High blood pressure: The common drink which can lower your risk – how to slash levels
Chris Evans reveals his wife gave him a blood pressure monitor
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It can also cause kidney failure, heart failure, problems with your sight and vascular dementia. Therefore, it should not be ignored. The NHS says: “Making healthy lifestyle changes can sometimes help reduce your chances of getting high blood pressure and help lower your blood pressure if it’s already high.” It is often described as a “silent killer” because it rarely causes symptoms.
High blood pressure means your blood pressure is consistently too high, with the UK Government suggesting that approximately one in four adults worldwide have high blood pressure.
Blood pressure is defined as the force put on your blood vessels and organs as blood is pumped around your body by your heart.
Blood pressure is recorded with two numbers. The systolic pressure, higher number, is the force at which your heart pumps blood around your body.
The diastolic pressure, lower number, is the resistance to the blood flow in the blood vessels.
“Blood pressure readings between 120/80mmHg and 140/90mmHg could mean you’re at risk of developing high blood pressure if you do not take steps to keep your blood pressure under control,” says the NHS.
The British Heart Foundation states many people with high blood pressure feel fine, “so it’s important to get your blood pressure checked regularly”.
A 2011 literature review involving 45,000 adults concluded that the consumption of low-fat milk was associated with a lower risk of high blood pressure.
It states: “This meta-analysis supports the inverse association between low-fat dairy foods and fluid dairy foods and risk of elevated blood pressure”.
The NHS has also outlined some other lifestyle changes which can help prevent and lower high blood pressure.
It says you should reduce the amount of salt you eat and have a generally healthy diet, cut back on alcohol, lose weight if you’re overweight, cut down on caffeine, and if you are a smoker you should stop smoking.
It notes: “Cut down on the amount of salt in your food and eat plenty of fruit and vegetables.”
“Salt raises your blood pressure. The more salt you eat, the higher your blood pressure. Aim to eat less than 6g (0.2oz) of salt a day, which is about a teaspoonful,” it adds.
It says that regularly drinking too much alcohol can raise your blood pressure over time.
The NHS says: “Alcohol is also high in calories, which will make you gain weight and can further increase your blood pressure.”
Moreover, being overweight forces your heart to work harder to pump blood around your body, which can raise your blood pressure.
The NHS says: “If you do need to lose some weight, it’s worth remembering that just losing a few pounds will make a big difference to your blood pressure and overall health.”
The health body concludes: “If you smoke and have high blood pressure, your arteries will narrow much more quickly, and your risk of heart or lung disease in the future is dramatically increased.”
If you are over the age of 40, the NHS says you should be getting it checked every five years.
The prevalence of high blood pressure for adults in England in 2015 was 31 percent among men and 26 percent among women, with little change over the last few years, according to Public Health England (PHE).
This is considered to place a considerable strain on the NHS, and can cause several negative complications.
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