How to prevent hypertension

You can prevent yourself from getting hypertension if you observe the following:

DIET

1. Reduce your salt intake: Salt contains two chemicals called sodium and chlorine. Sodium works to retain water in your body while chlorine helps kill bacteria in your food. If you have a problem passing urine as required, you should avoid drinking too much water because much of it will be retained in your body and end up raising the volume of blood. When the blood volume is raised, your heart pumps more to get it to other parts of the body. This in turn increases your blood pressure.
2. Reduce the intake of fats and oily foods: Oily and fatty foods have the tendency of entering into your blood and blocking the blood vessels which carry blood to other parts of your body when taken in excess. You should consider reducing the amount of fat you consume.
3. Balance your diet: A diet taken according to your body's demands and they type of work you do is good for your health. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Stay off red meat if you already have a heart related medical condition.
4. Reduce spices in your food: Some spices contain ingredients that have a tendency of increasing your blood pressure when taken in excess.
5. Cut down on coffee consumption: Coffee contains caffeine. Caffeine increases your heart beat. This in turn increases your blood pressure. And when the pressure is excessively increased, you will find yourself in the hypertension bracket. So you should consider reducing your coffee intake to at most one cup a day or three times in a week. Hypertensives are advised to stay off it completely. Also look out for beverages which contain caffeine and try to avoid them altogether.
6. Quit smoking and alcohol: People who smoke have a high of getting their blood vessels blocked so blood cannot flow through them to other parts of their body. Tobacco contains nicotine which acts like caffeine to block blood vessels. Alcohol also acts on the heart to increase its beats and thereby increasing the risk of hypertension.

EXERCISE

Exercising daily helps burn down the amount of fat in your body and thereby reducing the amount of fat in your blood. The heart benefits because its pumping action will be regularized by regular exercise. This in turn reduces the risk of fat accumulation in the blood vessels and hypertension. It will also improve your overall health outlook.

REGULAR HEALTH CHECKS

You should make it a point to always go for regular monthly checks. Try to keep all health appointments with your doctor. This will help detect any emerging health issues and address them promptly. You can also monitor your blood pressure frequently to detect any changing patterns and report them to your healthcare provider. Monitoring your blood pressure at home is the most convenient option for you if you can't always go to the health facility to have it checked for you.