When it comes to having a healthy circulation, your blood pressure is a key aspect.
The amount of force required to pump blood around your body vs the amount of force your circulatory system can take can really have a major impact on your overall health.
Blood pressure is often used as an indicator of your state of health and is one of the primary assessments undertaken in most medical and fitness check-ups, but why?
Why Blood Pressure is Important
Blood pressure is a measure of circulatory health and circulatory health is a strong indicator of health in general.
When you are healthy, your circulation is likely functioning in a state of efficient and effective activity. It delivers oxygen and nutrients where they are needed while eliminating toxins and waste where it needs to be removed.
Your circulation is the service delivery system for all vital functions. Without it, your cells wouldn't get what they need or get rid of what they don't need.
Think of it as a functioning city. When the city is working well, transport networks are efficient, allowing for the effective delivery of essential goods and services wherever they are needed. It also means refuse collection and disposal happens in a way that keeps things clean.
When transport networks aren’t functioning in a city, you will get a decline in living standards and even have entire districts shut down and become derelict.
The same is true for your circulation. This is what happens when you don't maintain it well and blood pressure becomes an issue.
Dangers of Abnormal Blood Pressure
As we mentioned, abnormal blood pressure can lead to a decline in your quality of health. Nutrients are not being delivered efficiently and waste is not being removed fast enough.
Elevated blood pressure often leads to damage to the circulatory system itself. Heart disease and atherosclerosis are common examples of conditions that directly affect the heart and blood vessels in a state of hypertension (elevated blood pressure).
In severe cases, high blood pressure can cause tissue death (heart attack and stroke) and can be life-threatening.
After all, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in America.
Causes of High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure occurs due to many reasons.
In fact, each and every day, you may experience instances of acute hypertension. This is perfectly normal.
If you’re an active person, moments of peak heart rate will cause an above normal elevation in your blood pressure.
The problem is when this elevation is sustained over long periods and becomes chronic.
Chronic high blood pressure is caused by:
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Poor water balance
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Chronic stress
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Elevated LDL (bad cholesterol) levels
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Poor diet and nutrient deficiency
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Underlying Disease or infection
Suffice to say, bringing your blood pressure back to normal will require eliminating these risk factors, which is what we’re going to go into.
But before we do, please check out the Life Renu store.
We actually have an awesome range of natural health supplements scientifically proven to reduce the risk of hypertension.
Now let's get right to the heart of the matter!
Top 5 Ways To Maintain Healthy Blood Pressure
1. Hydration
Staying adequately hydrated is a key ingredient in the recipe for health. Imagine baking a cake with no form of flour.
That's pretty much the same as trying to be healthy without enough water.
When it comes to blood pressure, water, and the balance it creates greatly impacts your blood pressure.
The less water in your body, the less you will have relative to sodium levels. This is a one-way ticket to an above-normal blood pressure reading.
Not drinking enough water also causes your body to close off the capillary network, focusing all the available blood through a more limited circulatory network, which then has to deal with extra strain.
2. Cholesterol Control
Cholesterol plays a major role in regulating blood pressure. Until quite recently, cholesterol was unanimously viewed as the bane of healthy circulation. We now know that it's a bit more complex than that.
Our body is mainly affected by two forms of cholesterol, HDL and LDL. HDL cholesterol is actually good for us and we need it in decent amounts, LDL, however, is bad for your health.
One of the ways it affects us is by forming deposits on the inner walls of blood vessels called plaque.
Plaque decreases the overall volume capacity of blood vessels as well as rendering them stiff and unable to naturally contract and dilate for healthy pressure regulation.
A significant build-up of arterial plaque leads to atherosclerosis and can have life-threatening effects such as stroke or heart failure.
HDL does the opposite, allowing your circulation more freedom and clean function
3. Eat More Protein
Eating more protein has numerous health benefits, but when it comes to blood pressure, protein is a great ally.
When we eat protein, we increase the nitrogen balance in our bodies. Why is this important?
It's important because nitrogen is a major component of nitric oxide, a chemical that has a direct significance on circulatory health.
This chemical promotes vasodilation (widening of blood vessels). As you can imagine, wider blood vessels lead to improved blood pressure.
4. More Healthy Fats
Healthy fats in the form of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats have been well recorded as heart-healthy nutrients.
The omega 3 and 6 fatty acids found in these forms of fat are necessary in order to nourish the cardiovascular system in many ways including stimulating the release of the aforementioned nitric oxide.
5. Eat Nutrient-Dense Foods
Nutrient-rich food, especially those containing antioxidants and all essential micronutrients are a great way to manage blood pressure.
Antioxidants are the cleanup molecules of the body and help protect cells from damage due to oxidative stress.
That includes protecting cardiovascular tissue.
Nutrient-dense food will also ensure you’re getting all the right heart-healthy vitamins and minerals.
Final Words
So there you have it guys. 5 sure-fire ways to help you keep your heart and circulation as healthy as possible.
Poor circulation and hypertension are often the results of skipping on at least one of these 5 healthy habits.
So make sure you add these on your to-do list.
If you have any other burning questions, drop us a line in the comments and we’ll get to the heart of it.
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