It's been a tough day; the boss gave you a project with an impossible timeline, traffic was at a standstill on your commute home, and your child's teacher called for a conference. By the end of the day, you're too stressed and tired to cook, so you hit the drive-thru for some high sodium fare and decide you'll relax at home with a few glasses of wine. We've all had those days where we feel like a little indulgence will make everything better. The indulgence may, however, increase your risk of hypertension, or high blood pressure.
Stress
Stress is a state in which your body gears itself up for defense or flight from a perceived danger. This is called the "fight or flight" response and it involves all of your body's major systems, including heart and vascular systems. Stress causes the heart to beat faster while it constricts blood vessels and slows blood flow to the heart. This contradiction of defense functions causes blood pressure to elevate during the stressful event. Chronic stress has been linked in a University College of London study to metabolic syndrome, a cluster of symptoms that includes high blood pressure and raises risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, according to results published in the March 2004 "British Medical Journal."
Sodium
In adequate amounts, sodium helps your muscles, including your heart, contract. It is also part of an essential group of minerals called electrolytes that keep your body fluids in balance. Fluid retention occurs when there is an abundance of sodium, as the body attempts to flush out the excess sodium. Fluid retention puts stress on your blood vessels and heart, and can elevate blood pressure. A 2009 Harvard study found that 1 in 6 Americans die yearly from high blood pressure and that excess sodium intake alone is responsible for 102,000 yearly deaths.
Alcohol
Red wine does contain antioxidants that can help protect the heart. The antioxidant, a flavonoid called resveratrol, may help reduce bad, or LDL, cholesterol, while increasing good, or HDL, cholesterol. In addition, it appears to prevent blood clots and damage to blood vessels. The caveat is that the benefits disappear after one glass per day for women and two glasses per day for men. This is because alcohol increases blood pressure by pushing nutrient rich blood away from the heart and interfering with blood flow into and away from the heart.
Reducing High Blood Pressure Risk
While a healthy lifestyle can help reduce your risk of hypertension, it is important to talk to your doctor about treatment for your particular condition. Regular exercise has been shown in various studies to help reduce the risk of hypertension, as well as increase energy and reduce stress levels. It is also an important factor of weight control, which can help reduce the risk of hypertension. Limit sodium to 2,300 mg, or about 1 tsp., per day and stay within the recommended amounts of alcohol intake to help keep your blood pressure in the healthy range, below 140/90.
References
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Stress-Introduction
- "British Medical Journal"; Chronic Stress at Work and The Metabolic Syndrome: Prospective Study; Tarani Chandola, et al.; March 2004
- Organic Facts: Health Benefits of Sodium
- Cleveland Clinic: High Blood Pressure and Nutrition
- Harvard School of Public Health; Smoking, High Blood Pressure and Being Overweight Top Three Preventable Causes of Death in the U.S.; April 27, 2009
- MayoClinic.com; Red Wine and Resveratrol: Good For Your Heart?; March 4, 2011
