or herself, whether his or her blood pressure is satisfactory or not. Blood pressure monitors are very reassuring, very accurate yet not expensive these days, but how can you interpret the data they give you, if not every medical professional has the same opinion?

Perhaps the only way to get the most sense of this data is to go along to your general practitioner with your blood pressure monitor and talk about its findings with your doctor. Your doctor can use his or her sophisticated device and check it with yours then your doctor can give you a few figures that can be expected for someone like you.

I say this because there are a number of things that can affect blood pressure. In fact, actual blood pressure changes with every beat of the heart, so your blood pressure can be different every time you take it, which is why a BP monitor takes the average (or the maximum) over, say, a two minute period.

Factors that can (and often do) have an effect on blood pressure are:

The 'White Coat Effect': some individuals' BP soars by as much as 25-50 points if they go into a doctor's surgery. This could be anxiety or it could be fear of doctors, and it is a documented difficulty.

Mood: fear, anger, depression and anxiety can unsettle your blood pressure.

Age: your age has some sway on your BP.

Weather: the temperature and the humidity has an effect on BP

Stress: stress, restlessness, lack of sleep and tiredness can affect the levels of your blood pressure.

Diet: which foodstuffs and beverages you have recently consumed have an impact as do whether you are constipated or merely 'full'.

Smoking: smoking and drinking alcohol have an impact on blood pressure.

Exercise: your physical condition, your metabolism and the amount of exercise you take are also factors.

Time of the Day: for all the above reasons and more, the time of the day that you take the reading has an impact, which is why it is a good thing to have your own blood pressure monitor at home. Then you can measure your BP at definite times of the day and compare the results with the hoped for levels of diastolic and systolic blood pressure given you by your GP.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on a number of subjects, but is currently involved with work on high blood pressure charts. If you want to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our site at High Blood Pressure Recipes.

Tips For Dealing With High Blood Pressure

June 23rd, 2011

Gaining weight and doing less exercise is a characteristic pattern of life for middle-aged people of both sexes. When we are young, our metabolisms can handle most things we throw at it but we begin our jobs on the bottom rung and maybe even have a young family to take care of. This all burns up our calories fairly unsurprisingly.

However, as we get older our metabolism slows down; we may have a manager's position and our children leave home. This all has the result of calories being stockpiled on our waists and thighs. However, there are a couple of things that can be done about it, and it in essence boils down to taking more exercise and taking care of what we eat.

This normally has the effect of giving us hypertension, which is what most people call high blood pressure. The purpose of this article is to present some tips for dealing with high blood pressure. The fact is that if you do nothing about the condition, you will be taking medication for the remainder of your life.

That is OK, if you do not mind taking medication, but most people would rather avoid taking medicine each day.

So the first thing to do is moderate your weight to what it should be. If you do not know what this is, you will have to enquire of a dietitian or your GP. The handy thing about the majority of of the things you ought to do is that they are all connected with decent health.

For example, if you are flabby, you need more exercise and more exercise will also help lower your blood pressure. Two birds with one stone!

It does not take a great deal to make a big difference, if you do nothing at all now. Walking for thirty minutes twice a day will make a huge difference to your body if you do not walk anywhere now. Walking will have a knock-on effect. It will make you lose weight, it will lower your blood pressure and it will massage your internal organs naturally. Swimming works in a comparable way.

Reducing your consumption of salt is a useful manner of losing weight, yet you do have to seek professional advice on this point because salt is a key part of the human diet. However, if you eat too much salt (normally by consuming too much processed food), you can change the situation by using herbs and spices instead of salt to augment the flavour of your food.

Other facets of life that increase blood pressure which do you no use at all anyway are smoking, drinking to excess regularly and permitting yourself to become stressed out. Curing these three habits will have the impact of decreasing your blood pressure.

Taking any of these pointers for dealing with high blood pressure on board will enhance your life and decrease your blood pressure, but you may have to do all of them to get it down if you have a serious problem.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on several of topics, but is currently involved with work on high blood pressure charts. If you want to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at High Blood Pressure Recipes.

Recipes For Lowering Your High Blood Pressure

June 20th, 2011

A lot of individuals in the West suffer from high blood pressure brought on by being obese or/ |and the high degrees of stress that contemporary life provokes. Most people are told to lose weight, take up yoga or walking or take tablets for life. This means that most individuals end up taking tablets for life, because lifestyle changes are so difficult to accomplish.

However, there is one enjoyable way of decreasing your blood pressure and that is eating tasty food that does not need additional salt, because it is flavoured by other spices. Here are three such recipes.

Recipe One: France

Leeks Vinaigrette (Poireaux En Salade)

Serves 4

12 leeks 1/4 cup olive oil 4 tspn vinegar of your preference black pepper, fresh ground 1 tbls fresh parsley, chopped mustard to taste

PREPARATION: Clean the leeks; cut off most of the green parts and wash thoroughly, split if necessary, under cold running water. If they are substantial, cut them lengthwise; each bit ought to be around the size of a big stalk of asparagus.

Tie them into bundles in two places, put them in boiling salted water just enough to cover, and cook slowly for 25 minutes, or until they are tender but not limp. Drain them well (and be certain to save the broth to add to a soup).

The leeks may be served in a serving dish or put on individual plates. Create your vinaigrette in a bowl, adding mustard to taste, and whisk the dressing well until it is almost opaque, or emulsified; pour it on top of the leeks.

Recipe Two: Germany

Birnensuppe (Pear Soup)

Serves 2

2 tbspn raisins 1 tbspn dry sherry 2 small pears, cored, pared and sliced 1 1/2 cup water 1 inch cinnamon stick 1 pinch crushed aniseed 2 tspns granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

In small bowl combine raisins and sherry; set aside.

In 1-quart saucepan combine pears, water, cinnamon stick, and aniseed; bring to a boil and cook until pears are very soft, about 15 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick and allow to cool. Transfer to liquidizer and process until smooth; pour into bowl or container and stir in raisin mixture, sugar, and lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled.

Recipe Three: Greece

Fried Swordfish With Mediterranean Spices

Serves 4

1/2 cups white wine vinegar 1/2 tspn paprika 1/2 tspn red pepper flakes, dried 1/2 tspn oregano 1/2 tspn cumin, ground 1/2 tspn thyme 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 bay leaf 1 1/2 lb swordfish, cut in 1" pieces olive oil for frying 1/2 cup white flour

PREPARATION: Mix first 8 ingredients in a medium non-reactive bowl. Add swordfish pieces; toss to coat. Cover and let stand at room temperature at least 1 hour. (Can be marinated for up to 3 hours.)

TO COOK: Heat oven to 200F. Heat oil in a frying pan or an electric deep fryer to 365F. Move swordfish from marinade to a strainer. Drain swordfish; discard marinade. Pat swordfish pieces dry with paper towels, then dredge in flour.

Working in batches to prevent overcrowding, fry swordfish until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain swordfish pieces on paper towel; transfer to a heatproof dish but keep them warm in the oven until ready to serve. (Can be kept warm in the oven up to 1/2 hour.)

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on a number of topics, but is currently involved with work on high blood pressure charts. If you want to know more or check out some great offers, just go to our website at High Blood Pressure Recipes.

The Top 10 Reasons For High Blood Pressure

June 18th, 2011

The percentage of the populace in the countries of the West that is suffering from hypertension (aka high blood pressure) is rising all the time. High blood pressure is also called the 'silent killer', because there is no real notification that you have it, but it can kill you stone dead all the same.

Whenever people say that they can feel their blood pressure rising, it is normally merely an idiom meaning that they are getting angry or excited. You cannot know that your blood pressure is high without measuring it.

So, how can you reduce your blood pressure or stop it from going up without resorting to the daily ingestion of tablets? Here are the top 10 causes of high blood pressure.

1] The first thing to do is lose weight if you are too fat. Just losing ten pounds can have quite a significant impact on your BP.

2] Smoking is a cause of high blood pressure, so you could cut that out.

3] Drinking alcohol to excess frequently also raises BP

4] A desk bound lifestyle or plain lack of exercise will not help either. If you cannot bring yourself to go to the gym, only walk more. A walk of thirty minutes in the morning and in the evening will instigate a lot of difference.

5] Diet. It is important to eat a healthy diet, which will also help you lose weight. Cut out most junk foods; cut down on meats and greasy foods and eat more fruits and vegetables. Salt plays a big part in weight gain (through water retention) and is a major factor in hypertension. Reduce your sodium intake. (Junk foods have a high salt content).

6] Attempt to be happy. Easier said than done in most cases, but strive to develop a positive attitude. Stress plays a big part in developing hypertension. Exercise is said to alleviate stress as is meditation and yoga. Endeavor a few items and see what works for you.

7] Some illness and sleep disorders raise blood pressure as do some medications. Sleep disorders like sleep apnoea disrupt your sleep, preventing you from getting proper sleep, which increases BP as well. Sleep apnoea can be the result of being overweight, so you know how to deal with that, and if you think that medication is causing high BP, speak to your GP.

8] Age can be a factor and whilst there is nothing you can do about your age, you can attempt to be a 'young' whatever you are. People more than the age of 55 generally start developing hypertension rather than younger people. You could try to keep fit and optimistic. See exercise above.

9] Race is another aspect about which you have no control, and Africans and their descendants are more prone to hypertension. If you fit this profile, become aware that you are at risk so check your BP regularly.

10] Fear, worry and depression can all have negative influences on BP, so if any of these incapacitating conditions applies to you, seek help.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on a number of subjects, but is currently involved with work on high blood pressure charts. If you want to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our site at High Blood Pressure Recipes.

High Blood Pressure In Adolescents

May 9th, 2011

High blood pressure, which is also known professionally as hypertension, is a condition where the pressure of the blood coursing through your arteries is considerably higher than normal. Most medical professionals will state that the beginning point for individuals over eighteen years of age is 120/80. However, there are causes that could make those numbers not normal. Age is one of them.

The first figure is the systolic arterial blood pressure, which means that it is the pressure read when your heart contracts, beats or pumps out blood. The second number is while the heart sucks in blood, ready to pump it out again.

These figures are given in millimetres of mercury and are stated in mmHg. Higher readings of either of these numbers can indicate a problem. One thing to make clear here is that it is impossible to deduce or estimate the pressure of your blood without using either a sphygmomanometer ( the one your doctor uses in the surgery), which is the gold standard of blood pressure monitoring devices or a home blood monitoring machine.

Blood pressure can become affected by many things such as: time of the day, age, weight, height, mood, fitness, diet, degree of activity and stress, which may or may not be part of 'white coat syndrome' amongst others. 'White coat syndrome' is the worry felt by some people whilst they have to get examined by a physician. This applies to children more than to any other age grouping.

Blood pressure also varies during the day, so in order to get an accurate reading, it is necessary to take several all at the same time of day. It is also wise to wait 45 minutes after drinking caffeine or ten minutes after arriving before taking a reading.

So, what is standard? The real answer, although it is annoying, is that only a GP can tell you, but for an adult, they say that it is 120/80, for an adolescent it is 110/70 and for an infant it is 80/45.

However, when measuring and evaluating the blood pressure of adolescents, you have to bear in mind that age, sex and height count. Therefore, an adolescent is said to have high blood pressure when the blood pressure is more than that of ninety percent of individuals of his/her age, gender and height.

The causes of hypertension are classified as primary or secondary. Primary means that it is all your body's fault and secondary means that the reason is something else, say, medication. Hypertension can also be the result of race or other hereditary reasons. Males of African ancestry are especially at risk.

One of the items you can buy to keep you knowledgeable about your family's blood pressure concerns is a home blood pressure monitor. These devices are fairly cheap yet are very accurate, so buy an automatic digital monitor and take it to your GP to be sure that it is accurate and get the readings that are pertinent to all the members of your family.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on a number of topics, but is currently involved with work on the cause of high blood pressure. If you want to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at High Blood Pressure Recipes.

Vegetables With Low Carbs

October 19th, 2010

Any diet that asks you to go low carb and use only low carb vegetables is saying that you need to hunt for vegetables that are low in carbohydrates. You need to use these vegetables in stead of your regular vegetables. There are many great tasting things that you can do with low carb vegetables.

They can be used in your various diet recipes or used for salads. They are great by themselves as healthy snacks and you can also blend them for a nutritious smoothie. The many websites that give recipes for low carb cooking and meals could have some recipes that will let you use your low carb vegetables.

Imagine producing a splendid meal using only low carb foods. You can keep a magnificent side dish full of low carb vegetables that have been transformed into a delicious salad. This salad can be garnished with many interesting foods that are also low carbohydrate but taste great by themselves as well.

For instance, you can make a salad from low carb vegetables that include boneless beef, top sirloin steak, fresh lemon juice, gourmet salad greens, medium plum tomatoes, ranch or blue cheese dressing. You have the choice of making a seasoning for this salad from dried oregano, garlic cloves and pepper.

As you can now see, there are many ways that you can combine your low carb vegetables with other foods to make superb meals for you and others to eat. The main thing to remember is not to put things like a heavy French dressing on your low carb vegetables. This will turn your nutritious low carb vegetables into something else entirely.

There are instances in your low carb cooking when you can use only one of the low carb vegetables to give you a magnificent dish that looks mouth-watering. This type of low carb recipe will call for only a low carb vegetable like an eggplant. This vegetable is very versatile and you can use it in a variety of ways.

When you decide to eat low carb vegetables in this way, you take your cooking experience into another realm of gourmet food. The many low carb meals that you can find on the Internet, will let you make great dishes with your low carb vegetables. After all, eating low carbohydrate vegetables is just another way of experimenting with new foods

Do you need to lose those excess pounds quickly? Well, take a free look at Low Carb Vegetables, by visiting our resource called The Atkins Diet Plan

Complex Carbohydrates Foods

August 22nd, 2010

When many of us make up our minds to go on a diet, we are filled with joy because we are finally going to lose those unwanted pounds. All we need is the correct diet info. However a few months down the road and not only have we not lost any weight, but we are also disappointed with our diet.

Why does something like this occur you might ask in exasperation? Well, the answer would be that we are not eating the right combination of foods to burn the excess fat away. Following a diet that has complex carbohydrates foods which are healthy for you could be the key to your whole diet dilemma.

When you start any of the diets, the first thing that you will be told is the diet info of what food you can eat and what types of food are bad for you. According to most low carb diet info, amongst the many bad foods will be many complex carbohydrates foods which you really need for your body to function well. The most sensible approach to take with those diets is to understand the low carb diet info behind them and use the diet food lists that they provide wisely.

This way you will definitely lose weight, because the foods that you will be having on your diet are the kinds of food that can make you lose your hunger cravings. By not wanting to consume lots of food, you won't be snacking on junk food and gaining pounds. According to most low carb diet info, complex carbohydrates foods for long lasting energy will release the amount of energy that you need, on average, throughout the day.

According to most low carb diet info, these foods also supply the necessary dietary requirements that we need for our bodies to grow healthily. You must, however, remember the low carb diet info that the best way to develop a fantastic looking figure is to maintain a healthy balance between all of the complex carbohydrates foods in the other groups and to include regular daily exercise into your lifestyle.

When you go shopping for your dietary foods, stop a moment and see if the foods that you have planned for your meals, according to the low carb diet info you have, will help you in the long run or if you will be feeling worse than you do now. The reason is that many of the foods in these various diets don't take your body's health requirements into account.

If you don't eat the right foods, you can end up with various illnesses and other complications that you had no problems with when you used complex carbohydrates foods like fruit and vegetables that were part of your normal eating habits.

Remember that, according to most low carb diet info, you have to take into account the health requirements of your body as well. Including good tasting complex carbohydrates foods that you generally love to eat, make dieting fun, especially since you are really not dieting. What you are doing is making a lifetime change for a healthier future.

Do you need to lose those excess kilos quickly? Well, take a free look at Complex Carbohydrates, by visiting our website called The Atkins Diet Plan

Atkins Diet Low Carb Diet Menu

April 23rd, 2010

With the advent of the New Age, gone are the days when having a Marilyn Monroe style of figure was considered to be the epitome of what a woman should look like. Now we have skinny role models of what the perfect woman should look like, and this is the shape we want to have too. To that purpose most of us will turn to every diet possible, but it's a fact that a growing number of dieters are concentrating more on what the Atkins Diet, low carb diet menu has to offer for them over the others.

Certainly, there can be any number of diets that are similar to the Atkins Plan and the low carb diet menu plans, but it has to be stated that the Atkins Diet Plan was the first of these now very popular high fat, high protein, low carb diet menu plans. And the Atkins Diet low carb diet menu will offer you the most appetizing array of foods that you can select from.

Furthermore, with some clever mixing and matching by you, you can also come up with various low carb diet menu plans that will match anything found in any of the other similar diets. By doing the Atkins Diet, low carb diet menu planning becomes that much easier for you, and you will not need to worry that what you're preparing will comply with your dietary regulations.

The Atkins Diet low carb diet menu can assist solve your problem in like this and it can also help you compile a list of foods and high carb diet menu plans that you must not eat. By doing this you can take your food lists shopping with you, where they can help you to make up your mind which foods should remain off your grocery list. This will be an extra-ordinary aid to you in following your low carb diet menu.

This does not mean that it will be easy to stick to your low carb diet menu. Quite the opposite in fact, even though you can eat almost anything you choose from the high fat high protein part of your Atkins Diet low carb diet menu, if you love your carbs you'll feel the loss.

So, if you have been sustained for most of your life by these high carb foods, as many of us have, then you'll have an even more difficult time getting used to the ardours of the Atkins Diet low carb diet menu plans. One of the only things that'll help you keep on your low carb diet menu and away from your high carb cravings could be your Atkins Diet low carb diet menu plans and the food lists.

So, keep your low carb diet menu plans close to you and your high carb foods away from you. These low carb diet menu plans and food lists will become your closest allies in the next few weeks as you struggle through the induction phase, but don't worry. With a little perseverance on your part, you'll emerge with flying colours and a slimmer body using your Atkins low carb diet menu.

Do you need to lose that excess weight rapidly? Well, take a free look at Atkins low carb diet menu, by visiting our website called The Atkins Diet Plan

categories: Atkins,diet,weight loss,health,fitness,blood pressure,diabetes,advice,self help,bood sugar,fat,cholesterol,plus size,other

Cooking Low Carb

April 17th, 2010

Cooking is definitely an art form but cooking can get even more creative in thought and planning when you or someone in your family goes on a diet. The challenge comes when you have to match the needs of your whole family with that of a low carb dieter. Even for this seldom awkward problem of cooking, low carb recipes are a God send.

Due to the many low carb recipes and products on the market it is now entirely possible to make cooking low carb food an integral part of your life. There are so many useful things you can use when you are cooking low carb recipes. Also the Internet has many sites that feature low carb diet changes.

Some of these changes are easy to bring in like using two different menu recipes to create one healthy low carb recipe. There are even counters that can help you find out if your selection of food is within the boundaries of the Atkins low carb recipe diet.

It is a good idea to have a list of food that you want to buy in order to cook low carb recipes. Furthermore, to complete the change to cooking low carb recipes, you should have your kitchen mirror this lifestyle change. If you do this, you will have all of the kitchen implements and staples for preparing low carb recipes already at hand in your kitchen.

This need not necessarily be anything high-brow, you know. Really, as long as you avoid foods which are high in carbs and just keep cooking low carb meals you will be all right.

This doesn't mean that you need stay away from carbs entirely, only that you should limit the quantity when cooking low carb recipes to the bare minimum of carbs. As I said earlier, this can severely cramp your style of preparing your meals. Low carb recipes aren't easy to follow if you really love your pastas and breads.

However, with only a small amount of change on your behalf, you can produce meal after meal of low carb recipes. If you're not the one on the low carb diet, then this may make you reluctant to try cooking low carb meals, but you'll be surprised at the amount of really great tasting food that you can prepare when you start cooking low carb recipes.

But, then again, if you're not the one wanting low carb recipes, then you always have the option of adding a few high carb dishes to your menu along with the low carb recipes, and enjoy the meal the way you like it. This way everyone gets what they want and you will have no problems with preparing low carb recipes or pandering to the dieter in your household!

Do you want to lose those excess kilos quickly? Well, take a free look at Atkins low carb recipes, by visiting our website called The Atkins Diet Plan

categories: Atkins,diet,weight loss,health,fitness,blood pressure,diabetes,advice,self help,blood sugar,fat,cholesterol,plus size,other

The Atkins Plan

January 28th, 2010

You have decided that you're going on a diet and you've told yourself that this will be the last one that you'll ever try. The only reason for this is that you've already heard so much about the Atkins Diet, that you have total confidence in its ability to help you lose weight and to keep it off. You know that with the help of the Atkins diet plan you can tailor make your diet to suit your body and your needs.

When you start your diet, you'll receive an Atkins diet plan that will get you going on the first section of your dieting journey. This is phase one, called the induction phase, of the four phases which you will pass through. So, what you're actually getting with the Atkins diet plan is a comprehensive way for you to choose the path you take on your diet and how long it will take you to shed the amount of weight you choose to.

Although, you don't have follow the Atkins diet plan religiously, if you really want fast results, you will follow it religiously. So, abstain from the carbs and eat your high fat, high protein meals. Well, you won't need to stay away from carbs completely, you'll just need to make yours a low carb diet instead of the high carb diet you've been following so unthinkingly all of your life so far.

However, by following the Atkins diet plan and all but cutting out carbohydrates from your diet, you reduce the chances of your diet failing. After all, this time you've made up your mind that this is going to be your last diet and that you're going to ensure it works, so it really is no use tempting fate and going off course from your Atkins diet plan.

Remember that the whole plan is adaptable to suit you, and to help you make your dieting limitations easier to bear. With that in mind, also remember that within the Atkins diet plan, you can also eat at least 20 carbs, but you will have a virtually unlimited buffet of proteins and fats available to you. So, you don't need to be afraid that your diet is going to deprive you of pleasures of eating well.

With the Atkins diet plan, you'll find out that you can eat well without noticing the loss of your carbs too much. And even though you might think that cooking and planning meals will be a chore, if you have to stay within the restrictions of the Atkins diet plan, you'll be pleasantly surprised to find that it just isn't so.

There are many fantastic foods and meal plans available on the Atkins diet plan and if you can just make it through reading your Atkins diet plan, you'll find that you really can make it through this diet with practically no pain on your part. Now that's what I call the diet to end all diets! And isn't that just what you wanted anyway?

Do you need to lose that excess weight rapidly? Well, take a free look at The Atkins Diet, by going to our resource called The Atkins Diet Plan