盤點10個日常生活中有效降血壓的辦法(上)

We all know about high blood pressure – for some of us it is a bit of a joke – that thing that happens to cranky, unpleasant, angry old men.

高血壓，可謂眾所周知——但有些人並不在意——他們覺得只有脾氣暴躁、不好相處、易怒的老人才會得高血壓。

If you close your eyes you can just see the cartoon of the office slave being chastised by the angry big boss with the red nose, bulging eyes and fist banging on the desk.

如果你閉上眼，可能會想到這樣的卡通畫面：“辦公室奴隸”被生氣的大老闆責備，大老闆紅鼻子，鼓眼鏡，攥拳砸桌子。

Of course someone that unpleasant deserves high blood pressure – his blood probably boils on a regular basis!

有些討厭的人就該得高血壓——他的血可能定期沸騰。

The thing is that you don't have to be angry (or a wealthy, impatient, bullying capitalist) to suffer from high blood pressure.

其實，不是生氣（或富有、無耐心、為富不仁）就該得高血壓。

The disease can be asymptomatic for years, that is you won't even know that you have it but, little by little, year by year the higher than normal pressure of the blood in your body will cause stress and damage to your blood vessels.

高血壓可能潛伏多年，你可能根本不知情，但年復一年，你體內的高血壓會對血管造成壓力和損害。

For many people the condition develops slowly, over the course of years but for others it can come on suddenly as a complication of another disease such as sleep apnea or thyroid problems.

很多人的高血壓都是歷久經年慢慢發展，但也有些人是伴隨睡眠窒息症或甲狀腺類疾病等迅速爆發。

Left untreated high blood pressure can lead to heart problems, strokes, vision and memory problems and a whole host of other nasty things that you don't want to have to deal with.

高血壓如不治療，會引發心臟疾病、中風、視覺或記憶障礙等疾病。

It is for this reason that doctors monitor blood pressure regularly; it means that at the slightest sign that pressure is getting too high, you can start treatment for it and prevent potentially more serious issues from cropping up.

正因如此，醫生才會定期測量血壓；這樣的話，只要有血壓升高的跡象，你就可以開始治療，防止其他潛在疾病突然爆發。

If you are diagnosed with high blood pressure it is important that you follow your doctor's advice and take the medications that he or she recommends.

如果你被診斷出患有高血壓，遵從醫囑用藥非常重要。

There are, however, several other things you can do to control your blood pressure naturally and we have set out 10 of the most effective of these in the article below.

但也有其他辦法讓血壓值恢復正常，本篇文章將列出10條最有效的方法。

If you follow these 10 methods you may find that you manage to bring your blood pressure under control enough that your doctor will reduce or end your prescription (while monitoring your pressure carefully of course).

如果你聽取這10條建議，你可能會發現你的血壓恢復正常，醫生用藥也會減量，甚至終止用藥（當然要仔細測血壓）。

These 10 suggestions are simple and easy to follow and are worth doing so even if you do not have high blood pressure as they can help to promote a healthy lifestyle – what have you got to lose?

這10條建議簡單易行，值得一試；即使你血壓不高，也可以按着做，養成健康的生活方式——反正又沒損失。

Moving. Exercise!

10.多鍛鍊

It can be so tempting to sit down and relax, particularly if you are not feeling well, are unfit or suffering from a condition which has caused your blood pressure to rise.

坐着放鬆，這種誘惑不易抵抗。這種誘惑，在身體不舒服或血壓升高時更難推拒。

Sadly while this might feel good in the short term (who doesn't love relaxing on the couch) it can do you irrevocable harm in the long term.

儘管這會讓人在短期內感覺良好（誰不愛在沙發上放鬆呢），但長期來看，造成的傷害難以修復。

Regular exercise has been shown to help to moderate blood pressure readings by 4-9 mmHg (millimeters of mercury).

定期鍛鍊能使血壓值緩解4-9毫米汞柱。

This may not sound like much but it can be enough to help you keep your condition manageable and under control because the risk factors for high blood pressure double for every 20/10mmHg increase in reading.

所降值聽起來不多，但會讓你的身體狀況不致出現難治危險，因為目標值每上升20/10毫米汞柱，高血壓風險因素都會加倍。

In order to benefit from exercise you need to make it a regular part of your daily regime – it is not something that you can just stop and start and hope to feel benefits from.

為了能使身體從鍛鍊中受益，得讓鍛鍊成為生活的一部分——這不是心血來潮做做就能獲益的事。

As such you should aim to include at least 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise into your schedule most days.

所以，你得每天做30分鐘左右的有氧運動。

If you are not fit and have not done much exercise you should start gently and work up. Studies have shown that resistance training appears to be the most efficient exercise method for blood pressure management.

如果你身體不健康，且運動量小，你要慢慢來。有研究顯示，阻力訓練是控制血壓最有效的方法。

the Salt

9.減少攝鹽量

The typical western diet (and the American diet in particular) contains a huge amount of sodium, sadly far in excess of the recommended daily allowance of 2,300mg a day (less if you have high blood pressure).

典型的西方飲食（尤其是美國飲食）鈉含量很高，遠超每日建議的攝鹽量2300毫克（如果有高血壓，攝入量應更少）。

If you cook your own food at home think about how much salt you add to it while cooking? So many recipes call for a pinch of salt when it is not really necessary.

如果你自己在家煮飯，想想該放多少鹽？很多食譜即使不需要鹽也會標註“放一小撮鹽”。

If you eat processed foods the numbers are even worse as salt is added during processing in order to replace the flavor that has been lost through the processing.

如果你吃的是加工食品，情況更糟，因為為了恢復加工時喪失的味道，往往會再加入些鹽。

As if all this was not enough many of us like to add a dash of salt to our meals, irrespective of whether it has been added during cooking or not, it is a bit of a reflex action for many people.

很多人不管食物加工時有沒有放鹽，都會條件反射似得在食物中加少許鹽。

However, it is also a dangerous habit because just one teaspoon of salt can put you over your recommended daily allowance.

但這個習慣也不好，因為只要一勺鹽就會使攝鹽量超過建議量。

Recent research may suggest that salt is not the bogeyman we thought it was with regard to high blood pressure but that does not mean that we all have a free pass to eat as much salt as we want.

最近有研究顯示，鹽對高血壓的危害並不如我們想得大，但也不是説我們有了“吃鹽許可證”，想吃多少就吃多少。

The fact remains that an excessive salt habit is linked to high blood pressure and the medical advice is to eat a low sodium diet if possible and, at the very least to restrict your salt intake to the moderate, recommended levels in order to help reduce your blood pressure.

事實上，攝入鹽超量確實和高血壓有關，而醫生建議，如果可以，要保持較低的鈉攝入量，至少要控制在醫生推薦值左右，這樣才能降血壓。

Some LBs

8.減肥

Weight is a big problem in the US and in the developed world as a whole. CDC studies for 2011-12 showed that over 35% of US adults aged over 20 were obese and a staggering 69% of Americans over the age of 20 were overweight (this includes the 35% obesity statistic).

體重在美國是個大問題，在其他發達國家也是大問題。2011-12年，美國疾病控制中心的研究表明，美國20歲以上的成年人有35%過於肥胖，而體重超標的佔69%（包含過於肥胖的35%）。

These are frightening statistics but obesity and being overweight are more than just image issues, they are conditions that have negative health ramifications as well.

這些數據令人震驚，但肥胖和體重超標不僅僅是形象問題，還會對身體健康產生負面影響。

In addition to the many other health problems that excess weight can cause it has been linked as a contributory cause of high blood pressure – waist measurements of 40 inches and over for men and 35 inches and over for women put the person at risk for high blood pressure.

體重超標除引發健康問題外，還會導致高血壓——男性腰圍超過40英寸，女性腰圍超過35英寸，都有高血壓風險。

Every excess 10 pounds of weight you carry equates to approximately 4mmHg of blood pressure. With that in mind one of the best things you can do for the health of your blood vessels is to cut the pounds and lose weight.

體重每增加10磅，血壓會增加4毫米汞柱。知道這些後，為了血管健康，我們能做的就是減肥。

This may seem daunting, particularly if you have struggled with your weight for much of your life only to be hit with a diagnosis of high blood pressure but it is an achievable goal.

這聽起來有些嚇人，尤其是已為體重掙扎良久，卻遭高血壓診斷打擊的人，但這個目標是完全可以實現的。

If you follow the advice on many of the other points in this article you will be half way there.

只要你遵從這篇文章中的其他建議，你便成功在望。