highbloodpressure-related stories
Beautiful Buckwheat: Gluten-Free, High in Protein, Great in Pancakes...
Health, Healthy Eating, Eat This
Buckwheat doesn't get enough attention and that's really a shame. First of all, while its name may have you thinking otherwise, it's completely unrelated to wheat. Buckwheat is not even technically a grain even though it's prepared and enjoyed in a similar fashion to grains; ground into flours for baked goods, boiled in water as a side dish or baked in the oven as a pilaf, for example. No, buckwheat is actually a fruit seed related to the rhubarb family and thus it's gluten-free and a great alternative to wheat flour. In many ways, buckwheat is similar to quinoa. Both have unusual properties that make them particularly nutritious foods. Buckwheat, like quinoa, is a high protein seed (about 16 percent protein). And both are complete proteins, meaning they have all of the essential amino acids, similar to animal foods. Grains like wheat, corn and rice are not complete proteins, however, and require the addition of other plant foods, like seeds, nuts or legumes, to make them complete.
Buckwheat is also a great source of both magnesium and copper, two important minerals that may have an impact on insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease as well as having important roles in the body's enzyme systems. It also contains a good amount of manganese, a necessary trace mineral.
Hypertension in Children: What Are They Drinking?
Health, Healthy Eating, Don't Eat This
Here's a shocker for you: last week a study by Statistics Canada was released that found one in 30 Canadian children and adolescents have, or are at borderline risk of developing, high blood pressure. That's basically one kid in every classroom, as the Globe and Mail points out. The study, purported to be the most comprehensive analysis of hypertension (high blood pressure) ever carried out in Canada, examined data from the 2007-2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) for those age 6 to 19 years old. The researchers found 0.8 per cent of children had hypertension while 2.1per cent were borderline."It's concerning when you see any type of risk factor developing at a young age. When you tend to have high blood pressure as a child, that tends to follow you as you become an adult," Dr. Ian Janssen, co-author of the study and assistant professor at the Centre for Obesity Research and Education at Queen's University, told the Globe and Mail. About 20 per cent of Canadian adults have hypertension and these figures tend to mirror obesity rates.
While much of the media is quick to place the blame on salt consumption, demanding lowered salt counts in our foods, there might be another piece to the puzzle. A new study from the American Heart Association has found that drinking fewer sugary drinks may help lower blood pressure. The study found that overweight adults with high blood pressure who reduced their sugary soft drink consumption by one drink per day had significantly lowered blood pressure scores after 18 months.
Let Go of Stress and Life With Yoga's Corpse Pose
Advice, Happiness, Health, Fitness, Fit Yoga
It should be easy, but living in a fast-paced, results-oriented society we often have trouble with this simplest action -- learning to let go.For many, being constantly on the move, staying one-step-ahead of the game and remaining in control of every detail of our lives is necessary for success. Yet, workaholics who strive for utter perfection in everything often suffer from anxiety and insecurities. Keeping on the move to keep your flaws hidden is not healthy, yet for many people it is the only way they can maintain a sense of order.
Luckily, there is a yoga pose that helps us practice letting go, it is called the corpse pose (Savasana). The idea being that death allows us to awake refreshed and renewed.
Why We Hold Grudges and Why It's Bad for Our Health
Advice, Happiness, Health, How to Be Happy
According to John Khoury, CEO and founder of Liquic.com, a health and wellness resource, letting go of resentment can boost our mental and physical health. Khoury explains how, at the end of the day, the only person burdened by a grudge is you.Q: How can holding a grudge harm our health?
A: Studies have shown that it has adverse effects, such as poor sleep, chronic pain and high blood pressure. There are psychological effects, too, like worry, anxiety, preoccupation and tension; that will take away from your enjoyment of other things.
Q: Why do you think people hold grudges in the first place?
A: It's a pretty natural phenomenon, and it's one of those things that are hardwired into our system. Some people have it to a greater degree than others, just like some people are better runners. It's built into your system as a defense mechanism to keep people from harming you and doing wrong to you. You also sometimes want to punish the person who has hurt you. In your mind, you think holding a grudge might stop you from doing this again.
Health Benefits of Garlic: Add it to Every Dish You Cook
Health, Healthy Eating, Eat This
I am always thrilled to hear about studies that find positive health benefits for garlic, mostly because I absolutely adore the stuff. Bad breath be damned, I love me some garlic!A few years ago, I was excited to discover a study published in the journal Phytomedicine that found an extract of garlic was effective at controlling symptoms of Type II Diabetes in rats. From the study abstract: "Oral administrations of the garlic extract significantly decreased serum glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, urea, uric acid, creatinine, AST and ALT levels, while increased serum insulin in diabetic rats but not in normal rats."
But the big shocker in this study is that the garlic extract was found to be more effective in its anti-diabetic effect than the pharmaceutical drug glibenclamide, a commonly prescribed drug for Type II Diabetes.
That's right - eating garlic may be better than taking pills if you're a diabetic. Mind you, this is only one study and nothing can be conclusively drawn from it. But what you can take away from this is that it doesn't hurt to load up on your garlic! The only side-effect of garlic consumption is improved health and stinky breath.
Chronic Stress Causes Damage: 5 Ways to Protect Your Brain
Advice, Happiness, Health, Hormone Diet
Natasha Turner, N.D. is a Toronto-based naturopathic doctor. She is the founder of the Clear Medicine wellness boutique and author of the bestselling book The Hormone Diet. Each week in her column for That's Fit.ca, Dr. Turner advises readers on how to remedy common health issues as well as improve their overall health.Most of us are all too familiar with the feeling of being stressed -- your heart races, your breathing becomes rapid and shallow, your blood pressure rises and your hands become cold or clammy as blood flow is directed to your limbs to prepare for escape. However, most of the time there is no escape, as we sit in front of our computers or trapped in traffic!
Effects of Chronic Stress after the jump...
Canadians Salt Intake Reaches Crisis Levels
Healthy Eating, Don't Eat This
Most of us know that sodium is bad for us but because of our mass consumption of fast and processed foods we're eating more than double the recommended amount we should. Sodium has become the new trans fat; it's the ugly word that's stealing headlines in the news. Certified nutritionist, Meghan Ford, gives us the lowdown on the sodium situation.
Q: According to an article co-written by Dr. Kevin Willis, of the Canadian Stroke Network, cutting Canada's dangerously high salt levels is of urgent public concern. Is salt intake at a crisis level?
A: I think sodium has always been an issue but as soon as a study comes out from a reputable source it sets off alarm bells. It gives people an excuse to change their diet.
Q: Research shows about a quarter of all Canadian adults have high blood pressure and 30 per cent of all cases can be traced back to salt. What is all this salt doing to us? What sorts of diseases can it cause?
A: Water retention is one of the bigger ones because it's disrupting the sodium-potassium balance in the body. When there's an imbalance it puts a lot of stress on the kidneys, causing water retention. High sodium also causes hypertension (high blood pressure), migraines, dehydration and other conditions. In a worst-case-scenario, this imbalance can lead to heart disease and stroke. There is concern that such worst-case-scenarios will continue to rise if we don't curb our sodium intake.
Q: What are the highest and lowest sodium foods? I know that pizzas, burgers, soups and sandwiches are some of the worst contenders.
Lower Your Blood Pressure With Hibiscus Tea
Advice, Health, Healthy Eating, Eat This
Hibiscus tea has been found to be extremely effective at reducing high blood pressure. Nutrition scientist Diane McKay presented the results of her study to the annual conference of the American Heart Association, which found that, after six weeks, those drinking hibiscus three times per day showed an average of 7.2 percent decrease in blood pressure, with some showing as much as a 13.2 per cent drop. The control group, given a placebo, only showed a 1.3 percent drop in blood pressure.The Daily Express quotes Andrew Weill, alternative health guru: "Hibiscus is now the most promising herb for treating blood pressure. Studies have found that people who drank two cups of hibiscus daily for four weeks lowered their diastolic blood pressure by 12 percent - results similar to those for common blood pressure medication."
10 Questions For a Dentist
Forgetting to floss here and there may not seem like a big deal, but the state of our mouth may actually affect the way the rest of our body works.
Dr. Dana Colson from Wellness Based Dentistry explains how slacking off with our dental regime could have some pretty scary consequences far beyond gum disease.
Q: How does the health of our teeth affect the rest of our body?
A: Our mouth is the gateway to our body. Research shows that our oral health and overall well-being are interconnected. Poor oral hygiene can negatively impact our health. Periodontal or gum disease has been a contributing factor to cardiovascular disease, strokes, digestive disease, enhancing diabetes and low-birth weights.
Biting Moments in Dentistry
Never one to beat a cliche to death, Mike Myers fashioned movie character after the British swingers of the 1960s -- replete with outrageous clothing and bad teetth -- a stereotyped trait of the British that many UK folk vehemently dispute. Either way, no Austin Powers Halloween costume is complete without a set of those beauties.
Tabloid wonder Pete Doherty is notorious for his massive drug consumption, sweaty porkpie hats, and rotten teeth. His questionable oral hygiene apparently left such a mark on former consort Kate Moss that in late 2006 the supermodel offered to pay a rumoured $50,000 to have his God-given gnashers replaced with a full set of shiny new veneers. Looks like they never went through with it.
A young patient in the dentist's chair holding a giant model of a set of dentures which the dental hygienist uses to demonstrate proper brushing techniques.
(Photo by Orlando/Getty Images)
Kashgar Gnashers
A set of dentures at a dentist's shop in Kashgar, in the Xinjiang region of China, 2004.
(Photo by Linda Grove/Getty Images)
China Marks Love Teeth Day
XIAN, CHINA - SEPTEMBER 20: (CHINA OUT) A dentist shows a model of the human mouth during an event to mark the Love Teeth Day at a street on September 20, 2006 in Xian of Shaanxi Province, China. A massive campaign on 'Love Teeth Day' (LTD) was initiated and celebrated nation-wide on September 20 each year in China since 1989 in order to implement preventive oral health care and oral health education.
(Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)
CIRCA 1922: Device to extract teeth. France, on 1922.
(Photo by Branger/Roger Viollet/Getty Images)
In 2005 Hilary Duff had veneers put on her teeth and the result was incessant ridicule and references to horse teeth. They were just too big! The photo on the left is pre-veneers, the photo on the right, clearly, after.
In 2008 she went back to the dentist and had her teeth shortened to match the shape of her mouth.
getty
Japan's Nippon Dental University Hospital staff Yuko Uchida demonstrates a humanoid robot of dental therapy simulator 'Simroid' for dentists and students of dental colleges, which has sensors in its mouth and can shout 'Ouch' when the dentist gives the wrong treatment, at the International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo 29 November 2007. The robot was developed by Japanese robot venture Kokoro and Nippon Dental University and now is in trial use at clinical training of the university.
AFP PHOTO / Yoshikazu TSUNO (Photo credit should read YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images)
AIDS victim Kimberly Bergalis, horribly emaciated & near death, being picked out of bed by her parents George & Anna as they prepare to carry her to the bathroom; she contracted HIV 14 mos. ago from her dentist Dr. David Acer during a routine tooth extra.ction
Lauren Hutton on her famous gap-toothed smile: "Eileen Ford wanted me to fix my nose and my teeth. I said, Sure, great, but I really had no intention to."
(Photo by Acey Harper//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)
