So what is blood pressure?

So what is blood pressure?

May is high blood pressure education month. So what is blood pressure? It’s the force of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. High blood pressure means that blood is flowing through your arteries with pressure that’s higher than normal. That’s dangerous because it causes your heart to work harder to pump blood and contributes to hardening of the arteries and eventually heart failure.
Nearly one out of three American adults has high blood pressure or hypertension as it’s also called. There are many contributing factors and conditions that aid in the development of high blood pressure. Smoking, drinking heavily and being overweight are obvious factors. Family history plays a role, as well as stress and just aging. Eating habits are a big contributing factor in the ability of your body to maintain normal blood pressure.
Since high blood pressure is greatly influenced by diet and lifestyle. You can reduce blood pressure by exercising regularly, stop smoking if you do and lose weight. You’ll need to reduce your intake of salt of course. Eat more fruits, nuts and vegetables. Eat more whole grains in bread and cereals. Less fat in our diet is better so switch to low fat dairy products.
If you are interested in developing low sodium food products, contact us about use of Nu-tek reduced sodium salt replacer or Ohly yeast based ingredients that can enhance salt perception without adding salt.
Clinical data also suggest we add more Omega 3 to our diets and take in less Omega 6, and have sufficient amounts of potassium, calcium and magnesium that are needed for good metabolism.
It’s really basic and simple diet and lifestyle choices we make daily that can ensure a longer and healthier life!