Blood pressure walks its way to 'high level' with these habits; know what doctors suggest to do instead

When it comes to a life threatening disease, like blood pressure, we are often told to mend our lifestyle habits. Unhealthy habits like going to sleep late, waking up late, eating too much, eating less, gorging on processed foods, not having enough exercise are being held accountable for the majority of the diseases these days.

COVID has also played a major role in degrading our lifestyle habits. While several reasons made it easier for the authorities to control the spread of the disease, it disrupted the normal life people had before the onset of the pandemic. In this context, lack of physical activity comes as a glaring example.

Stress does not simplify to mental stress or anxiety and depression.

Stress is also when the body is put through tremendous burden in order to keep itself running.

When the body does not get sufficient physical activity, or when it does not get required nutrients from the food that is consumed it comes under stress to work on the limited resources. This is when it comes under stress.

“The causes of hypertension or high blood pressure are multifactorial,” says Dr. Maharshi Desai, Head General Medicine Department, Apollo Hospitals Ahmedabad.

“The habits that come with a modern lifestyle like stress, sedentary life, consuming processed food, and increased intake of salt are responsible for high blood pressure,” he says.

“Consuming fatty food and processed food that contains a high amount of preservatives and additives, also leads to the risk of hypertension,” he adds.

Besides this, hypertension is also hereditary. If any of your parents or siblings have high blood pressure then it increases the risk of you developing it too, he says on the non-lifestyle factor contributing to hypertension. But again several studies have said that unhealthy habits give an extra push to hereditary factors.

“A healthy lifestyle — not smoking, losing excess weight, eating nutritious foods, and exercising regularly — is the cornerstone for preventing and treating hypertension,” says a Harvard report.

On healthy lifestyle, Dr Ashutosh Shukla Senior Director-Internal Medicine & Medical Advisor Max Hospital ,Gurugram explains, “leading a good healthy lifestyle has a better impact, your blood pressure will be much better controlled so for that it is important to have some form of physical activity on a daily basis like 15 to 30 minutes of walk everyday.”

Dr Shukla also emphasizes on sleep. “Along with physical activity 7-8 hours of adequate sound and uninterrupted sleep everyday in the night is needed,” he says and suggests avoiding stress by doing some form of meditation and yoga on a regular basis.

The connection between sodium intake and hypertension is well known. Research studies have established a strong connection between the two and health experts have always warned to limit the intake of salt in all forms in order to mitigate the risks associated with high blood pressure.

On excessive salt consumption, Dr Shukla says, “the recommendations as per all the guidelines is that in an entire day the amount of salt that an average person should take should not be more than a full teaspoon.”

Now a critical question arises, does the problem lie in our salt shaker? Or is it a more widespread problem?

A normal human being consumes salt in several ways. Heavy amounts of salt are added to processed foods in order to increase their shelf life. Foods which are packaged are laden with salt to improve taste and texture as well. These salts are also a potential risk for hypertension.

He also suggests not consuming too much salt. says Dr Shukla and warns to cut off food items which have excess salt like chutney, pickle, tomato sauce, chips, French fries, cheese and the namkeens from diet. “Try to cut off food items which have excess salt like chutney, pickle, tomato sauce, chips, French fries, cheese and the namkeens,” recommends Dr Shukla.

Dr. Maharshi Desai, Head General Medicine Department, Apollo Hospitals Ahmedabad says during pandemic people took a lot of unapproved medication and polypharmacy which can also have a bearing on blood pressure along with other factors like sedentary life, as people were restricted to stay indoors and had to work from home, , and stress.

“People had been working from home leading a sedentary life. It always leads to a rise in blood pressure because once you lead a sedentary life you tend to eat junk food and start gaining weight which causes rise in blood pressure,” adds Dr Shukla.

While medicine might be indispensable for many of those who are having high blood pressure, several non-pharmacological ways can actually be more helpful in controlling hypertension.

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"Lifestyle modifications like consistent physical activity. Walking 45 minutes for at least five days a week, reduction in consumption of salt and fatty food such as cheese and French fries, consumption of raw vegetables and fruits, reduction of alcohol and smoking can be far more effective in controlling elevated blood pressure level in the body," Dr Desai says.

Eating good food is key to keeping illnesses at bay. Some of the best foods for lowering high blood pressure include citrus fruits, salmon and other fatty fishes, pumpkin seeds, berries, beans and lentils, healthy nuts, carrots, celery and more.