Health Tips

Health Tips for Your Good Health - Blood Pressure Health Tips 2

How to deal with "blood-pressure elevating" stress.

	It is common wisdom that stress can momentarily elevate your blood-pressure. In fact, many scientists believe that our highly stressed modern way of life is one of the underlying causes of high blood-pressure (hypertension).
	Risks increase over the long term
	According to the Mayo Clinic on High Blood Pressure, "The effects of acute stress are usually only temporary. However, if you experience stress regularly, the increases in blood-pressure that it produces over time damage your arteries, heart, brain, kidneys and eyes -- just as with persistent high blood-pressure. This cumulative effect of stress often goes unrecognized until it manifests itself as a serious health problem."
	So what can be done about it?
	To reduce stress, relaxation is always recommended, however in most cases it is impractical. Here are some suggestions you can try instead:
	If you are about to embark on a stressful situation (i.e. phone call, walking into the boss's office), take a few deep breaths and exhale slowly. While this simple breathing maneuver will not provide a sustained reduction, it can certainly reduce the temporary BP elevation, which is important in itself.
	Practicing meditation, yoga and other techniques which incorporate slow breathing exercises enable better coping with stressful events and in some cases even lower blood-pressure.

Are you measuring your blood-pressure correctly?

	Did you know that 26% of all people who are told they have high blood-pressure are misdiagnosed and are either over treated or under treated?
	Here are a few tips on how to measure blood-pressure correctly. It may seem a bit cumbersome at first, but keep in mind that with blood-pressure, every millimeter point counts.
	Use a home blood-pressure monitor (BPM) validated for accuracy, and make sure your cuff size fits properly. It may cost a little more, but it's worth every cent.
	One measurement of blood-pressure on its own can be misleading. When measuring BP at home, take three consecutive measurements -- the first measurement will be somewhat higher. Your real blood-pressure is the average or the number between the 2nd and 3rd measurement.
	In addition, as blood-pressure normally fluctuates, it is important that you track a week of daily measurements taken at the same time of day to see the true trend.

Can your diet help lower blood-pressure?

Ok, we are sure your doctor has told you (on more than one occasion) that losing extra weight and eating better can reduce high blood-pressure. As we know it is "easier said than done," we thought we'd provide you with few facts and tools that can help.

If you are overweight, every 10 pound (4.5 Kg) reduction can lower blood-pressure by 5-20 points. Reducing sodium intake for salt sensitive people was shown to reduce BP 2-8 points.

Limiting your alcohol consumption to two glasses for men and one glass for women (and light weighted individuals) can lower blood-pressure by 2-4 points. Cutting caffeine can also make a difference.

22 Reasons You Should Try Arginine

The following are the primary scientifically backed reasons that anyone - even healthy people - should consider adding arginine to their health and wellness regimen.

1. It is one thousand times more powerful than any naturally occuring antioxidant in the body. Arginine's antioxidant properties support various body systems and may protect against heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes, as well as slowing premature aging. (16,17)

2. It offers wide-ranging cardiovascular support, including controlling blood pressure(18,19) and plaque formation. Nitric oxide keeps arteries relaxed and pliable for normal blood pressure, preventing hypertension and angina.(20)

3. It enhances memory, particularly long-term memory,(21) and may help to reverse the effects of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.(22)

4. It boosts human growth hormone (HGH) production, which has antiaging properties.(23)

5. It enhances communication of messenger cells between nerves and the brain.(24)

6. It may help improve immune function(25) and fight bacterial infections.(26)

7. It may help in the treatment and prevention of diabetes since many disease complications, including poor circulation and blindness, are vascular in nature. Arginine is also found to regulate insulin secretion in the pancreas.(27,28)

8. It may inhibit the division and proliferation of cancer cells.(29,30)

9. It helps with cholesterol control by lowering serum and LDL cholesterol levels.(31)

10. It enhances male sexual performance by treating vascular erectile dysfunction (ED).(32)

11. Its anticoagulant abilities reduce clotting to lower heart attack and stroke risk.(33)

12. It reduces pregnancy-related hypertension, a risk factor for both the expecting mother and the unborn child.(34)

13. It is useful in the treatment of asthma by opening pulmonary pathways for easier breathing and the treatment of lung disorders.(35,36)

14. It relaxes hypertonics sphincter muscles, preventing and healing hemorrhoids.(37)

15. It boosts lean muscle mass and preserves bone density by encouraging HGH production,(38) which also leads to a reduction in fatty tissue. As a result, it may be useful in weight management and strenght training.

16. It can help offset cardiovascular and lung damage caused by tobacco use,(39) since nitric oxide levels in smokers are less than half of those found in non-smokers.(40)

17. It helps to accelerate wound healing(41) and post-surgery recovery.(42) Research has shown it is useful in treating burn wounds(43) and stimulates wound healing in the elderly.(44)

18. It may be useful in enhancing athletic performance due to its ability to boost exercise tolerance,(45) its beneficial effect on the lungs, and its effect on HGH levels, which helps with building lean muscle tissue.

19. It may be used to improve the function of the prostate.(46)

20. It may prevent and possibly reverse the effects of osteoporosis by positively affecting bone mass.(47)

21. It has been used in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome(48) and to reduce the occurence of ulcers - especially stress-related - without affecting gastric acid production.(49,50)

22. It may improve renal function and slow the progression of renal disease and age-related chronic renal failure.(51,52) Arginine's protective effect on the kidney's may also benefit those with diabetes.

Can supplements lower blood-pressure?

According to the Mayo Clinic, some dietary supplements may help you lower your blood-pressure to a certain degree. The following supplements are categorized by the strength of the scientific evidence that shows they lower blood-pressure. Be careful when taking supplements. They can do more harm than good if used inappropriately.

Cardio cocktail offers the correct daily dose in a Bio Available form

Strong evidence for lowering blood-pressure:
Omega-3 fatty acids, fish oil, alpha-linolenic acid.

Found in Cardio Cocktail: Perilla oil 4:1 (Omega 3, 6 and 9)188 mg

There is evidence from multiple large-scale population (epidemiologic) studies and randomized controlled trials that intake of recommended amounts of DHA and EPA in the form of dietary fish or fish oil supplements lowers triglycerides, reduces the risk of death, heart attack, dangerous abnormal heart rhythms, and strokes in people with known cardiovascular disease, slows the buildup of atherosclerotic plaques ("hardening of the arteries"), and lowers blood pressure slightly. However, high doses may have harmful effects, such as an increased risk of bleeding. Although similar benefits are proposed for alpha-linolenic acid, scientific evidence is less compelling, and beneficial effects may be less pronounced

Good evidence for lowering blood-pressure:
Coenzyme Q10

CoQ10 50mg Found in the New Formor His/hers multivitamins

Preliminary research suggests that CoQ10 causes small decreases in blood pressure (systolic and possibly diastolic). Low blood levels of CoQ10 have been found in people with hypertension, although it is not clear if CoQ10 "deficiency" is a cause of high blood pressure. It is not known what dose is safe or effective. CoQ10 is less commonly used to treat hypertension than it is for other heart conditions such as congestive heart failure. Well-designed long-term research is needed to strengthen this recommendation.

Unclear evidence for lowering blood-pressure:
Garlic - not found in cardio cocktail

Numerous human studies report that garlic can lower blood pressure by a small amount, but larger, well-designed studies are needed to confirm this possible effect.

How sleep affects your blood-pressure.

This may sound trivial but it's important to acknowledge that sleeping well can help lower blood-pressure. Here are some facts and suggestions for getting a good night's sleep, every night.

Get plenty of sleep - When you are refreshed, you're better able to tackle the next day's problems, allowing you to avoid and better cope with stress.

If you have difficulty falling asleep, try keeping a schedule; going to sleep and awakening at a consistent time each day. A bedtime ritual such as taking a warm bath, reading or eating a light snack helps many people relax.

Make sure you sleep healthily - People with high blood-pressure are more likely to suffer from a condition called sleep apnea. In this potentially serious sleep disorder, breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. Apnea is Greek for "without breath."

If you have been told that you snore loudly or you wake up feeling tired after a full night's sleep or you are sleepy during the day, it may be worthwhile to learn more about sleep apnea.

Definition: Sleep apnea, sleep apnoea or sleep apnœa is a sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep. These episodes, called apneas (literally, "without breath"), each last long enough so one or more breaths are missed, and occur repeatedly throughout sleep. The standard definition of any apneic event includes a minimum 10 second interval between breaths, with either a neurological arousal (3-second or greater shift in EEG frequency, measured at C3, C4, O1, or O2), or a blood oxygen desaturation of 3-4 percent or greater, or both arousal and desaturation. Sleep apnea is diagnosed with an overnight sleep test called a polysomnogram.

Clinically significant levels of sleep apnea are defined as 5 or more events of any type per hour of sleep time (from the polysomnogram). There are three distinct forms of sleep apnea: central, obstructive, and complex (complex is a combination of central and obstructive) with 0.4%, 84% and 15% making up their respective percentages of cases.[1] Breathing is interrupted by the lack of effort in central sleep apnea; in obstructive sleep apnea, breathing is interrupted by a physical block to airflow despite effort. In mixed sleep apnea, there is a transition from central to obstructive features during the events themselves.