IN YOUR DAILY DOSE: today is information from new research showing tight control of your blood pressure may reap tremendous rewards.

MAKING CHANGES: Using diet, exercise and stress reduction you may be able to control your blood pressure and reduce your medication - both reducing your risk of heart attack and stroke AND reducing your medication side effects.

FACT OR FICTION: What do you think about banana flavoring? Does it taste like real bananas? Most people think it doesn’t.

In The News

Research from the University of Utah Health Services projects that an aggressive approach to lowering high blood pressure could prevent more than 100,000 deaths, just in the U.S. each year. The information is taken from the landmark Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial. Until now the results of the trial had not been extrapolated to determine how many lives could be saved.

The leading cause of death in the U.S. for the past decade has been heart disease. Typically, doctors attempt to keep the top number of your blood pressure less than 140 mmHg. However, this study suggest there may be a 2.7 percent reduction in mortality if blood pressure is kept lower. The study’s senior author, Dr. Richard Cooper from Loyola University medical school, commented in Science Daily, saying:

"The lifetime risk of high blood pressure in the US is about 80 percent. Optimal management is one of the most significant contributions of medical care to patient survival. So we need to understand that small improvements in individual management can make a major impact on people's health."

SOURCE: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170213171425.htm

Daily Health Tip

Your blood pressure is a significant risk factor for heart disease, heart attack, stroke and diabetes.

Making Changes

You can make significant changes to your blood pressure by making a few lifestyle choices each day:

1. Exercise for at least 30 minutes and don’t spend more than 1 hour sitting during the day.
2. Maintain a normal weight through eating a balanced diet, exercise and tracking your exercise and food. You might consider using an online app such as MyFitnessPal.com or Cronometer.com/Mercola
3. Reduce the amount of carbohydrates and sugar you eat each day. These food contribute to high blood cholesterol, high triglycerides, increasing weight and high blood pressure.
4. Take a multi-vitamin and ensure you get enough magnesium and potassium as they help maintain a normal blood pressure.
5. Get at least 20 minutes of unprotected sun exposure to get enough vitamin D from the sun. Do not get burned!
6. Get at least 8 hours of quality sleep each night.
7. Drink enough fluid to stay hydrated; your urine will be a light straw color.

Daily Affirmation

When I am met with a proposition, I carefully weigh the options. Although I like to collaborate, I take the time to assess the suitability of a situation. I share my firm position on the situation so others know where I stand.
My relationships are healthier when others know that I am honest. It is easy for friends to bounce ideas off me. I give them my genuine viewpoint without embellishments.

Fact or Fiction?

What do you think about banana flavoring? Does it taste like real bananas? Most people think it doesn’t. There’s a rumor it’s because the flavoring is based on a type of banana which is no longer sold in the grocery stores. But that wouldn’t be true.

You might be interested to learn that the reason that banana flavoring doesn’t taste like the bananas you enjoy from the grocery store is not that these products are based on a type of banana that was wiped out by a crop plague in the 1950s but instead because natural flavors are complex and require complexity to duplicate. Isoamyl acetate is the main chemical flavoring in any banana - natural or chemical. However this is only one of the chemicals in natural flavoring but the only one used in chemical flavors, leaving you feeling as if there is something missing.

Have a wonderful day!

Your Healthy Life America Team