how to lower high blood pressure

May 18, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / Leave a comment

Hello, and welcome back to all of my wonderful readers. Since typing and using a mouse are still quite painful on my right arm, this will be a quick post. A lot of the material in the video I have covered in previous posts anyhow. You can browse through the archives to learn more. This post may contain affiliate links.

Tomorrow I am going to try to do a post on this horrible shoulder injury I have, and some of my frustrations with doctors and my lack of proper pain therapy. Now I know I have CKD and of course I don’t want to take something that will damage my kidneys. But, I also still need to be able to work and I don’t even need to be pain free, just somewhat comfortable. One of the things I will be discussing related to my pain, is CBD Oil. I have been thinking about this for a while, but it has never come up in conversations with my doctors. Now it feels like a must. More on that topic tomorrow and what literature says about CBD, pain, and CKD.

My blood pressure has been kind of high for me lately. It seems when I started increasing the intensity of my workouts that is when I noticed the difference. I am not entirely sure why this would be, but I did receive clearance from my Kidney Doctor to do so. I think I am going to return to just the fat burning zone and see if the BP comes down then I will know what the trigger was. If you are on my mailing list then you know I had reached my goal of running 1.5 miles in 15 minutes. I had continued to do that, but now I am rethinking it.

Admittedly I do not want to have to take BP medications, but it always sits in the back of my head. I also don’t want to have a Heart Attack or Stroke. Since my kidney function improved back to stage 2 the last set of blood work, I am not thinking kidney function is the issue. I have to have a repeat Lipid Panel tomorrow, as well as a BMP. While not a full Renal Panel it will have my BUN and Creatinine on it.

The lady doctor in the video does mention Stress relief as a way to reduce blood pressure. However, she does not mention pain. Trust me pain is a stressor and not having proper pain management will only make that stressor worse. It is an excellent video and I encourage you to watch it. Note in the second video that it states your Pharmacist can actually check your blood pressure for you.

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what are the causes of high blood pressure?

May 13, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / Leave a comment

Happy Thursday! Today, I will talk about the causes of High Blood Pressure, or Hypertension. The two short videos below I do recommend you watch. I really wish they had stressed the importance of Stress as a cause of High Blood Pressure. All of the things they talk about can be a stressor that leads to Stress. Remember that Stress is simply a reaction to a stressor. If you didn’t get to read my series of posts on Stress, last month, they are available in the archives. I urge you to read them. Stress is a huge factor in High Blood Pressure. Everyone should consider monitoring their blood pressure at least monthly, and more often if you already have High Blood Pressure, or are borderline.

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For the whole month of May I am concentrating on Blood Pressure Awareness. If you have High Blood Pressure, or want to avoid getting it, all members of my mailing list are eligible for a free coaching session related to Blood Pressure. Simply use the Mailchimp sign up form, right below, and you will be on my mailing list. You can read more about it here. You will also receive my weekly newsletter, a freebie, special deals and offers, and content not shared here on the blog.

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hypertension, high blood pressure, Hbp! What is it?

May 6, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / 1 Comment

Hello, hello! I am so happy you are here. May is Blood Pressure Awareness Month here on Health Buddy Melissa. In March I focused on Kidney Disease, and in April Stress. You can read all of those posts in my archives. There is some great information there.

So, what exactly is blood pressure anyways? Blood pressure simply put is a measurement of force put on your arteries when your heart beats. There are three things that affect your blood pressure Cardiac Output, Volume, and Resistance.

What is a normal Blood Pressure? In 2017 the guidelines changed which increased the number of people diagnosed with High Blood Pressure. While normal is still considered 120/80, the new guidelines suggest that a number over 130 warrants treatment with medication. Now of course there is some controversy, because now 45% of the USA population can have a diagnosis of Hypertension. Apparently this made a lot of people angry. But, there is good evidence to show that a blood pressure greater than 130/80 increases the risk of several health issues like Stroke, Heart Attack, Enlarged Heart, Kidney Disease, Male Sexuality Issues, and even Eye issues. Anyone who has read this blog knows that I am not a jump on the medication wagon kind of girl. There are other ways to lower blood pressure that does not include medications. That does not mean I am anti medication. If you need medication take it! All through the month of May I will be discussing High Blood Pressure and ways to lower it and prevent it. As we age Blood Pressure naturally rises due to the aging effects on the body.

Maybe you are young and you don’t think this is an issue for you. Think again! According to stats collected by the CDC in 2016 people in the age group 18-39 had a prevalence of HBP of 7.5%, 40-59 was 33%, and age 60 and over 63%. Age 40 is not that old and 1/3 of the population had HBP. Statistically more men than women had HBP. It varies between races and economic statuses as well.

When you go to the doctor your blood pressure may be higher than it normally is. A lot of times it is just because of general nervousness. But, it can be a reason for concern. A simple electronic blood pressure machine can be purchased to check your blood pressure daily and keep a log. In your log note the arm you took the blood pressure in, and time of day. Try to take your blood pressure the same time each day for consistent readings. Do not take your blood pressure right after exercising, after eating, if you are excited or scared until you can be calm. Also make sure you are sitting with your feet flat on the floor, and legs or ankles not crossed. Your arm should be relaxed and at or below heart level. Make sure you have a proper fitting cuff. If you have a big arm be sure and buy a machine with a larger cuff. A Pharmacist can help you pick the right size cuff for your arm.

Always be honest with your doctor, and yourself, of any symptoms or high blood pressure readings you may have. Denying, or ignoring a problem will not prevent any of the health issues I mentioned above.

If you would like to work with a Health Coach to set SMART goals for lifestyle changes, and exercise to help lower or prevent HBP, check out my 30 day coaching plan.

If you join my Mailchimp mailing list below you can sign up for a free coaching session related to HBP. Check out my Mother’s Day special as well, only available to my mailing list.

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High blood pressure free coaching giveaway!

May 4, 2021May 30, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / 2 Comments

Hello, and Happy Tuesday! For the month of May I decided to focus on High Blood Pressure as my topic for my free coaching session giveaway. 10 lucky people will receive a 60 minute coaching session. This will not include the free health assessment and review, that is already free. Keep reading to learn how to claim yours.

Do you have High Blood Pressure, or want to prevent getting High Blood Pressure? Did you know that in 2020 was a top Health search topic? Coronavirus was obviously number 1 and probably still is. High Blood Pressure is very common. According to the CDC about 45% of Americans have High Blood Pressure which means a blood pressure of 130/80 or higher, and or taking medications to control blood pressure. Of those people only 25% have their blood pressure well controlled. Having High Blood Pressure can be a risk factor for many other chronic diseases. All month I will focus on this topic in various blog posts.

If you would like a free one on one coaching session to discuss blood pressure, follow the steps below. You do not have to have High Blood Pressure, but you do have to want to learn how to prevent it.

Sign up for my Mailchimp mailing list below.
Once you are signed up for my mailing list, and have received my welcome newsletter, simply message me via that newsletter, it will either go right to my Mailchimp email, or my Google email, and put blood pressure as the topic. Within 24 hours of receiving the email I will contact you via your email to see when you would like to receive the free health intake assessment. Once you have completed that and returned it to me we can make an appt for your free session. I am trying to make a sign up form that I can add right to my newsletter. If you see it, use it, otherwise follow the steps above.
Once you have completed your intake assessment and are ready for your free session, we will set up a time and date that works for both of us. You do not have to do it in May, and the special runs until May 31, or until 10 people have claimed the free session.
If you have any questions please feel free to use the contact form below to message me. Using the contact form below will not sign you up for a free session, it is for general questions only. You must join my Mailchimp mailing list to qualify for the freebie.

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low calorie food #1

April 30, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / 2 Comments

Hello, Friday! I hope everyone has had a good week. I have not been doing a lot of food posts, but readers seem to really like them. Each Friday I will showcase a low calorie food, that is under 40 calories per serving. So far I have found about 40 but I think there may be more. If you are trying to lose weight incorporating these low calorie foods into your meal plan can help. Please remember your body needs calories to survive so eating just low calorie foods is probably not going to be a very healthy eating plan. Try to buy organic if you can.

Cucumbers is the low calorie food for today. I love cucumbers and this year we are trying to grow our own. They are very easy to grow and I am hoping for a ton. Well, maybe not a ton. Did you know the seeds and the skin are the healthier parts of the cucumber? I always peel mine, but I will try to start eating the skin. Cucumbers are fairly affordable and you don’t have to eat a whole one each time. According to my Basket app the cheapest cucumber is only 59 cents per each one at Save A Lot. That price is for non-organic. Another thing I did not know about cucumbers is that they can help the Pancreas produce Insulin. When I first read this I had to research it because I had never heard that before. It is only a theory but there are studies being done. If you have Diabetes eating cucumbers could be a good idea. One note, if you have Kidney Disease and are on fluid restrictions, 1 cucumber contains 287 grams of water which apparently is about 10 ounces of water. That is a lot of water, so consume them mindfully. There is a short video below on the health benefits of cucumbers.

According to my Nutrition Facts app 1 cucumber with the peel contains:

Water: 287 grams

Calories: 45. If you wanted it to be less than 40 just chop off a bit of it.

Protein: 2 grams who knew

Fat: .33 grams

Carbs: About 11 grams but 1.5 grams of Fiber which makes net carbs about 9.5

Sugars: 5 grams

Calcium: 48 mg. I consume very little dairy, to none, so I try to get Calcium from other food sources.

Iron: .84 mg

Magnesium: 39 mg

Phosphorus: 72 mg not bad for a vegetable

Sodium: 6 mg I found that interesting

Vitamin C: 8.5 mg

Folate: 21 ug

Vitamin A: 330 ug

Vitamin K: 49 ug

Cholesterol: 286 mg

There are other trace minerals in cucumbers.

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If you would like to learn more about setting healthy eating goals for better health, use the contact form at the end of this post to ask about my new 30 day coaching plan. For the month of May I will be focusing on Hypertension and my coaching freebie will be centered around that topic. To be eligible for a free session you must be a subscriber to my Mailchimp mailing list. So sign up below to be eligible. I will also be sharing a Mother’s Day coupon code to my mailing list subscribers.

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super easy homemade marinara sauce

October 16, 2020June 25, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / Leave a comment

I had some beautiful organic tomatoes that were going to go bad if I didn’t eat them fast enough. So, I decided to make some homemade marinara sauce. I had thought of doing this before but assumed it was complicated. It was not complicated and was so delicious. Even my picky teenager liked it, and it had a plum in it and she didn’t even know it. If you have CKD and don’t want to use tomatoes roast red peppers instead. I only eat 2 tbsp at a time of sauce, so I use tomatoes. Plus this is low sodium, as I added no sodium. The tomato sauce probably had some sodium, but still less than any jar sauce in the store.

Ingredients:

7 organic tomatoes

1 vidalia onion

garlic powder

sweet basil

1 plum with pit removed

Cut up all of the ingredients and put them on a cookie sheet with just a dab of olive oil. Roast at 350 F for 30 minutes. You can see what it looked like in the image below. Then let it cool for 15-30 minutes. Then simply puree all of the ingredients in a blender. Put the sauce in a jar, or container, and store in the refrigerator until you want to use it. I think this could have been just a tad sweeter, so I will probably add just a smidge of sugar when reheating.

Cooler mornings have gotten me in the cooking mood. I also made delicious banana bread, and froze potatoes to keep them fresh. I will post about those later.

Make some homemade marinara sauce and tell me what you liked or didn’t like.

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Sweet, Sweet Basil!

August 23, 2020March 12, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / 1 Comment

Happy Sunday, everyone! I hope all is well with my readers. Today is Self Care Sunday. So, why am I talking about Basil? Well for a couple of reasons. One, part of self care is eating good nutritious foods. Two, also part of self care is relaxation and self confidence. Both of these can come from growing a garden of your own. I am not good at growing summer crops. I have tried, I suck! Namely because I simply don’t have the time to water and fertilize as a summer garden requires here in Florida. I am quite good at growing flowers, and herbs, though. I think I will try a winter garden. My local store had no seeds at all. I am assuming due to Covid people are growing a lot of their own food, as there is always tons of seeds this time of year.

Basil is so super easy to grow and care for. It is delicious and nutritious. I must make a note here. If you have CKD Basil is a green, and greens are high in potassium. You do only need to eat very small amounts of Basil to get tons of flavor, but be sure and speak to your doctor about proper amounts if you have issues with potassium. Also if you are on Warfarin, Coumadin or other blood thinners, Basil is very high in Vitamin K which can counteract your blood thinners. Again, speak with your doctor or pharmacist about consuming greens and how much.

If you live in cold climates, Basil likes 70 degrees or warmer, simply grow your Basil indoors. I have quite a bit of Basil right now, so I will freeze some for smoothies, or cooking. Some people put it in water, or oil in ice cube trays and freeze it. I just chop it up and freeze it. If you are trying to decrease your sodium intake, Basil is a wonderful herb to add tons of flavor in very small amounts. There are other varieties but I like the Sweet Basil the best.

Basil is high in Vitamin K, Iron, Magnesium and others too. It has little to no calories at all, and no sodium. Even though it does have about 16mg of potassium per 2 tbsp chopped, it is lower than many other leafy greens.

Below are 2 links for your reading pleasure, and some videos about caring for and growing Basil. As I said it is very easy to grow and care for. You can even give it as gifts if you get a ton of it. I have added a link for Basil Essential Oil. Be sure and read about safety before using it.

I find gardening very relaxing. There is something about feeling the earth in your hands. As your plant grows and you gain confidence you can try other plants in your food garden. Amazon has several books on growing plants in pots, if you can not have a garden in the ground. If you would like to learn more about my Health Coaching services use the contact form at the end of the post to message me.

https://www.fiskars.com/en-us/gardening-and-yard-care/ideas-and-how-tos/planting-and-prep/growing-basil-planting-and-harvesting

https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/beautiful-basil

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