High Blood Pressure: What You Need to Know
Blood pressure is the force exerted against your artery walls. A blood pressure reading is comprised of two numbers. The top number is the systolic pressure, which represents the force against artery walls when the heart beats and sends blood throughout the body. The bottom number is the diastolic pressure, which is the force against artery walls in between heart beats, or another way to state this, when the heart is at rest and filling with blood.
High blood pressure, also referred to as hypertension, increases your risk for heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, and eye damage.
A normal blood pressure reading is less than 120 (top number) and less than 80 (bottom number). Prehypertension, meaning you are at risk for high blood pressure, is a range between 120-139 and 80-89. High blood pressure is a ready greater than 140 and 90.
What causes high blood pressure?
How to customize your Cardio workout
Guest post provided by James Hundson
We all have come across posts and many of us also have enough experience about the importance of cardio. Cardio workouts do play an important role in the daily workouts that are being performed by an individual. There are number of posts that mention that cardio needs to be performed in enough amounts so that it matches with the intensity of workouts that you are about to perform. Less cardio may result in injury and thus lower results than one may be expecting.
But, are you really fond of the cardio that you usually perform? Is the normal walk over the tread mill enough to get your heart beats high? Or do you need to put in some more efforts while performing cardio? The body usually gets used to different workouts or even the cardio exercises that you may be performing every day. Thus, a change is something that is needed. A change in the way you workout can surely help your body get worked out in another way and it will surely give you brighter results.
Are you tired performing the same old cardio? Here are a few ways that you can adapt to while you think of customizing your workouts. These methods are quite simple and seem to be similar to the way things are performed otherwise. Let us take a look at each of these one by one.
- It is not just an Indoor Activity
Many of us who rush to the gym to perform regular workouts are the ones who are used to working out on machines thoroughly. Here is where one can lose interest. Cardio is not all about entering a gym and working out on the machines like you always do. You can also take part in few outdoor activities that help you cover up the efforts you would have put in the gym. Activities such as playing with Frisbees, blades and many more or trying rock climbing or a game of football with friends can be an excellent idea to perform cardio in a fun filled manner.
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Use Beans to Lower Cholesterol in Just 3 Weeks
More than one study has supported the effectiveness of dry beans to lower cholesterol levels. A meta analysis released in the Canadian Medical Association Journal analyzed the results of twenty-six randomized controlled trials lasting at least three weeks in duration.
The findings conclude that consuming a diet that includes beans, chickpeas, lentils, and peas does lower low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels.
How much must you eat?
The diets in the analyzed studies consumed an average of 130 g/day. This would be equal to about 1 serving of beans, chickpeas, lentils, and peas. One serving is equal to ½ cup of kidney beans, pinto beans, or chickpeas.
Study participants who consumed ~1/2 cup servings of beans every day for a 3 week period of time had an average reduction in LDL cholesterol levels of 6.5 mg/dL.
Imagine the potential improvement in levels if consumed over a longer period of time. An easy and effective way to promote healthy cholesterol levels.
Easy Exercises You Can Do Before & During Work
Guest post provided by James Hundson
You love your job? Yes, you do! This is one of the main reasons that may keep you so determined and focused on working that you tend to keep aside your own health issues and fitness. The working schedule that most of us are made to follow does not allow us to move. It is difficult for an individual to move out of their place and workout. Sitting and spending hours in front of the computer is found to be one main reason why people are now gaining weight rapidly. We all need to realize that it is we who have to take care of our own bodies before it is too late.
Excess weight gain causes obesity and then results into the most critical illnesses that would require stronger medication. Are you earning so that you can spend it later on medication? Don’t you want to utilize it for a better cause? A little thought now would help you save your future. Just a few basic movements while you are preparing to go to work, or even while you are at work, will help you avoid those extra pounds to get counted.
Workouts before Leaving For Work
It is understood that it is difficult for us to take out an hour for working out. But, just a few 15 to 30 minutes of workout before you leave for work will help you feel fresh throughout the day. This will not leave you feeling drowsy and also avoid the stressed out feeling that might frustrate you during the day.
- Stretching: Have you seen a cat or a dog immediately after they wake up after a relaxing sleep? The first thing that you will find them doing is “stretching”. Stretching is a great exercise that can be done in the mornings. You can simply stretch any part of your body and thus get your muscles worked up. This will ease your muscle movements and strengthen them to stay fresh the entire day.
- Walking: A simple walk around the neighborhood in fresh air will help in keeping your legs worked out along with a few body movements that it imposes. Walking in the garden will also help you intake a good amount of fresh air that is needed after a night long sleep.
- Up and Down the Stairway: This is a great exercise that will help you workout your leg muscles, especially the thighs and also the other parts of the body. A few trips up and down the stairs will refresh your mind and will keep you ready to face the daily stress.
- Yoga: Yoga is an ancient workout that has been proved and thus trusted. People have worked wonders by simply adapting yoga. A few yoga movements in the mornings will help you refresh your body, mind and soul. You need not be an expert in yoga. Just a few basic movements while you are a beginner would help. You can gradually make use of more complicated movements.
Ingredients Currently Trending for Better Health – Polyphenols
Jonny Bowden, a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition, and health, has answered a few questions on ingredients currently trending in the health world.
Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS, (aka “The Rogue Nutritionist”) is a board-certified nutritionist with a master’s degree in psychology and the best-selling author of 14 books on health, healing, food and longevity, including three best-sellers, “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth”, the award-winning “Living Low Carb” and his latest book, co-written with cardiologist Stephen Sinatra and featured on the Dr. Oz Show, “The Great Cholesterol Myth”.
Lisa Nelson, RD: What would you say is the easiest prescription in the world for good health?
Dr. Bowden: “I have met many who are skeptical of every dietary supplement on the market. But their eyes light up when they hear one word: Polyphenols. These are powerful compounds found in plants that have all sorts of health benefits from reducing inflammation to having anti-cancer properties. There’s no downside to them.”
Lisa Nelson, RD: Are polyphenols particularly difficult to add to your diet?
Dr. Bowden: “Here’s the good news. You only have to remember three things related to polyphenols: Green tea, dark chocolate and pomegranate juice. I came home from a symposium not too long ago, and told everyone in my family: “Drink three cups of green tea, eat one square of dark chocolate and drink one glass of pomegranate juice a day. These three foods in particular are simply loaded with polyphenols as well as with other healthy nutrients.”
Lisa Nelson, RD: Are there any guidelines for choosing foods made with these ingredients?
Dr. Bowden: “You need to be choosy. If you introduce something into your diet for your health, you don’t also want to be introducing toxins into your body.”
Lisa Nelson, RD: Let’s start with green tea. What are the benefits of its polyphenols?
Dr. Bowden: “Green tea is probably the most researched of these three super foods. It contains Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which has about 20 times the antioxidant power of vitamin E. EGCG helps slow the aging process. Green tea has even been shown to help people lose weight.”
Lisa Nelson, RD: Are there any cautions to adding more green tea to your diet?
High Fructose Corn Syrup or Table Sugar: Which is Better?
Do you think of honey or agave nectar as being more “natural” than other types of sweeteners? You might be surprised to learn that most sweeteners go through very similar forms of processing.
High fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, table sugar (sucrose), and agave nectar all undergo extraction, filtration, enzyme treatment, and concentration.
Since processing methods are similar between these types of sweeteners, don’t assume you need to select one over another because one is more “natural” or less processed.
Digestion and Absorption of Table Sugar vs. High Fructose Corn Syrup
The molecular structure of table sugar (sucrose) and high fructose corn syrup do differ; however, this difference is eliminated in the small intestine when the glucose-fructose bond in sucrose is broken. Therefore, once the two sweeteners reach the blood stream any difference has been eliminated.
When they reach the blood stream they are providing the same sugars at the same ratios to the same tissues/organs within the same time frame.
Despite the similarity in digestion and absorption, media coverage might have you questioning potential health concerns related to fructose and high fructose corn syrup. This steams from the possibility of small percent, ~3-5%, of fructose being converted to fatty acids in the liver.
