Safe Lifestyle Changes and Diet to Control Hypertension (Blood Pressure)

ABSTRACT

In today’s era due to change in our way of living and unhealthy lifestyle such as sedentary work life, health issues such as weight gain have been immersed to a great height within last decade. Obesity is considered as the prime suspect that will lead to raised blood pressure (hypertension). But it is not the only reason, other factors such as heredity, secondary disorder like renal disease are also contributes in the occurrence of hypertension

So to combat this one of the most common ailments (hypertension) we need to have a safe lifestyle and healthy dietary regime in our life. Ayurveda offers you numerous amounts of healthy herbs and the classical concept of dinacharya ( daily regime) and Ritucharya ( seasonal regime) are the key points that make Ayurveda the most unique and healthy science of healing. So let’s put some rays of sparkle on it

INTRODUCTION

What is Hypertension

• Hypertension(HTN) means elevated arterial blood pressure from the normal range.(Blood pressure- is the lateral pressure exerted by blood vessels on the wall of the arteries )
• An elevated blood pressure is a major health issue, particularly in developed nations due to industrialization. A persistent hypertension has damaging effects on the heart, kidney and other body organs simultaneously.

Category Division of Hypertension

Category	Systolic BP	Dia stolic BP
	(mmhg)	(mmhg)
Pre hypertension	130-139	85-89
Stage -1 hypertension	140-159	90-99
Stage -2 hypertension	>140 [160-179]	100-109
Hypertensive crisis	> or =180	> or =120

As per Ayurveda we can correlate it with “raktagat vata”

When vitiated, ‘vata dosha’ affects the ‘rakta dhatu'( blood containing channels), leads to an impairment in the circulation of blood and hampers its absorption and functioning that will ultimately give rise to an ailment.

Studies have shown that raised blood pressure results in serious cardiovascular diseases such as stroke, myocardial infarction (heart attack) and renal disease.

CAUSES

As per Ayurveda the main reason behind ‘rakta gata vata’ are as follow

• Use of ruksha (rough), sheetal (cold) food articles.
• Intake of food in less quantity.
• Engaging in over sexual activities.
• Ratri jagran( who does not sleep at night)
• Control natural urges of urine and stool for longer duration.
• Over fasting.

All these above mentioned, causes elevation of the ‘vata dosha’ within the body that will hoist the ‘rakta dhatu’ also.

Other Etiological Factors

• Obesity
• Genetic factors-Hereditary
• Underlying disease
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Less physical workout
• Unhealthy eating habits
• Environmental factors
• Individual under higher stress

SIGN/SYMPTOMS

(Charak chikitsa sthanam 28/31)

This shloka states that

• Ruja tivra ( severe body ache)
• Santap ( feeling of fever like sensation)
• Vevarnay ( discoloration of the body)
• Krishta ( weight loss)
• Aruchi ( anorexia, loss of hunger)
• Gatre charunshi ( formation of pimples all over the body)
• Bhuktsya satambhasch ( after eating food, formation of stiffness in the body)

Other Sign/ Symptoms

• Persistent headache
• Tiredness
• Blurred vision
• Difficulty in moving
• Fainting
• Excessive sweating
• Increased palpitation (pounding of heartbeat)
• In advance cases-
• Hypertensive retinopathy ( involvement of retina of eye)
• Hypertensive neuropathy ( ailment related to nervous system)
• Hypertensive vascular disease

DIAGNOSIS

• General physical examination of patient by using inspection, palpation, auscultation technique.
• Proper history taking.
• By recording blood pressure of the patient.

According to Ayurveda we diagnose the disease by

Ashtavidh pariksha ( set of 8 examination procedure)

• Nadi pariksha- by palpating the pulse rate of the patient. Hypertension patients have & 85 beats per minutes.
• Mutra pariksha- by examining the urine of the patient. Hypertension patient always present with urine dysfunction like retention of urine, dysuria, oliguria etc.
• Mal pariksha- by stool examination.
• Jivha pariksha- by examining the tongue whether coated or not.
• Shabad pariksha- by observing the natural sounds within the body like intestinal sound (peristalsis)
• Sparsh pariksha- by observing the patient skin texture whether it is cool, wet or dry.
• Drik pariksha- when physician inspect patient symptoms through his/her eyes.

Trividh Pariksha( set of 3 examination)

• Darshan (diagnosis is made by visual examination of the symptoms)
• Sparshan (physician use tactile examination to evaluate whether skin is cold/hot.
• Prashan( physician ask direct question form the patient i.e. history taking)

MANAGEMENT

Diet and lifestyle modification is the first line of Treatment of Hypertension. But firstly let’s discuss the chikitsa (treatment) mentioned in our classical text

As per Ayurveda

(Charak chikitsa sthanam 28/92)

1. Sheetal pradeh ( to apply herbal medicine powder (Churna) with gentle hand over the body)
2. Virechan( purgation)- best treatment modality to remove excess pita dosha along with the stool from anal canal.
3. Raktamokshan (bloodletting) – to remove impurities from the blood with the help of –Shring [horn of animals] – in case of elevated Vata Dosha.

In Ayurveda detailed reference of guru ahaar(heavy food articles) and laghu ahaar (light weight food articles) is available. If a person takes proper consideration of this point he/she will never suffer from lifestyle related disorder (such as hypertension). Acharyas also explained some classical herbal formulations for the management of hypertension or raktagatavata

Rasa/ Bhasma/ pishti

1. Chanderkala rasa
2. Praval pishti
3. Jehar mohra pishti
4. Punarnava mandoor
5. Prabhakar rasa

Dosage– 1 tab to be chewed daily with plain water

Vati

1. Sarpagandhaghan vati
2. Bhrami vati
3. Pushkar Brahmi guggul
4. Rason guggul
5. Navak guggul

Dosage– 2 tab twice daily with plain water after meals

Churna

• Sarpagandha churna
• Ashwagandha churna
• Jatamansi churna
• Vachadi churna
• Shankhpushpi churna

Dosage– 1 tsp twice daily with plain water after meals

Kwath/ asva/ arishta

• Dashmool kwatha
• Rasna kwatha
• Arjunarishta
• Dhatryarishta

Dosage– 2 tsp twice daily with plain water after meals

(charaka sutra sthanam  5/5)

This verse states that

• The food articles such as shali and shahstik (rice), mudag (moong daal) and flesh of (lava,kapinjal,ena etc) birds and animal  are lighter in digestion and absorption.
• Whereas preparations of pisht (flour), ekshu (sugarcane), ksheer (milk), mash (udad daal), audak (aquatic animals) meats are heavy in indigestion.

(charak sutra sthanam 5/7)

This shloka tell us about the RULE to follow while eating ‘guru ahaar dravya’ and ‘laghu ahaar dravya’

So, intake heavy food articles as one-third or half in amount as per your hunger also do not eat light articles in excessive amount, in order to maintain proper strength and balance of digestive fire (Agni).

Beside these treatment modalities there are few safe lifestyle and dietary tips if one include them in his/her life( as PREVENTION aspect) he will never suffers from hypertension ( PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE).

They are as Follow

Dietary Tips

1. Limit the use of sodium in your diet- prefer less salt in your diet, use sendha namak (Himalayan pink salt), as it is considered as the best salt as per the classical text.
2. Try to consume green leafy vegetables such as- spinach, cauliflower, broccoli as they are rich sources of essential minerals and vitamins.
3. Enhance the intake of potassium rich diet as it will assist you in lowering the elevated sodium levels of your body. Use – tomato, avocado, spinach, potato and peas.
4. Limit consumption of caffeine in your diet- try to reduce the intake of tea and coffee as they have large amounts of caffeine concentration in them, it will hamper the blood vessel functioning like it leads to constriction of  blood vessels due to that blood pressure getting elevated.
5. Limit the use of alcohol- as alcohol inhibits the release of vasodilator( which dilates the blood vessels) substance in the body, as a result of that, constriction of arteries, veins and capillaries take place , leads to raise in blood pressure
6. Avoid smoking- the harmful chemicals present in cigarettes , narrow the arterial wall and make them harden in appearance, that will hamper the blood circulation giving rise to hike in blood pressure.
7. Keep yourself away from processed and junk food- As they are filled up with unhealthy fat and carbohydrates, it will increase the level of bad cholesterol within the body and lead their way to problems like hypertension.

Safe lifestyle Tips

1. Indulge yourself in physical exercise-Go for a walk (jogging) daily in the morning for 30 to 45 minutes at least.
2. Weight loss- obesity is the main factor contributing to hypertension. So do gym to attain healthy body weight. Or you can consult an expert that will help you in lowering your body weight. Because you need to release out fat not muscle, many people are not aware of this fact and they engage their self in harsh physical exercises that will end up with over muscle loss.
3. Reduce stress- stress is considered as a prime culprit to generate any health hazard. It has a bad impact on our nervous system, so shows dysfunction in release of essential neurotransmitters and certain hormone secretion takes place, these hormones raise blood pressure by narrowing the vessels.
4. Practice pranayama (breathing exercises)- As they have a very soothing and calm effect on our brain, it works very productively in lowering the mental stress.

5. Make a proper schedule- Stick to it by planning proper time for eating, exercise (workout), and for sleep. As imbalance in these three factors leads to lifestyle changes related disorders such as hypertension and diabetes

Planet Ayurveda offers you the best diet chart to follow in order to control hypertension; it is prepared under the guidance of Ayurveda Expert Doctors. It has also shown great positive results in many patients of hypertension

CONCLUSION

Thus we can conclude that most of the cases of hypertension are due to improper way of living, we can control it with a strict diet and lifestyle modification for this you can visit PLANET AYURVEDA it is a leading herbal manufacturing unit serving the mankind with their 100% organic products free from preservatives and chemical agents, made under the supervision of Ayurveda experts. They offer various herbal formulations and diet regime that shows marvelous result in hypertension