If quitting smoking is the only lifestyle change I make, how much can I expect it to lower my blood pressure?
I went to the doctor yesterday and he told me I have high blood pressure that’s just on the borderline (144/90). This is not terribly surprising as my father has had high blood pressure most of his life. The doctor gave me this list of lifestyle changes (low-sodium diet, quit smoking, exercise more, limit caffeine) but also gave me the option of going on antihypertensive drug therapy if I was too "lazy" for those changes. Since the doctor seemed to think that the drug option was clearly inferior I opted to go without it but I don’t want to make all of those changes. To me the most significant is the low sodium diet because I eat out all the time and everything you buy is loaded with sodium so it’s really hard for me to find low sodium foods without cooking for myself. In other words, I am "lazy!" But I haven’t had a cigarette now since Wednesday and I intend to quit for good. My intuition says that this alone should have a significant impact on my blood pressure. But is it enough by itself? Your thoughts?
Also, if it helps, I am a 27 year old male who is 5’10" and weighs 165 lbs (bmi = 23.7). Doctor said my weight isn’t a problem but I should get more exercise. It’s kind of a bummer to be 27 and have the doctor tell you you have the same risk of stroke as a 60 year old.
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u are young for your age to have health problems follow doctors orders , quit while u can if u want to have a long life .
Quitting smoking may help (depends on how much you smoke too) but adjusting your diet a little bit and adding some exercise would probably do the trick. I’m 48 and when I eat a sodium rich meal, I can feel the effect (it raises my blood pressure).
Quitting smoking is a good idea in general for health reasons, but I would not rely on one single factor.
First of all, you need to ask yourself a serious question: "What am I prepared to do to take my life back?"
Being "lazy" will only justify quitting anything that is suggested here. You need to step up to the plate and do whatever it takes. Remember – "Life isn’t a do-over."
It’s strange that your doctor never tested you for dehydration, since that is what causes high blood pressure. But then again, doctors don’t seem to understand the effect that dehydration has on the body. Of course, prescribing water isn’t profitable, so that might have something to do with it.
Hypertension is caused by dehydration.
Water and salt are the two most important nutrients in the body – so much so that they make up 75% of the tissue, 85% of the brain and 94% of the blood.
When you don’t drink enough, your body has to protect itself from what it senses as a drought condition by borrowing the water it needs from the organs. When it takes it from the blood, two things happen – 1) the arteries constrict due to the loss of volume, and 2) the blood thickens.
These two changes cause the heart to have to work harder to pump the blood, resulting in high blood pressure.
People assume that they get plenty of water drinking soft drinks, coffee, alcohol and other alternatives. But in reality, these, too, are diuretics and they pull water out of you much the same way alcohol pulls water out of a car’s gas tank. In addition, you have a lot of water loss through normal body functions like respiration and urination – these need replaced, as well.
You should drink a lot more water than you do. But be advised that attempting to do this on your own may be risky. Too much water too soon will wash out a lot of vitamins and minerals – as well as the all important salt, and cause additional problems.
You can find out (free) how to do it properly by clicking on the link below.
Finally, on the exercise: Please don’t discount doing this It may be hard to motivate yourself at first, but believe me, in no time at all, you not only feel better, but you’ll look forward to your exercise routine (walking is the best and easiest. A leisurely stroll of 1/2 mile to start with, will only take about 15 minutes) – it will go from being a "chore" to being a pleasant past time.