Blood pressure or hypertension is the pressure exerted by the blood on the walls of the blood vessels. Blood pressure is not static and varies from one heartbeat to another throughout the day. The blood pressure is measured by a sphygmomanometer. At home, you can measure your blood pressure by an electronic blood pressure monitor. Two readings of the blood pressure in the arteries during the cardiac cycle are taken. The peak pressure is known as systolic pressure and the lowest pressure at the resting phase of the cardiac cycle as the diastolic pressure.

Normal values for blood pressure readings of a resting healthy adult are:

Systolic Blood Pressure Read: between 90 and 135 mmHg
Diastolic Blood Pressure: between 50 and 90 mmHg
Average blood pressure for young people: 120/80 mmHg

Blood pressure readings in the lower end of these values are considered good for cardiovascular health.

High Blood Pressure When the arteries become obstructed with plaque and cholesterol, they constrict making the circulation of blood difficult. As a result, blood pressure becomes elevated. A systolic blood pressure above 200 and diastolic blood pressurea bove 120 mmHg is termed as severe hypertension.

The main causes of having high blood pressure are

Diet and lifestyle factors
Hereditary
High cholesterol
Mental tension/stress/worries/fear/work pressure/competitive life
Lack of exercise/sedentary lifestyle
Excessive consumption of common salt, sugar and/or fat
Nutritional deficiencies
Overweight
Smoking
Excessive consumption of alcohol.

If you have high blood pressure, then lowering your blood pressure will greatly reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and other illnesses. You can lower your blood pressure by having a control over the factors causing it. The good news is that you can improve all of the above causes, except hereditary. You need not to take any blod pressure medication.

Copyright 2005, P. Mehta www.fatfreekitchen.com

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