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Hypertension: Factors Far More Relevant Than Salt
Plus: a skincare primer for glass-clear skin
The 10almonds Team
August 24, 2023
Today’s almonds have been activated by:
Loading Screen Tip: don’t be miserable in advance!
Maybe you fear something will be bad later; maybe you even know for sure it will be bad later. Anxiety and misery now won’t help that.
If there’s something you can actually do now to ameliorate things later, then great, do it!
But otherwise: there’s need to schedule misery into your calendar twice.
⏰ IN A RUSH?
Today’s 30-Second Summary
If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:
Hypertension is common, and increasingly common after the age of 65
Hypertension left unchecked can kill you, and statistically, probably will, given its status as a prelude to (and symptom of) heart disease
There’s plenty you can do to address it, though, including:
Getting less sodium and more potassium
Mediterranean or DASH diet
Not drinking or smoking
No, not even one drink
No, not even red wine
Smoking is so bad that even second-hand smoke has a significant impact on blood pressure
Getting good sleep
Getting a good amount of moderate exercise, regularly
Walking is one of the best activities we can do for the health, and/but for many of us it’s important to take care of ourselves and our joints while doing so.
Fulton offer cork-based insoles that shape themselves to the arch of your feet, giving you perfect customized support
Also 15% off if you use our code “NEWSLETTER15”, and a 90-day satisfaction-guaranteed trial!
Read on to learn about these things and more…
👀 WATCH AND LEARN
A skincare primer for glass-clear skin
Skincare menu:
🫀 MAIN FEATURE
Hypertension: Factors Far More Relevant Than Salt
Firstly, what is high blood pressure vs normal, and what do those blood pressure readings mean?
Rather than take up undue space here, we’ll just quickly link to…
More details of specifics, at:
Hypotension | Normal | Elevated | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Danger zone
Keeping Blood Pressure Down
As with most health-related things (and in fact, much of life in general), prevention is better than cure.
People usually know “limit salt” and “manage stress”, but there’s a lot more to it!
Salt isn’t as big a factor as you probably think
That doesn’t mean go crazy on the salt, as it can cause a lot of other problems, including organ failure. But it does mean that you can’t skip the salt and assume your blood pressure will take care of itself.
This paper, for example, considers “high” sodium consumption to be more than 5g per day, and urinary excretion under 3g per day is considered to represent a low sodium dietary intake:
Meanwhile, health organizations often recommend to keep sodium intake to under 2g or under 1.5g
Top tip: if you replace your table salt with “reduced sodium” salt, this is usually sodium chloride (regular table salt) cut with potassium chloride, which is almost as “salty” tastewise, but obviously contains less sodium. Not only that, but potassium actually helps the body eliminate sodium, too.
The rest of what you eat is important too
The Mediterranean Diet is as great for this as it is for most health conditions.
If you sometimes see the DASH diet mentioned, that stands for “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension”, and is basically the Mediterranean Diet with a few tweaks.
What are the tweaks?
Beans went down a bit in priority
Red meat got removed entirely instead of “limit to a tiny amount”
Olive oil was deprioritized, and/but vegetable oil is at the bottom of the list (i.e., use sparingly)
You can check out the details here, with an overview and examples:
Don’t drink or smoke
And no, a glass of red a day will not help your heart. Alcohol does make us feel relaxed, but that is because of what it does to our brain, not what it does to our heart.
In reality, even a single drink will increase blood pressure. Yes, really:
And smoking? It’s so bad that even second-hand smoke increases blood pressure:
Get those Zs in
Sleep is a commonly underestimated/forgotten part of health, precisely because in a way, we’re not there for it when it happens. We sleep through it! But it is important, including to protect against hypertension:
Move your body!
Moving your body often is far more important for your heart than running marathons or bench-pressing your spouse.
Those 150 minutes “moderate exercise” (e.g. walking) per week are important, and can be for example:
22 minutes per day, 7 days per week
25 minutes per day, 6 days per week
30 minutes per day, 5 days per week
75 minutes per day, 2 days per week
If you’d like to know more about the science and evidence for this, as well as practical suggestions, you can download the complete second edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans here (it’s free, and no sign-up required!)
If you prefer a bite-size summary, then here’s their own:
PS: Want a blood pressure monitor? We don’t sell them (or anything else), but for your convenience, here’s a good one you might want to consider.
❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE
Fulton: A Better Way To Walk
Here at 10almonds, we’ve talked a lot about the health benefits of walking. It’s no surprise, then, that we also believe it’s important to take good care of your feet!
Whether you have foot pain, knee pain, back pain, plantar fasciitis or you just want to improve your alignment, Fulton cork insoles provide all-day comfort and support unique to your body. Yes, really!
The trick is their cork base, which not only absorbs shock but also molds to your unique arch to provide custom support. And as a bonus:
A deep heel cup to provide maximum stability and prevent injury
Arch support and natural latex foam to improve overall comfort
Entirely natural and biodegradable materials to support not only you, but the planet
Fulton offers a 90-day comfort guarantee, so your order is risk-free.
PS: 10almonds subscribers enjoy 15% off with the code “NEWSLETTER15” 😉
Please do visit our sponsors—they help keep 10almonds free
🌎 AROUND THE WEB
What’s happening in the health world…
New-onset hypertension more common after COVID-19 than after influenza
Anxious people use less suitable section of brain to control emotions
Could brain glue help people stay awake without getting tired?
Using augmented reality to reduce stress for patients preparing for surgery
The cognitive effects of the MIND diet
Adults in England were psychologically resilient to COVID-19 pandemic, study shows
Monitoring blood pressure at home? Make sure you follow these steps
More to come tomorrow!
📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW
Sleep Smarter: 21 Essential Strategies to Sleep Your Way to a Better Body, Better Health, and Bigger Success – by Shawn Stevenson
You probably know to avoid blue light before bed, put a curfew on the caffeine, and have fresh bedding. So, what does this book offer that's new?
As the subtitle suggests, it's 21 tips for better sleep, so if even half of them are new, then it'll still be adding value.
This is a book review, not a book summary, but to give an idea of the kind of thing you might not already know: there's a section on bedroom houseplants! For example…
Which plants filter the air best according to NASA, rather than “according to tradition”
Which plants will thrive in what will hopefully be a cool dark environment
Which plants produce oxygen even at night, rather than just during the day
The writing style is personable without losing clarity or objectivity:
We read personal anecdotes, and we read science
We get "I tried this", and we get "this sleep study found such-and-such"
We get not just the "what", but also the "why" and the "how"
We get the little changes that make a big difference—sometimes the difference between something working or not!
Bottom line: if you'd like to get better sleep and a blue light filter hasn't wowed you and changed your life, this book will bring your sleep knowledge (and practice) to the next level.
What did you think of today's newsletter?We always love to hear from you, whether you leave us a comment or even just a click in the poll if you're speeding by! |
Wishing you a healthy heart and a happy life,
The 10almonds Team