Lowering Blood Pressure with Low-Fat Dairy

Moo juice. It’s more than a kid’s drink and fortunately for me, I never grew too old to stop appreciating a tall cold glass of milk. I’m even more psyched about it now that I know about a Dutch study performed on hypertensive adults 55 and older. The research data suggests that low-fat dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt may lower blood pressure or even help prevent hypertension all together.

Here’s How it Works:
The key is in the minerals and avoiding “fat free” dairy. It seems that consuming milk with a modest amount of fat helps to increase the bio-availability of calcium in the dairy. This makes the calcium easier for the digestive track to absorb. In addition to being a great source of calcium, low-fat dairy is also an excellent source of two other blood-pressure-lowering nutrients: magnesium and potassium.

Here’s How Much You Need:
As part of a daily regimen, you should consider following the guidelines of a 2006 study from Harvard Medical School, which suggested that people who ate three or more servings of low-fat dairy per day improved their blood pressure reading by 2.6 points compared to those who ate less than half a serving per day. So aim to include three individual servings of low-fat milk, cheeses, or yogurt into your meal plan.

High blood pressure isn’t a death sentence. It’s a warning. You can effectively improve your numbers and reduce the risk of disease. Take heed to what your body is telling you and make little changes, like the one mentioned above, and you’ll be on your way to a healthier, happier heart.

As always – Enjoy Your Life!

John Aaron Villarreal

Bio: I am a Houston based, male massage therapist and wellness coach specializing in pain management and health programs for individuals over the age of forty. I laugh - a lot. I'm quirky but sincere. And, while I'm not a counselor, I do listen and I do care: Except for the times that I don't. That’s a joke - Did I mention that I like to laugh? Anyway, visit my website, call or email me and let's get together to talk about you, and the many ways to live life better!

The Legal Stuff: I write to inform, inspire and encourage my readers to enjoy all that life has to offer.
The content and information on this site is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent disease.
Please consult your physician prior to starting any exercise, diet or wellness program.

Comments

When Should I Get a Massage and How Often?

This is a question I get often… Let’s face it, if it were up to massage therapists we’d say that you should get a massage every day, but in reality – very few people ever have the means or time to make this scenario play out in their lives. So technically speaking, your frequency should depend on how much you like massage, how often you experience chronic pain, and your budget. If you’re able to afford it, getting a monthly or weekly massage works best at helping prevent injuries by catching tight areas before they become problematic. With my more athletic clients (runners, weightlifters, gymnasts), I usually recommend timing their massage to coincide with the times they are training their hardest. For example, runners can develop tight hamstrings and hips, gymnasts and weight-lifters can get tight shoulders. These tight muscle groups can elicit injuries over time if they aren't treated by massage. If you are physically active, I recommend getting a massage within 24 hours ...

Coffee Has Health Benefits

Anyone who knows me knows I love my Joe…. err, “cup of joe” that is. In fact, I’m enjoying a cup as I write this post. However, as a wellness professional that little admission of guilt has gotten me a few sneers and looks of condescension. Caffeine is BAD for you, they say! Well, perhaps abusing caffeine may be “bad” for you, but ‘caffeine’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘coffee.’ Despite this fact, coffee has gotten a bad rep over the years after a few health experts linked it (or rather, linked caffeine abuse) to several diseases. But is coffee actually that bad? Probably not; new research shows that drinking coffee in moderation provides numerous health benefits. Antidepressant It might seem a little odd to find that coffee could help with depression, but new research has shown that it does just that. Now, don’t go throwing out your prescriptions or quit counseling just yet though, coffee is not a cure for depression. Rather, the caffeine in coffee helps regulate your mood trans...

Cutting Calories: 4 Easy Steps

It’s been said that if you want to lose weight, you need to move more and eat less. For some, however, the eating less part is the most dreaded. Yet, cutting calories from your diet doesn’t have to be a struggle and you don’t need to go on some fad or trendy diet to do it. Making small, simple changes can make a huge difference. To prove this point, I’ve outlined 4 simple steps that you can take toward cutting calories today. Step One: Stop drinking soda Whether you drink regular soda or diet soda, it’s a good thing to remove from your diet. It’s a lot of empty calories and replacement sugars that you don’t need in your body, and don’t even get me started on the subject of “corn syrup” or artificial sweeteners. If you want to kick your addiction to sodas then cutting them out completely is the best way to do that. You will save yourself money and a lot of unneeded calories by cutting out just this one item. Step Two: Portion properly It’s very important to learn what prop...

John Aaron Wellness

Search This Blog