Look
Out for Number One
Can
you name the most significant preventable disease among men?
I'll
give you a hint: It's the most common risk factor for heart disease,
stroke, and kidney problems. So common, in fact, that from 30 to
50 million Americans have it. In fact, some experts estimate that
as many as three-quarters of all Americans over 35 have at least
borderline cases.
Why is medical science so uncertain how many people have it? Because
this disease has no distinct symptoms of its own, a large number of
cases go undiagnosed.
By now I'm sure you know I'm talking about high blood pressure—a
condition that's so well known that it's practically all American.
What you might be surprised to learn, however, is that we practically
invented it.
Doctors have recognized for several decades that steadily escalating
blood pressure is restricted almost exclusively to industrialized nations.
In less developed countries, men get older without their circulatory
systems turning into pressure cookers. Today, we have a pretty good
idea why that is. Here's a list of things people with normal blood
pressure do that many of us don't:
- Stay
Trim. Between 20 and 30 percent of all high blood pressure is
the result of being overweight.
- Eat
Minimal Salt. Not everyone responds to salt with a bump in b.p.
But some do, and there's no easy way to know if you're one of
them.
- Exercise.
People who become active typically reduce their blood pressure
by 6 to 7 points, even without losing weight.
- Drink
Little Alcohol. From 5 to 7 percent of blood pressure problems
can be solved by restricting drinking to no more than two drinks
per day.
- Eat
Foods with Potassium. Our meat-oriented diets to tend to lack
fruits and vegetables such as bananas, apricots, cantaloupe,
broccoli, potatoes with skins, and tomatoes, which may help hold
blood pressure down.
- Go
with Garlic. There is some evidence that even small intakes of
garlic can help, and it is much more common in international
cuisines.
- Mellow
Out. Our stretched-to-the-limit lifestyles undoubtedly contribute
to pressure in our circulatory systems. In fact, not even young
people are immune to this effect.
Those
seven elements make up a laundry list of what you can do to avoid
becoming one of the 2 million Americans each year who join the
ranks of people with high blood pressure.
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