If you take 100 Americans and put them in a large room, it is likely that approximately 33 of them have high blood pressure.

Blood pressure is a measurement of the force of blood flow against the walls of your arteries. When blood pressure is taken, there are two numbers. The top number is the "systolic" pressure, which is a reading of the force the blood exerts on the arteries when the heart contracts. The bottom number is the "diastolic" pressure, which is the reading of the force of the blood between heartbeats, when it is at rest. A consistent reading over 140 systolic and 90 diastolic is considered high blood pressure.

High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke. It is a despicable adversary, working in silence to undermine our health and shorten our life span, oftentimes with no warning signs. Some of its acts of aggression include:

*Degeneration of blood vessels
*Thickening of the heart muscle
*Scarring and shrinking of the kidneys
*Damage to the retinas of the eyes
*Leaking, clotting, or bursting of blood vessels in your brain

Though some incidences of high blood pressure are hereditary, there are also controllable risk factors for high blood pressure:

*Diets high in fat
*Diets low in fruits and vegetables
*Not enough potassium and too much salt intake
*Inactive lifestyle - too much sitting around!
*Stress

Knowing that there are controllable risk factors means there are options for you to take advantage of to help prevent this killer from undermining your good health:

*Lower fat intake in the diet
*Load your plate with fruits and vegetables
*Get moving! Take a walk, turn up the radio and dance, go swimming
*Lower stress through relaxation methods that have proven effective: meditation, yoga, aromatherapy.

It is something that humans know how to do instinctively to keep themselves out of harm's way. We learn that if we touch a burning stove, we will get burned. We know that if we step in front of a moving vehicle, we may get very seriously injured. These are things that we know, and it wouldn't occur to us to do them anyway. So how do we get so far off track in our diet, eating things we know are not so good for us? Maybe it is because we can't actually see the damage we are doing, until the symptoms of damage come back as evidence. If we had a window we could see through into our bodies and could actually get a visual on the damage that the unhealthy things we eat does, maybe we would be very conscious of what we feed our bodies.

It is essential to good, vibrant health that we stick to the basics, what we know works: whole foods. This includes whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean meats, and healthy oils. Moderation in all things, the wise saying goes. So help yourself to a moderate amount of the good things to fuel your body and protect it.

Your body will work to be good to you if you are good to it!