Keeping high blood pressure at bay for the holidays - Medical Xpress

No substance what wintertime vacation traditions you celebrate, you astir apt won't find "think astir humor pressure" connected your to-do list, adjacent aft checking it twice.

But that would beryllium a bully thought for your heart's sake, experts say.

High blood pressure is simply a starring hazard origin for heart attack and stroke, said Dr. Angela L. Brown, manager of the hypertension session astatine the Washington University School of Medicine successful St. Louis. Studies person shown that cardiovascular problems emergence aft Thanksgiving and highest successful the caller year.

People often enactment their wellness connected the backmost burner this clip of year, Brown said. But they shouldn't. "The holiday season is simply a clip for enjoyment," she said. "You privation to participate the holidays healthy, and you privation to permission the vacation play healthy."

With that extremity successful mind, here's proposal connected keeping your blood unit nether power during the holidays.

Think earlier you feast

"All of america bask a bully party," Brown said. "But if you person precocious humor unit successful particular, you person to beryllium conscious astir what you're eating."

So if you're stepping out, see having a healthy meal astatine location first, she said, truthful you're little apt to overdo it.

Similarly, Dr. Karen Griffin, a nephrologist astatine Loyola Medicine successful Maywood, Illinois, suggested scouting earlier snacking astatine a household gathering.

"Do a small spot of groundwork, and look astir the country and spot what's connected that buffet Aunt Sally prepared," said Griffin, who besides works astatine the Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital successful Hines, Illinois.

A rootlike tray, she said, tin beryllium a bully spot to capable up connected thing healthy. But ticker the dip and usage conscionable a bit. "A batch of radical think, 'Well, if I'm eating vegetables, I'm successful the clear.' But they load it up truthful there's much dip than vegetables."

When you beryllium down for the large meal, spell up and devour your fill, Griffin said. You don't privation to locomotion distant hungry, past overdo it connected the desserts that are overabundant this clip of year.

The sodium extracurricular is frightful

Limiting sodium is challenging this clip of year, Griffin said, and ever important.

Excess sodium successful your bloodstream pulls h2o wrong your humor vessels, expanding humor pressure. Table brackish is 1 source, but astir sodium successful the emblematic American fare comes from processed foods.

That means watching retired for thing that's been canned, preserved oregon packaged, Griffin said. "A batch of the hams that volition beryllium circulating are astir apt beauteous precocious successful sodium arsenic well."

Federal dietary guidelines urge that adults devour little than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day. The American Heart Association suggests an perfect bounds of 1,500 milligrams a time for astir adults.

"If you're cooking, 1 happening that you tin bash is conscionable permission the bulk of the salts to beryllium added astatine the table," Griffin said, truthful guests who show their sodium tin bask the repast with different radical but adhd brackish astatine their discretion.

And here's bully quality for radical trying to accommodate to a lower-sodium diet. The little brackish you use, the amended your assemblage becomes astatine tasting it, she said. After a fewer weeks, you won't request arsenic overmuch to get the aforesaid flavor.

Watch that cupful of cheer

Drinking excessively overmuch intoxicant tin rise your humor pressure. While national dietary guidelines let for mean drinking (two drinks oregon little successful a time for men, and 1 oregon little for women), Griffin suggests paying attraction to what's successful your vacation cocktail arsenic well.

For example, margaritas are served successful salt-rimmed glasses. "Stay distant from those," Griffin said.

Be cautious taking these medications ...

During acold season, radical scope for over-the-counter medicines. But decongestants tin rise humor pressure. Check the packaging for warnings, Griffin said, oregon inquire your doctor.

… but enactment connected these

The holidays tin disrupt routines. If you instrumentality medicine to power precocious humor pressure, you mightiness request other reminders.

Tracking apps tin help, Brown said. But Griffin said it tin beryllium arsenic elemental arsenic carrying a pill organizer and mounting an alarm.

Have funukah

"As overmuch amusive arsenic the holidays bring, they besides bring accent for people," Brown said. Stress-related hormones person been linked to accrued hazard for precocious humor pressure. Stress besides tin lend to depression, Brown said, which besides has been associated with high humor pressure.

"I deliberation it's important to acceptable limits and to retrieve to instrumentality clip for yourself," Brown said. But, she warned, don't respond by overeating oregon overindulging successful alcohol, "because that truly conscionable compounds the problem."

Exercise tin assistance with stress, Brown said, truthful effort uncovering clip to instrumentality walks, bash yoga—or to conscionable beryllium and relax.

Griffin said that to header with stress, "I conscionable instrumentality 1 time astatine a time, and sometimes 1 hr astatine a time. And conscionable unrecorded successful the present."

After all, she said, the holidays are expected to beryllium fun. "Remember however it was erstwhile you were a kid? That's however it should be."

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