High Blood Pressure (aka. Hypertension) is known as the Silent Killer as it often goes undetected until it is too late. Many people have high blood pressure but are totally unaware of it since they have no noticeable symptoms. The fact that over the years the guidelines what constitutes “high” did not help.
Recently the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology have released updated guidelines on the definition and management of hypertension.
PBS has a good overview of the impact of the new guidelines.
The new definitions for high blood pressure are best summarized by the table from the guidelines:
So, when I measured my Blood Pressure at 116/86 yesterday, I fall squarely into “Stage 1” Hypertension. Really to be considered normal you have to keep the systolic number below 120 and the diastolic below 80! Everything else is “elevated” or worse.
The guidelines also take a clearer stance on alcohol and sodium consumption. From the PBS article:
The new guidelines encourage patients to reduce or eliminate alcohol consumption entirely compared with the old guidelines. For people who do want to drink alcohol, the new guidelines recommend that men should drink no more than two drinks per day, and women should drink no more than one drink per day.
I am glad that the report is more straightforward about the need to eliminate alcohol. I have done that in my life a while ago and think everyone should do it as the effects of alcohol consumption on a societal level are devastating. I wish they didn’t actually give the numbers they provided. “two drinks per day” is still a lot in my opinion — especially if this ends up being “two drinks every day”!
[The new guidelines] recommend that all adults – with or without hypertension – consume less than 2,300 milligrams of salt, or approximately 1 teaspoon, per day, and more ideally, less than 1,500 milligrams per day. [..] Patients may also consider potassium-based salt substitutes to further lower blood pressure.
I have been using this sodium-free Salt and this reduced sodium lite salt recently and been happy with them. Both seem to substitute potassium for sodium. (affiliate links).
I was surprised about the hate on black licorice, but apparently it doesn’t just taste foul (in my opinion) but is also bad for you!
I think the critical first step for everyone is to make monitoring your blood pressure a regular routine, which is why I added it to my morning routine. Blood Pressure cuffs are cheap and effective. (Amazon affiliate link to the one I use).