Watercooler chats lower your blood pressure
October 23, 2009
The You Docs
Gabbing at the water cooler might sound like a the special job skills Bart Simpson would list on his resume.
But it may be the right thing for your blood pressure. High blood pressure isn't good for any part of your body – your brain being no exception.
New research examines just how bad it is for you: Every rise in your diastolic pressure (the lower number) of just 10 units is associated with a seven per cent higher risk of cognitive impairment.
To drop the pressure, you know we're going to say that you need to eat right, lose weight if you need to and exercise.
But to give yourself an extra edge, try these lesser-known pressure-reducers:
Get a work buddy. When job stress gets out of control , having a co-worker who's got your back can negate the blood-pressure effect.
Breathe and focus. Let your thoughts gently come and go by focusing on a phrase, or on your breath. It's a proven stress-reliever that can lower blood pressure.
Get a rubdown. A massage of sore muscles produces a short-term drop from about 125/76 down to 115/70 after 45 to 60 minutes.
A slice of salt: Which puts more salt in your diet – bread or potato chips? It's bread. When a recent survey asked people to name the top three sources of sodium in the diet (from a list of 10 items), only a few got it right: 36 per cent guessed meat, 13 per cent said bread and 12 per cent guessed cereals.
Too much sodium isn't good for your bones or your blood pressure. On top of that, foods containing sodium (meat products – you eat them rarely, if ever, right?) usually contain other troublesome ingredients, such as saturated fat.
Swap these sodium-stuffed foods for veggies accented with herbs or nuts.
Be healthy when you're old: If you put all the good stuff on one side of your shopping cart – produce, grains, nuts and legumes, lean protein – and everything else on the other, which way would your cart tip? If it's toward "everything else," we're here to help you live with vigour and celebrate (at least!) your 70th birthday.
Data from the U.S. Nurses' Health Study confirms that the leaner you are at midlife, the healthier you'll be at age 70 and beyond. The research spells out how huge the effect is: For every kilogram you gain after age 18, your odds of being free of chronic disease, and of mental and physical impairments, decrease by five per cent. (In the study, 11 per cent of women were free of chronic disease at age 70).
Adding it up another way, women who at age 18 were lean (defined as a body mass index of 18.5 to 22.9), and who gained 10 kilograms by age 50 had a 59 per cent lower chance of being free of chronic disease at age 70 than women who had not gained weight.
6 STEPS to a lighter load: Saying you're too heavy to walk is like saying you're too skinny to eat. Your body needs physical activity, just as it needs food. Nourish it with walking, one of the best-kept secrets of weight loss. Just follow these six steps:
1. Think – every day, no excuses. Make walking a priority.
2. Think – small: Walk just a few minutes a day if that's all you can do. Then, increase by one or two minutes every few days. Work up to at least 30 minutes a day.
3. Think – warm-up: For instance, a few minutes of slow walking. Prepare your body, physically and psychologically, for your workout.
4. Think – pleasant: For most people, strenuous exercise is no fun. Cut yourself some slack, and go slowly at first. If you're overweight, you'll burn as many calories as a smaller person walking more quickly.
5. Think – crank it up (gradually): Once you've been walking for a while, and you're feeling good, go faster or farther. Just don't increase either more than 10 per cent a week.
6. Think – stretch: Those muscles you've just used need to be stretched for two or three minutes. This will get them ready for your next walk ... tomorrow!
The You Docs, Mike Roizen and Mehmet Oz, are authors of the best-selling YOU: On a Diet. Send questions to the doctors on their website, realage.com.
Toronto Star
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