盤點10個日常生活中有效降血壓的辦法(中)
ove Your diet
7.改善飲食You will almost certainly have heard the saying that you are what you eat!
你肯定聽說過“人如其食”這句諺語。It can be easy to tell someone to improve their diet but it is a difficult change to make.
告訴別人改善飲食很容易，但改變很難。
There is, however, no getting away from the fact that if you have received a diagnosis of high blood pressure problems then the chances are that your diet is less than ideal
但如果你收到高血壓的診斷書，飲食便不再盡如人意，這是我們逃不過的事實。Eating overly refined and processed foods can lead to a diet that is too high in sodium, saturated fats and cholesterol all of which can lead to a hardening of the arteries and an increase in the pressure within your vessels.
吃過多的加工食品會導致飲食中含過量鈉、飽和脂肪和膽固醇，導致動脈硬化，血壓升高。
Research has shown that eating a diet that is high in fruit and vegetables and which replaces ordinary dairy with low fat versions and reduces the amount red meat and of saturated and other fats ingested will typically lead to a reduction in blood pressure when compared to the standard American diet.
研究已經表明，和標準美國飲食相比，多吃水果蔬菜、低脂肪食物，減少奶製品、飽和牛羊肉和其他類脂肪攝入量能有效降低血壓。This is known as the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stopping Hypertension) Diet and because it contains serving guidance rather than lists of foods which are completely banned or insisted on (you do not need to eat quinoa, for example, unless you really want to subject yourself to it!).
這叫做“抗高血壓飲食法”，只是飲食建議，而非禁食或必食食品（如不必非吃藜麥，除非你自己想吃）。We are not saying that you will not hanker after a juicy cheese burger and, to be fair you can have one from time to time.
這並不是說要你絕了吃多汁奶酪漢堡的想法，你可以偶爾吃一個。Nevertheless, if you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure it would be better to make the dietary changes now, of your own volition and when you have time to adjust than to stick your head in the sand, continue as you are and end up in an ambulance to the nearest ER with a heart attack in 5 years' time.
但若你已被診斷患有高血壓，最好現在就憑自己意志力抽時間改變飲食習慣。不要再一味逃避，繼續原有飲食習慣，否則可能會在五年後因心臟病坐上救護車住進急診室。Not only that but improving your diet will help you to reduce your sodium intake and manage your weight more effectively – so you get triple the benefits from one action!
不僅如此，改善飲食還能降低攝鈉量，讓體重更可控——一舉三得！the Booze
6.戒酒Do you enjoy the odd glass of wine in the evening or a bottle of beer with your friends?
你是否享受晚餐時怪酒瓶的酒，或者和朋友一起喝啤酒？If you do you are not alone, many of us use alcohol to relax but, rather than helping us to de-stress it could be contributing to blood pressure problems.
這種享受，並不是你自己獨有，很多人都會用白酒放鬆，但除了幫我們放鬆，喝酒還可能導致高血壓問題。A glass of red wine now and then might confer health benefits but any more than that and you are putting your health at risk for a number of reasons, not least the risk of increased blood pressure.
偶爾喝杯紅酒有益健康，但飲酒多過一杯會對健康造成多種危害，尤其是血壓升高的風險。The CDC advise that men drink no more than 2 alcoholic drinks a day with a limit of 1 a day for women.
美國疾病控制中心建議，男性一天飲酒不超過兩杯，女性最多一杯。In other countries such as the UK the advice is to drink no more than 14 'units' of alcohol a week for women and 21 for men, spacing the consumption out over the entire week.
在其他國家，如英國，對女性的飲酒建議是每週不超過14杯，男性不超過21杯，這是整整一週的飲酒量。
Research studies have shown that the alcohol that you drink over the preceding three days can contribute to a raised blood pressure reading.
調查研究早已顯示，前三天喝的酒會提高血壓值。That means that even if you do not drink more than the recommended amount over the course of a week you could still cause yourself problems if your drinking is confined to a relatively short period of time (eg the weekend).
也就是說，即使你飲酒量並不比每週建議飲酒量高，但如果你在短時間內喝很多酒（如週末），照樣會出問題。Luckily the effects of alcohol on blood pressure are transient and can be reversed by cutting down on consumption and making sure that the alcohol you do drink is in moderate volumes and spaced out over time.
幸虧白酒對血壓的影響是暫時的，少喝酒並且儘量喝溫和一些的酒，影響會隨時間消散。If you drink socially you might find it challenging to reduce your intake, particularly if your friends are encouraging you to have 'just one more'.
要喝酒應酬的人會覺得少喝酒是一大難題，尤其是好友叫你“就再來一杯”時。Be honest with them about why you are reducing your intake so that they can support and help you.
其實，和朋友坦白爲什麼降低飲酒量，他們便會支持你。If you struggle to consume no more than the recommended amounts you should seriously consider asking your doctor for help with strategies to reduce your dependence.
如果你想控制飲酒量不超過醫生建議的飲酒量，最好請教一下醫生，如何降低對酒精的依賴。x Man. De-stress
5.放輕鬆，緩解壓力Does stress cause high blood pressure or does high blood pressure make us more vulnerable to stress? The truth is that the two conditions are inextricably linked.
到底是壓力導致高血壓，還是高血壓使我們難以承受壓力？二者兼而有之，密不可分。We all experience stress from time to time and, in moderation it is no bad thing. Our bodies are designed to handle short periods of intense stress.
人們無時無刻不處在壓力之中，只要適度，並非壞事，我們的身體可以承受短時間的強壓。In fact, a small amount of stress from time to time is health and can help keep your responses physically and mentally honed.
事實上，保持少許壓力有益健康，能夠時時磨練身心素質。Where this falls down, however, is if you are living at a high level of stress day in, day out, with no prospect of a break.
但若你日復一日，時刻處於高壓狀態，那自然不可一概而論。
Stress can strike anyone at any time of their life so it is important to be aware of what causes you stress and whether you are exposed to it in order to allow you to take protective action.
壓力隨時可能降臨，因此我們需要了解壓力從何而來、以及是否已經受到了影響，以便採取保護措施。Stress on its own very rarely causes high blood pressure directly but can and does play a role in its development and can lead to repeated high blood pressure readings. It also can cause the impact of other risk factors to be exacerbated.
壓力極少能直接引發高血壓，但壓力對高血壓的形成確實有一定影響，並不斷刷新血壓值。壓力還會加重其他風險因素的影響。If you know that stress causes your high blood pressure to become worse it is worth learning some relaxation techniques such as mindfulness, deep breathing and meditation.
既然壓力能夠加重高血壓，那麼我們就應該瞭解一些放鬆技巧，比如正念、深呼吸以及冥想。Practicing these techniques during periods of stress will help you to keep your blood pressure under control and help to reduce your reliance on the pressure pills.
感到壓力時，試一下這些技巧，能夠有效控制血壓，也能減輕對藥物的依賴。k Green Tea
4.喝綠茶It may seem as though the claims are too good to be true but green tea really is a superfood.
雖然聽起來過於神奇，讓人難以置信，但綠茶確實是飲中極品。It is cheap, readily available from the supermarket (there is no need to go to a specialist store or order from the internet) and drinking it will do your health the world of good.
不但價格低廉，便於選購（各大超市皆有供應，不用去專賣店或者網購），而且對健康大有裨益。People from the Far East have known of the health benefits of tea for centuries and drink it prophylactically to ward off a whole range of problems and to promote general health.
遠東人幾百年前就發現了飲茶有益健康，經常喝茶以預防疾病，也提高了整體人口健康水平。
A meta-analysis of research into the potentially beneficial effects of tea drinking has shown that while drinking tea as a one off will have no real impact on health in general or blood pressure in particular, drinking green tea for 12 weeks or more can lead to a reduction of over 2mmHg blood pressure readings enough to reduce the risk of having a stroke by 8%.
研究人員對飲茶的功效做了研究，分析結果發現，喝一次茶不會對整體健康產生實質性影響，也不會對血壓造成影響。連續飲茶12周或以上可以使血壓下降2毫米汞柱，足以將中風風險降低8%。Studies in Japan, where green tea is a very popular drink, have shown that those who consume green tea are less likely to die from any cause than those who do not drink it (up to 55% in some cases depending on the amount consumed).
綠茶在日本廣受歡迎，調查發現，喝綠茶的人比不喝綠茶的人死亡率要低（根據飲茶量，死亡率甚至可以降低55%）。With this in mind you might want to make sure that your grocery cart contains a packet of green tea from now on and that you drink between 4 and 5 cups every day.
瞭解了這些，估計你以後逛超市的時候，肯定會拿上一包綠茶，每天喝上四五杯。If you do not like the taste of the tea you can get it in various different flavors including jasmine (which is very popular). Green tea also combines very well with lavender to give you dual benefits from the one cup!
如果你不喜歡綠茶的味道，可以加一些茉莉（很受歡迎）等不同口味的茶。據說，綠茶跟薰衣草也很配哦，一杯茶，雙重益。
