Understanding Your Blood Pressure Reading

By Stan KitchenFor some people diagnosed with high blood pressure, treatmentmay consist of something as minor as a change in diet andexercise, or may require medications to get those numbers undercontrol. Your doctor will prescribe the proper course of actionto take depending on what your blood pressure reading says.Knowing what a normal blood pressure reading is, and how youcan get it will make things clearer to those diagnosed withborderline hypertension, or high blood pressure, as well asthose in more severe stages of the disease. Everyone knows the heart is the engine that makes the body run.The heart usually beats anywhere from 70 to 110 beats a minute,every minute, every hour and every day of your life. It carriesvital oxygen to every living cell, tissue and organ throughoutyour body day in and day out. If the heart muscle, or thearteries that transport oxygen enriched blood are damaged ornarrowed, the efficiency of that pump decreases, and can resultin high blood pressure. While millions of people these days arewalking around with high blood pressure and don't even realizeit, they will soon enough. Left untreated, high blood pressurecan causes aneurysms, or bulges, in blood vessels. If leftalone, high blood pressure may also cause kidney damage as wellas strokes and heart attacks. Knowing what your blood pressurereading is can literally make the difference between life anddeath. Blood pressure is measured in two parts. Your heart usuallymakes a "lub-dub" sound with each heartbeat. The first sound,the "lub", is the sound of the heart valves opening to help theflow of blood from the heart into the aorta and from there toarteries that supply blood to the entire body. That pressure,known as systolic pressure, is measured as the force needed byyour heart to push that blood into the aorta. The second sound,the "dub", is the sound of those valves closing. The exactmoment the heart rests between beats. A normal blood pressurereading is around 120/80. The top number shows the systolic pressure, the bottom thediastolic. These numbers may vary up or down by 4 to 6 numbersand you can still them consider them within the normal range. Though the lower the better, which means your heart is strongand is able to pump efficiently with fewer beats. If the blood pressure ranges from around 126 to 140, yourdoctor may tell you that you are "prehypertensive", or that youare heading into high blood pressure territory. Your lowernumbers may read anywhere from 80 to 90, and again, may varybecause of various circumstances. If you have a reading over140/90, you have high blood pressure, and your doctor will tryto lower it to prevent future complications. The best way youcan deal with and either prevent or lower blood pressure is toget it regularly checked, either by your doctor or nurse, or bytracking it yourself. Your blood pressure is what keeps you going every day, so makesure that you take it on yourself to know what it is.About the Author: Get the latest in blood pressure reading knowhow from the only true source athttp://www.bloodpressurefile.com. Check out our blood pressurereading pages.Source: http://www.isnare.com

Can Green Tea And Caffeine Help You Maintain Weight Loss?

Can Green Tea And Caffeine Help You Maintain Weight Loss?Copyright (c) 2007 Marcus StoutGolden Moon Teahttp://www.GoldenMoonTea.comWeight loss and maintenance is no laughing matter. Today, 60% ofAmerican adults need to lose weight, and many of them feeldefeated by their struggles. In addition, for many people,keeping weight off after weight loss is even more difficult thanlosing it in the first place.These difficulties are the reason that sales of diet aids are soconsistently high. People who are trying to lose weight areconstantly looking for any help they can find to increase theirweight loss and maintenance success.If you need to lose weight, it's critical that you make changesto your diet and your physical activity level. The followingsuggestions can help you to begin shedding pounds withoutresorting to extreme dieting measures: Substitute fish and chicken for beef and pork most days of theweek. Eliminate white flour from your diet. Eat whole grains, suchas 100% whole wheat bread instead. Eliminate refined sugar from your diet. Use artificialsweeteners and natural sweeteners like honey instead. Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Fresh fruits andvegetables will provide more anti-oxidants and fiber, along withfewer calories than processed vegetables, particularly those insauce. Increase your fiber intake - Extra fiber will help you feelfull longer, helping you to reduce the number of calories you'reeating without feeling deprived. Watch the fat- Reduce the saturated fat in your diet. Avoidany food with hydrogenated fats or trans fats. Get your fats fromolive oil, canola oil, fish and nuts. Get 30 minutes of aerobic exercise most days of the week.Walking is a great way to get in your exercise, and it'sconvenient because you can do it anywhere. You should also get instrength training 3 times a week for 30 minutes each session.Strength training will help you build muscle, which will help youburn more calories even when resting.Making these changes should allow you to lose weight graduallywithout feeling hungry. Only when you make changes that you cansustain for the long term will you be able to take off the weightand keep it off.However, while it's critical to understand that diet andexercise will always be the keys to maintaining a healthy weight,it's always nice to find little tricks that make losing weightand keeping it off just a bit easier.One substance that does seem to hold promise in weight loss isgreen tea. Many studies have shown that the consumption of greentea along with a healthy diet can help you lose more weight thandieting alone.It is believed that green tea's potent anti-oxidants combinedwith the caffeine in the tea help speed up the metabolism andburn fat. In addition, some studies have even shown that greentea can inhibit the absorption of dietary fat, meaning that lessof the fat you eat ends up as body fat.However, one interesting study suggests that green tea'seffectiveness may be negated if you consume too much othercaffeine in your diet. A study conducted by Maastricht Universityin The Netherlands attempted to show how green tea would affectparticipants attempting to maintain a recent weight loss. Itshowed less promising results regarding the consumption of greentea, particularly when the participants were high consumers ofcaffeine overall.In this study, 104 overweight and moderately obese men and womenwere put on a low calorie diet for 4 weeks. During the four weekperiod, the participants lost an average of 7.5% of their bodyweight. During the 13 week maintenance period, the participantswere fed either green tea or a placebo. The participants did notshow statistically different results between the group receivinggreen tea and the group receiving the placebo.However, the study did show that participants who had overallhigh caffeine consumption regained more of the weight they lostthan those who had a lower overall caffeine consumption.* Whenyou consider these results compared with other studies whereadditional caffeine consumption was restricted, and a correlationbetween the use of green tea and weight loss was observed, itsuggests that excess caffeine use may negate green tea'spossible positive effects.If you look at the entire body of research on green tea'sability to enhance weight loss, it seems very promising, in spiteof the results of this particular study. And, the good news is,that even if green tea doesn't help you lose weight, it's veryhealthy for you and has no side effects.So, you have nothing to lose by trying green tea as a weight losssupplement. Green tea's anti-oxidants may hold significant powerin helping you avoid diseases like cancer, heart disease andAlzheimer's. In addition, regular consumption of green tea mayreduce the signs of aging and help you live a longer andhealthier life. And, in addition, you may find your weight lossefforts easier and more effective than ever.----------------------------------------------------------Marcus Stout is President of the Golden Moon Tea Company. For more information about tea, (http://www.goldenmoontea.com/greentea) green tea (http://www.goldenmoontea.com/blacktea) and black tea go to http://www.goldenmoontea.com