NATIONAL HEART HEALTH MONTH

As far as I know, I have never had high blood pressure.

Until now.

Two weeks ago, I went to the dentist's office for a routine check up. Because I am older than Yoda, the technician checked my blood pressure before she began poking around on my teeth.

"Oh, my!" she exclaimed. "We're not going to do anything in your mouth just now!" Although I felt fine, my blood pressure was out the roof. I finally convinced the technician to go ahead and clean my teeth, but before I left, she admonished me: "You really need to make an appointment with your regular physician to have that checked out."

Here is what I have learned about high blood pressure over the past couple of weeks -

Many different factors can contribute to elevated blood pressure:

• Stress (I've had more than my fair share of that over the past couple of months.)
• Age (I am definitely older today than I have ever been before in my life.)
• Being overweight (Harumph.)
• Genetics (A girl's gotta play the hand she's dealt.)
• Diet/nutrition
• Exercise (more specifically, the lack thereof)
• Blah, blah, blah...

I also learned there are many things I can do to (hopefully!) help lower my blood pressure:

• Lose weight. (I'm working on it.)
• Exercise regularly. (I'm working on it.)
• Reduce stress in my life. (I'm working on it.)
• Eat more berries. (Yum!)
• Increase my intake of magnesium and potassium. (Not too difficult.)
• Limit my consumption of caffeine and alcohol. 😕
• Reduce sodium intake. (Okie dokie.)
• Eat more dark chocolate. (Heck yes!)
• Cut back on refined sugar. (Not too difficult.)
• Eat more calcium-rich foods. (Ummm...)
• Do deep-breathing/relaxation exercises. (Am I the only person on the planet who has to remind herself to breathe deeply throughout the day? Thank goodness for yoga and pranayama!)

I had a follow-up appointment with the dentist to have a tooth filled yesterday. My blood pressure was still elevated, but it was no longer freak-out-the-dental-technician high. I've been checking my blood pressure daily, and the numbers are slowly coming down.

To celebrate this small accomplishment, I think I'll take a deep breath and have another piece of chocolate.

💖 I love my heart! 💖