blood pressure

[insomnia]

do any of you check your blood pressure on a regular basis and try to maintain it at normal level? i'm intrested because it's one of the most important indicators showing your heart condition.
i knew that i had my bp higher than normal, but then again i try to maintain healthy style of living.. don't smoke at all, drink only ocasionally, don't eat pork, any smoked meat.. try to avoid food with lots of fat in it, exercise routinely (without any breaks), do cross training, breathing exercises, weightlifting.
yesterday i've checked my bp at the local drugstore and it was 161/69 mmHg :woah: (kind of strange because systolic pressure is high and diastolic is low)
don't even know what to think and how to react.
every 2 year at work i have to visit doctors and check my health..today they checked my bp and it was about 158/90 mmHg.. also very high.. but diastolic higher than yesterday.
don't even know why it is so, because i think i live healthy way of living, but my bp shows something different.
doctor told me to start taking medicines to lower my bp, but i know that if i start taking them i have to do it for the rest of my life. i'm more into lowering the bp with natural ways like running, swimming...
or maybe my blood pressure is higher due to my intense training.. i've ran 3 marathons in my life (maybe i've somehow damaged my heart through training process?), i do intense weight lifting.. recently started doing deadlifts )have read that deadlifting increses your bp significantly)..
anyway, what are your experience regarding this.

 

[Rahim]

i haven't checked my blood pressure since high school when i used to do timed runes in PE...i need to go to a (female) doctor and get a good checkup one of these days too.....

 

[Preach]

you sound like you do a lot of thinking about lifestyle, nutrition and exercise. i'm not "there" yet when it comes to checking your blood pressure and maintaining it, but i do believe your blood pressure is also regulated by your psychological condition? anxious people will have a higher average pulse than calm people for example, doesn't that have an effect on things like blood pressure (especially in the long run)?

maybe you don't need to see a doctor but a shrink :laugh:

 

[insomnia]

yeah, i know, stress indeed has a lot do here. cause bp checked at home is always lower as checked by the doctor, the same with the pulse

 

[yak pac fatal]

im borderline high bp, watch ur salt intake and idk how old u r but take a stress test for ur heart

 

[insomnia]

i almost don't use salt in my food at all. but i do have a lot of stress in my life lately and i also sleep only 5-5.5 hours every night during work days...

 

[S O F I]

I regulate my blood pressure with various illegal narcotics.

 

[Preach]

i almost don't use salt in my food at all. but i do have a lot of stress in my life lately and i also sleep only 5-5.5 hours every night during work days...

I'm by no means an expert, but I think I've picked this up a million times that lack of sleep has a negative effect on mood regulation, cholesterol, blood pressure, appetite, and several other things. It's directly unhealthy to get too little sleep too often.

Jokerman is someone who would maybe have something more accurate to say about it though.

 

[S O F I]

I remember one night when I was in Europe, I got shitfaced and had like 4 hours of sleep and had to go to to the hospital at 8am to give blood so that my uncle could get the blood type he needs from their inventory or whatever that's called. It's like a blood swap, I'm sure it's common in lots of places. Anyway, the lady took my blood pressure, looked at me and said, "Son, go back to sleep". I made this zombie sound like ehhuh what and she said my blood pressure was too low.

There's no point to that story other than that lack of sleep does have an effect on your blood pressure. But, I mean, if I had coffee before I went to the hospital, I'm pretty sure it would have been fine.

 

[yak pac fatal]

i almost don't use salt in my food at all. but i do have a lot of stress in my life lately and i also sleep only 5-5.5 hours every night during work days...

take a stress test
see if got clogged arteries or whatever, i went thru it last year but for different reasons

 

[SicC]

I get it checked when i see the doc, but that is not very often. Also regulate your sodium intake.

pz

 

[Duke]

My mother has a meter for it. Did me once. i had no idea what to expect, really. I eat fairly healthy, not much bad stuff in there, but I smoke regularly and once in a while drink my fucking ass off, so.

Anyway, mine turned out a-okay, though. I was something like 127 over 75

 

[THEV1LL4N]

Listen. ive been checking my blood pressure a lot quite recently (for one of my assignments). I was actually writing the essay up today, nearly finished it.

Yes, stress can have an effect on your bp.


What is your resting heart rate?

However, you mentioned that you do weight training and lifting.

Hypertrophy of the muscles can cause an increase in blood pressure. So when you sue weights and your muscles grow, it will increase your blood pressure.

So it is not always to do with your diet or lifestlye, but instead more of what type of training you undergo.

 

[THEV1LL4N]

120/60 is the ideal blood pressure, anything near enough should be fine.

Systolic is above, Diastolic is below.

Systolic BP indiciates the pressure of contraction from the heart.
Diastolic BP indicates the pressure from the heart during relaxation.

 

[insomnia]

What is your resting heart rate?

However, you mentioned that you do weight training and lifting.

Hypertrophy of the muscles can cause an increase in blood pressure. So when you sue weights and your muscles grow, it will increase your blood pressure.

So it is not always to do with your diet or lifestlye, but instead more of what type of training you undergo.

My resting heart rate is normal, it's about 60 beats per minute.
I've also heard that messing a lot with weightlifting training do increases your blood pressure, but on the other hand - cardio exercises (which i also try to do) tend to decrease it.

 

[Bender]

I'm not a hypochondriac, I don't worry about my blood pressure. I have great faith in my body and its ability to maintain a stable metabolism. Even if I do abuse it sometimes.

 

[Jokerman]

High blood pressure is almost always a precursor to both strokes and heart attacks. And its treatment is responsible for the single highest use of prescription drugs. But you do not have to take prescription drugs to lower your blood pressure. The greatest medicine you can ever take is food. Food is powerful; it can completely change the biochemistry in your body.

Lower your intake of sugar as well as salt. Cut out caffeine (coffee, colas) and alcohol. No margarine, if you use any. All contribute to high blood pressure. Make sure you’re drinking plenty of pure water. At least a half-gallon (2 litres) a day. Since you work out, you’ll need even more. Drink a glass of water about 20 minutes before you work out, and then drink another one slowly when you finish. Room temperature. Eat a lot of fruits, esp berries of all kinds. Buy them frozen. Stick a handful in a blender and make a shake. Works perfectly with protein powders. Eat a handful of nuts every day. Walnuts, almonds, and pistachios. Not so much peanuts. Take Vitamin C. At least 500 mg three to five times a day. Take a B complex. Take a calcium/magnesium supplement. Hypertensive patients tend to excrete more calcium in their urine, and thus need more. Take Omega-3 fish oil capsules- very important. Garlic oil capsules are good too. There are good herbs too that I can tell you about. Yes, all these supplements cost some money and are sometimes a hassle to remember to take, but remember, you’re doing it to prevent taking medications with side-effects. Plus, they benefit you in many other ways besides blood pressure.

But your main problem, as you said, is probably stress. Aerobic exercise is more important than weight training. Weight training, at this point, may actually be contributing to it. I would cut back on the weight training somewhat and step up the aerobics, even if it’s just walking, which can be relaxing too. Lifting weights benefits the heart when exercises are directed at expanding the chest area. This allows the heart more room to breathe. And for stress you should practice relaxation techniques, like deep breathing, yoga, some form of meditation, listening to relaxing music. Find ways to deal with the things that stress you the most and let go of stress any way that you can. Spiritual, emotional and mental health plays a role in the body’s ability to heal itself.

 

[THEV1LL4N]

there's one problem about making fruits into a smoothie using a blender. it makes your blood sugar levels higher than it would compared to if you ate the fruit normally.

rather than letting your body naturally break downt the sugar, it has already been done by the blender and so therefore the carbohydrates are simple, not complex (might aswell have penny sweets or sugary foods).

have a banana when it is not fully ripe. less sugar, still tastes nice and easy to digest. have fibre in your diet too. reduces the amount of fat/calories your body absorbs.


im wondering why my resting HR is quite high. We did tests for 8 weeks, (readings for before and after exercise) and i got results of around 100bpm for resting HR before exercise, although before we took the reading at the start of every lesson we had a lunch break of about an hour, walking around town. (so therefore not at complete rest, but why so high?)

 

[raywaters11]

i hardly ever get mine taken... last time i did was about a month ago and thats cuz i was in a wreck [let my girlfriend drive.. bad idea] and the EMT's took my blood pressure... before that was prolly several several several months before. i hate doctors, its almost a phobia, but my blood pressure was fine every time. oh and i check it when i go to wal mart at those lil sit-down things haha. my diet is pretty healthy and i hit the gym regularly, but i hardly ever sleep.

 

[Bender]

But you do not have to take prescription drugs to lower your blood pressure. The greatest medicine you can ever take is food. Food is powerful; it can completely change the biochemistry in your body.

Good advice, I agree 100% :thumb:

Lower your intake of sugar as well as salt. Cut out caffeine (coffee, colas) and alcohol. No margarine, if you use any. All contribute to high blood pressure. Make sure you’re drinking plenty of pure water. At least a half-gallon (2 litres) a day. Since you work out, you’ll need even more. Drink a glass of water about 20 minutes before you work out, and then drink another one slowly when you finish. Room temperature. Eat a lot of fruits, esp berries of all kinds. Buy them frozen. Stick a handful in a blender and make a shake. Works perfectly with protein powders. Eat a handful of nuts every day. Walnuts, almonds, and pistachios. Not so much peanuts. Take Vitamin C. At least 500 mg three to five times a day. Take a B complex. Take a calcium/magnesium supplement. Hypertensive patients tend to excrete more calcium in their urine, and thus need more. Take Omega-3 fish oil capsules- very important. Garlic oil capsules are good too. There are good herbs too that I can tell you about.

I have a high metabolism. That means I only eat when I am hungry. I couldn't even put all of that stuff you have suggested above, into my body in one day. What I am trying to say is that everybody's body is different. You need to know your own body to know what food to give it. Because I have a high metabolism, by body makes the most out of a little. I don't condone the taking of supplements unless you are recuperating. A varied diet should provide the body with sufficient nutrients, there should be no need to take supplements. I do however advocate supplements over prescription drugs.