Bad Habits to Avoid with Hypertension

Hypertension is an increase in the body’s blood pressure. There are several contributing factors that can cause this. One factor is cholesterol. As we consume foods full of bad (LDL) cholesterol, if our body is unable to remove it from out blood stream, this bad cholesterol attaches to the walls of the circulatory system and begins to calcify. As it calcifies, the opening of the vessel begins to become narrower. This causes the heart to beat fast and work harder in order to push the blood through the smaller openings.

There are many bad habits we pick up as teenagers and carry with us into adult life. Learning to eliminate these bad habits when we have hypertension is important. It can be difficult to make such drastic lifestyle changes but there are a number of groups available that can provide free support. The thing each of us needs to consider is if we do not make these changes, then we reduce the amount of time we have left to live.

The first bad habit to kick is alcohol. If you have high blood pressure then you should not drink. Even though there have been several studies showing that drinking wine can be beneficial to the body, that is not the case once you already have one of the conditions that wine can help prevent. Alcohol will raise the blood pressure.

The second bad habit to eliminate is smoking. Smoking cigarettes, pipes or cigars should be discontinued if you have hypertension. Smoking works as a stimulant and causes the heart to beat faster, raising blood pressure. Smoking can cause other health issues so quitting now not only help your blood pressure, but helps to reduce the risk of the other diseases, like cancer. Even if you are in your late 30’s or early 40’s, if you quit, there is still time that your body will correct any damage suffered from smoking.

The next bad habit to give up is caffeine. Caffeine works as a stimulant when it is consumed in coffee, colas and other beverages. This works to raise blood pressure levels in the body. It also works as diuretic removing water from the body. This can cause the body to become dehydrated.