Health Scare

As many of you know I have been a vegetarian for over two decades. What you may not know is that vegetarianism isn’t always healthy when you fail to replace what nutrients one loses by not eating meat protein.

I believe that I may have fallen into that category of late. Also you still have to exercise and practise sound relaxation techniques to stay healthy and maintain strong mental functions.

I recently found out that I have higher than normal blood pressure. It runs in our family and it is something I have always been aware of, however it is so easy to take things like that for granted. Especially when my eldest sister had a stroke because her blood pressure was so high, it is even more imperative that all of our family members be aware of this trait.

So how does my lifestyle and diet come into play here? Well I have discovered that I consume a lot more salt than I care to admit. I live on a very low-fat and low-sugar diet but I end up eating a lot of “hidden” salt in some prepackaged soy products. It is something I hadn’t really addressed until now.

I would hate for the story of my life to end in an anecdote about why an otherwise healthy vegetarian ended up in a coffin well before their time. So both my partner and I are taking steps to control our sodium intake and also to increase our walking and exercise regimen.

A recent medical study found that previously sedentary patients who took up walking three to five times a week were able to reduce their systolic blood pressure by five points after twelve weeks. A number which would put me back into the “normal’ category for blood pressure reading.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress as I intend on getting check-ups every week for the next twelve weeks at the very least.