Alcohol And High Blood Pressure

Most people who find themselves drinking alcohol excessively are ignorant of what it might lead them to. There are many consequences of drinking too much alcohol which are very dangerous to your health. One of the biggest threat of excessive drinking is high blood pressure. Although there are other major causes of high blood pressure, experts were able to discover that too much drinking of alcohol greatly increases your blood pressure.

It is therefore very important for you to understand that when you drink alcohol excessively, it will affect your blood system. You must know that your health is determined by your blood pressure. Perhaps you may be wondering how does drinking alcohol affects your blood pressure. I want you to know that your drinking alcohol continously will lead to other health problems in your body which in turn affects your blood pressure.

Let us see how alcohol affects your blood presssure. Do you know that drinking alcohol affects your kidneys? When you drink alcohol excessively, it exacts pressure on the your arteries, causing the blood to flow at high pressure. This is one of the causes of high blood pressure in your body. So the more you drink, the more pressure you exact on your arteries and the more your blood pressure increases.

It is also very important that if you are a woman, you must stop drinking alcohol because your level of tolerance to high blood pressure is minimal compared to that of men. Therefore you must avoid drinking alcohol excessively as it will be very risky and dangerous to your health.

Another negative effects of drinking alcohol is overweight. When you drink more alcohol, you add more weight because alcohol itself contains more calories. You must know that when you increase weight, you are also increasing the level of fat in your body. This fat usually add unnecessary pressure to your blood arteries, causing less blood to flow at high pressure. So, each time you drink more alcohol, you are increasing your blood pressure.

Finally friend, I want you to understand that drinking alcohol is one of the major causes of high blood pressure because it has a direct negative effect on your blood stream. As you drink alcohol excessively, you are exposing your health to more dangers in addition to high blood pressure. Therefore you must begin to address your drinking addiction if you must keep a good health. I also recommend you to your doctor for more professional advice if you must stop drinking alcohol now. Also see your doctor if you are already developing a high blood pressure today.

Many individuals are put on medications to control their high blood pressure. Depending greatly on the severity of the blood pressure you might be able to discontinue using the medications with some modifications to your lifestyle and diet. Many doctors will begin a medicinal treatment with mild medications for high blood pressure and sometimes it might be necessary to start off with a more vigorous medication and slowly work down to a mild one.Understanding the different types of medications and how they actually treat and benefit the condition is important. Throughout this article you will learn the medications that are used for treating high blood pressure and gaining control over it. Generally, all of the medications that are currently being used for the successful treatment of high blood pressure fall into one of five categories.The category or type of medication your doctor will put you on will greatly depend on a few factors. Among them are the level of high blood pressure you have, existing medical conditions, current medications you take as well as family medical history. Here are the categories:* Vasodilators* Diuretics* Angiotensin II receptor blockers and ACE inhibitors * Calcium channel blockers* Beta-adrenergic blocking agentsLet’s start off by discussing the Vasodilators. These are designed to make the veins and the arteries wider, thus allow the blood to flow a bit more freely. In some circumstances a doctor might prefer to combine another medication with a Vasodilator to get your blood pressure to the ideal level and maintain it.ACE Inhibitors is the next medication we will briefly discuss. These are among the most popular medications prescribed for treating and stabilizing blood pressure. These are designed to successfully relieve the stress of blood vessel contraction as well as regulate the blood flow and decrease the blood pressure. ACE inhibitors will then convert the hormone that is usually inactive into an active hormone.The next medication is the Calcium Channel Blockers. These decrease the blood pressure because they relax the blood flow and the vessels themselves. The blood generally is able to flow with ease once the medication gets into the individuals system. The relaxation enhances the flow of the blood without stressing the heart.Beta blockers or Beta-adrenergic blocking agents are often the first choice for many doctors in treating high blood pressure. Basically, this type of medication will minimize the stress on the heart by limiting the work that is needed to be done by the heart. The number of beats the heart has to do to make sure the blood is pumping is lowered because the heart no longer has to work as hard. This also decreases the intensity of the heartbeats, thus combining all of this the blood pressure is often successfully modified and reduced to a healthy level.Mild medications for high blood pressure will be determined generally on an individual patient basis. The prescribing doctor will take into consideration several other health related issues before prescribing the best medication for your blood pressure. Be sure you are giving as much information to your doctor as you can about your medical history and your family medical history.

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They are the biggest killers in America: Diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and heart disease. The most common causes of these deadly conditions are: Physical inactivity, fattening snacks and beverages, obesity, stress, and smoking. The shocking news is that these diseases are so easily preventable.
A frequent cause of blame is the unhealthy food choices people make regularly. It’s okay to splurge once in a while, but it is the habits you follow daily that will determine your overall health. Constantly consuming chips, bacon, cakes, sugary drinks, candy, sausage, and cigarettes will get you nothing but poor health, deadly diseases, and a ticket straight to heaven prematurely.
According to the CDC over 63% (that’s over 180 million) of the US population is overweight or obese and is physically inactive, resulting in tens of millions who have chronic deadly, but preventable, conditions such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and pre-diabetes. Recently the CDC reported that more than 70% (over 1.7 million) of all causes of death in America are caused by only three preventable factors: obesity, sedentary lifestyles, and smoking. The very fact that these factors are easily preventable is heartbreaking.
One of the major contributors to poor health is the excessive consumption of cholesterol. The body produces over 85% of the cholesterol we need and the sugar stores in our liver and muscles remain saturated due to physical inactivity. Because we are largely a couch-potato society and the food we consume every day is loaded with animal-based fats, the extra fat gets dumped into our arteries, belly areas, and under the skin all over our bodies.
Another major contributor to deadly diseases, poor health, and premature aging and death is physical inactivity. Most of us sit throughout an entire workday then go home and sit in front of the TV for another 5 to 6 hours while consuming large fatty meals, snacks, and sugary or alcoholic beverages that are rich in saturated fats, salt, and sugar, all of which contribute to increased belly fat. Shockingly, belly fat is the most dangerous kind because it causes inflammation in the arteries contributing to plaque build up in the arteries and insulin resistance leading to heart attacks and diabetes.
Yet another common issue is that people are unaware of how unhealthy the foods they consume are. When people don’t read nutrition labels they tend to consume very dense food and sugary beverages that are nutrient deficient. These foods are readily available in fast food restaurants and vending machines and contain loads of sugar, fat, and unwanted calories. Sugary soft drinks (which alone contribute to over 33% of all US obesity), sugary lemonade, sweetened iced tea, smoothies, lattes, and frappucinos, which contain loads of sugar and fat that further contribute to the accumulation of belly fat, make you more of a magnet to all sorts of deadly, but preventable, diseases. One of the worst mistakes people make as well is skipping meals which makes the body more efficient at storing and gaining fat weight.
Fortunately there are important steps to help you make balanced food and activity choices and help you start a lifestyle makeover process which will be your shield against deadly diseases as you age gracefully:
• If you have any chronic disease(s) take your medications as prescribed.
• Eat 3 main balanced meals, reduce your portion sizes, and raise your fiber intake.
• Consume 2 fruit and nuts snacks between meals.
• Switch all sugary drinks to water or diet soft drinks. Sweeten all other hot or cold beverages with artificial sweeteners or sugar-free flavoring powders. Limit all non-water beverages to a couple a day.
• Increase your daily walking activity to over 10,000 steps a day by making more frequent trips at home, the office, while shopping, and anywhere else.
The good news is that diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic diseases can be prevented, managed, and reversed with your own choices, actions and a lifestyle makeover. Now is the time to start putting these tips to good use and begin feeling better and living healthier right away!

Hypertension, Stroke, Heart Disease are common throughout the United States of America and indeed large parts of the Western World. Epidemiologists attribute much of this down to the Western diet.

Sad to say, after years of much research, Scientists have reached the conclusion that the typical Western Diet (USA & UK especially) is a recipe for a disaster waiting to happen as far as Hypertension and other associate Cardiovascular issues are concerned. Too much Salt, too much of the wrong types of fat (saturated not unsaturated), too many calories, not enough fruit and vegetables, too much alcohol and tobacco; basically, whether we like it or not, living life to the full too much.

Depressing or what?

However amidst all of this “doom and gloom” lies the fact that the good news hidden away in all of this is that in fact as far as the above potential problems are concerned, we can in fact do an awful lot about it. Our fat can actually lie in our own hands. You can take an active role in preventing and controlling high blood pressure by watching what you consume.

What can best be described as the watershed approach to the understanding of all of this came about in 1997 with the publication and results of the first Dietary Approaches to stop Hypertension study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Amongst a great many of the findings published in this study came the first real confirmation that we can actually positively influence our diet and through this help to control our Blood Pressure.

The DASH Diet

The results of this study were in fact so positive that the JNC (Joint National Committee on Health) guidelines now recommend most Americans (and others interested) follow the dietary guidelines of what has now become known as the DASH Diet – the key recommendation here is that all people not just those suffering from Hypertension should follow these dietary principles.

The diet proposes a regime that is low in Fat, and rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products. Apparently the results of this plan were so impressive that those who were part of the initial study group quickly experienced a significant lowering in the levels of their Blood Pressure.

The initial volunteers on this study group were chosen from a random population of people suffering from Hypertension ad were randomly assigned three various dietary programmes to follow. The first was based on the conventional American diet that was 37% of the calories provided from fatty products. The second group was allocated a programme largely the same but with the additional benefits of added fruit and vegetables. The third group was allocated to the programme that later become known as the DASH Diet. This was 27% of the calories from fat, plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, low fat or non fat dairy products and finally small amounts of meat, fish, poultry and nuts.

No prizes for guessing which group came out on top with the DASH participants experiencing an average reduction of up to 11.4 mm Hg in Systolic Pressure and a 5.5 mm Hg drop in Diastolic Pressure levels.

These results were actually favourably comparable to results obtained form similar trials but using Medication and Drugs. Not bad eh?

So the jury is back in, you are what you eat and if you decide and plan carefully what you eat you can do yourself some benefit!