Category: Blood Pressure

Blood Pressure, Health, Heart Health

Meditation

Posted on by mghdiabeteseducation

It may be easiest to understand what meditation is by first explaining what it is not.  Meditation is not thinking.  It’s seeing, smelling, feeling and experiencing without applying thought.  It is a quieting of the mind where the thinking part of the brain is turned off.  If you’re thinking, you’re not meditating.  Meditation is often viewed as an exotic or foreign activity, but it’s really just using a different part of the brain.

Two of the defining qualities of meditation are focused awareness and a receptive state of mind.  The body was not meant to live in the stress response, yet in this modern world we often find ourselves living in a constant state of low-level stress.  Stress aggravates everything.  It causes inflammation in the body, tightening of the muscles, and interferes with getting good quality sleep (in fact fatigue is the number one symptom of stress).  Turning off the stress response helps encourage broader awareness and adaptability.  There is an expansive feeling in this adaptive state as all the muscles stretch and relax; a feeling of “oneness” or connection to everything and everybody (contrast this with the stress response which is very disconnecting).

A good place to start when beginning a meditation practice is with the breath.  Focusing on the inhale and the exhale develops a moment to moment focus of simply being.  You may also find it helpful to focus on an image, or choose a word or words (or phrase/phrases) to link with the rhythm of your breath.  Observe the sensations you experience mindfully, try not to be too “thinky,” and avoid judgments.  It may be difficult to keep your mind from wandering at first, but a wandering mind is not a sign you can’t meditate – it’s a sign that you need to meditate!  Catching yourself drifting and bringing your attention back to the present moment helps build your meditation practice.

It’s recommended to spend 10-20 minutes in quiet meditation 1-2 times a day.  Maintaining focus for 20 minutes at a time can be challenging in the beginning, but you can slowly work your way up to it.  The more often you practice, the more the brain changes (in a positive way).  Meditating daily for just 20 minutes has been shown to remodel your brain away from stress to more pleasant and steadying states of mind – so you can see, it’s well worth the effort!

(Post written in collaboration with the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine)
0
Blood Pressure, Heart Health

A Heart to Heart about Alcohol (and your Heart)

Posted on by mghdiabeteseducation

Glass of red wine, glass of white wineLifestyle plays such an important role in managing chronic disease like hypertension.  Making healthy diet choices—eating more fruits and vegetables, reducing sodium—and exercising regularly are both key components of a healthy lifestyle, as is quitting smoking.  But many may wonder if (and where) alcohol fits in to this. 

Here’s the good news:  moderate drinking can be part of a healthy lifestyle.  In small amounts, alcohol may actually lower blood pressure slightly.  And, some types of alcohol are recognized for potential health benefits.  Red wine, for example, has developed a bit of a reputation for promoting heart health.  Antioxidants in the wine can help raise HDL or “good” cholesterol which can, in turn, lower the risk of developing heart disease.  

Now for the bad news:  while a little bit of alcohol may lower blood pressure, drinking too much can raise blood pressure.  Not only that, but alcohol can interfere with many medications, making them less effective.  And finally, all alcohol contains calories which can contribute to weight gain.    

The key thing to remember is drinking is fine in moderation.  Moderate drinking is defined at no more than 2 drinks a day for men and 1 drink a day for women (a “drink” is 12 oz of beer, 5 oz of wine or 1.5 oz of liquor).  If you choose to drink, be mindful of how much alcohol you’re consuming.  If you don’t drink, the best advice is:  don’t start—you can get the health benefits of alcohol in other ways (like diet and exercise).  Talk to your healthcare provider if you have any questions about alcohol or your alcohol use. 

(Post content reviewed by Mass General Cardiologist. Photo credit: Trish Hughes)

0
Blood Pressure, Heart Health, Nutrition

Ready . . . Set . . . DASH!

Posted on by mghdiabeteseducation

Apples and pears. Photo Credit Zsuzsanna Kilian

It seems every day we’re hearing about some new product that promises to do  amazing things like save you time and/or money on household chores or eliminate fat from certain parts of the body.  Sometimes these gadgets and gizmos work, and sometimes they . . . well . . . don’t. 

 The same is true for a number of popular (some may say “fad”) diet programs on the market:  some are more successful at helping people develop healthy eating habits and maintain a healthy weight than others.  Earlier this year, U. S. News & World Report investigated and ranked 20 popular diet plans based on their effectiveness at promoting weight loss (both short and long term), ease of use, nutritional content and other criteria.  The DASH diet, an eating plan recognized for its effectiveness at lowering high blood pressure, was ranked number one in two categories.

 DASH (which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) was developed through research by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute on the effect of diet on blood pressure.  Study participants following the DASH eating plan—which emphasizes fruits and vegetables, whole grains and low fat dairy, as well lean protein and nuts (which are all naturally low in sodium and saturated fat)—saw a significant decrease in blood pressure and cholesterol.  Not only that, following the DASH diet can help avoid heart attack and stroke and can prevent the development of hypertension among people with normal blood pressure.  Thanks to its proven cardiovascular benefits, the DASH diet has been endorsed by the American Heart Association  

DASH is lower in fat and sodium and higher in several key nutrients believed to help lower blood pressure (including magnesium, calcium and potassium) than a typical American diet.  And, because of its focus on nutrient-rich whole foods (especially fruits, vegetables and whole grains), DASH may also help prevent the development of osteoporosis and some cancers. 

(Post content reviewed by MGH Nutrition Department. Photo Credit Zsuzsanna Kilian)

1
Blood Pressure, Heart Health, Nutrition

Pass the Potassium, Please

Posted on by mghdiabeteseducation

yellow bananas

Many discussions about hypertension lately seem to revolve around sodium, most notably the recommendation for limiting the amount of sodium in the diet.  One of the findings of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s DASH study was a diet low in sodium is effective at lowering high blood pressure (DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension).  But there’s another nutrient that also needs to be included in the hypertension conversation:  potassium. 

Like sodium, potassium is an essential nutrient for living—in fact it works along with sodium to keep the body’s fluids in balance and send messages along the nervous system.  Potassium also plays a role in muscle contraction and is crucial for keeping the heart beating properly.  But while sodium is abundant in the typical American diet, many people don’t get enough potassium. 

 Adding more potassium to your diet can be as easy as eating a variety of fruits and vegetables—in fact the DASH eating plan, which emphasizes fresh fruits and vegetables, is higher in potassium than the typical American diet.  Bananas are probably one of the best known sources of potassium (there’s about 450mg in one medium banana), but sweet potatoes, white potatoes (with skin), tomatoes, oranges, avocados and apricots are good sources as well.  And another plus:  fresh fruits and vegetables are naturally low in sodium.  

Some other non-vegetable sources of potassium include white beans; fish such as tuna, halibut and salmon; and dairy products like low fat milk and yogurt.  Check out the USDA’s Nutrient Database for more information on nutrient content— including sodium and potassium— of many common foods.

(Post content reviewed by MGH Cardiologist and Nutritionist. Photo from http://www.pachd.com/)

0