Heart attacks and strokes are a major cause of chronic illness and death in the US. They are a reason why people are unable to care for themselves and have to be admitted into nursing homes.
Heart attacks and strokes can be prevented, how?
The American Heart Association goals are to have everyone
Stop smoking
Have a body mass index of less than 25 kg/m2
Daily physical exercise
Eat a healthy diet-Mediterranean diet is a good place to start
Lower total cholesterol to less than 200 mg/dL
Blood pressure of less than 120/80 mmHg
Fasting blood glucose of less than 100mg/dL
These goals would decrease the deaths from heart attacks and strokes by 20% and increase the overall health by 20%.
In the future blogs these individual goals will be addressed.
For now, here is an exercise to help lower blood pressure if done on a daily basis.
Take a deep breath filling your lungs by counting slowly to 8, then let the breath out slowly to a count of 8. Repeat for a total of 5 breaths. Repeat.
You can do this as many times as you wish. It is a way of engaging your parasympathetic nervous system that encourages the body to relax, thereby lowering your blood pressure.
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