Doing six things right can help women lower their blood pressure, helping us be healthier and live longer, says the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
They are:
Keeping a normal weight,
Exercising an average of 30 minutes a day,
Eating a healthy diet,
Drinking alcohol in moderation,
Avoiding over-the-counter pain relievers,
Taking 400 micrograms or more of supplemental folic acid.
Doing even just one lowers the risk some, says researcher John Forman of Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Forman looked at lifestyle factors and blood pressure in 14 years of data on almost 84,000 women. He found women who did the six things right had an 80 percent lower risk of developing high blood pressure.
The study in the Journal of the American Medical Association was supported by the National Institutes of Health (learn more at www.hhs.gov).
This means, ladies, we have some work to do. For example, 62 percent of women 20 and older are overweight, according to HSS. Concentrating on the top three items can help alleviate this statistic – and help us all fit into those “skinny jeans” at the same time!
Don’t worry if you are short on time. There are ways to fit workouts in to your day (see below). I believe fitting fitness in is mostly about mindset.
Friday, August 28, 2009
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