Important Numbers To Know
Blood Pressure (115/75): Blood pressure numbers have changed over the past few years. Blood pressure as a health risk, by itself falls into categories. These categories are Pre-hypertension, Stage 1 Hypertension, and Stage 2 Hypertension.
Normal Blood Pressure: ideal (115/75)
Pre-hypertension: 120-139 / 80-89
Stage 1 Hypertension: 140-159 / 90-99
Stage 2 Hypertension: 160> / 100>
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, Healthy-Habits and exercise keep blood pressure under control and reduce your Heart Health Risks significantly. We recommend you take your blood pressure 6-8 days in a row and take the average of these readings. If you have Stage 1 or Stage 2 Hypertension then have your primary care doctor confirm your readings and adopt a healthy lifestyle. Hypertension is considered a silent killer because it can go undetected for years and causes progressive, minute damage to blood vessels. If you have diabetes, heart disease, chronic kidney disease or other systemic conditions then treat your blood pressure more aggressively.
HDL and LDL and Triglycerides
Cholesterol cannot dissolve in the blood so it is transported to and from the cells by lipoproteins (LDL and HDL). Cholesterol is made by the liver as needed and is a big component of cell walls. HDL is the bad cholesterol and is related to heart and stroke risks. LDL can form plaques in the arteries and when combined with Hypertension increases your heart and stroke risk significantly.
LDL: <100mg/dL is desired
HDL is the good cholesterol and is believed to carry cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver. Higher levels of HDL seem to protect the heart and arteries.
HDL: >45mg/dL is desired. Exercise can increase HDL levels when combined with a healthy diet.
Triglycerides: is a form of a fat made in the body. High triglycerides are found in people who smoke, drink alcohol, are sedentary and practice other unhealthy habits. When taken with other numbers such as LDL, HDL and hypertension the heart and stroke risk factors are compounded.
Fasting Blood Sugar
Fasting blood sugar measures blood glucose after you have not eaten for at least 8 hours. It is the test done to check for pre-diabetes and diabetes. Blood glucose levels that remain to high over time can damage your eyes, kidneys, nerves and blood vessels. The desired level is <95.
Body Weight
Your body weight is made up of bone weight, water weight, muscle weight, and body fat. The significance of knowing each value lets you know if your exercise program is building muscle, is your bone weight stable over time, and is body fat % at the ideal level. Muscle is your metabolism! The more muscle weight a person carries the leaner they are and their metabolism burns more fat naturally. Individual values vary for a person's height and age but your waist size should be < half your body height. Body Mass Index when taken with other health factors does indicate a health risk.
Increased body fat around the abdomen increases heart health risks. A BMI <25 is desireable. Body fat insulates the body and plays a roll in immunity, and fertility. Men average 17% body fat and women average 23% body fat. Desirable levels are the average but men should stay below 25% and women below 30%.
Vitamin D Blood Value
The desired value is >50 ng/l. Vitamin D is actually an important hormone that influences over 2000 genes, and helps the transcriptor proof reader gene. Vitamin D deficiencies have been linked to cancer, depression, chronic pain, muscle weakness and osteoporosis. In direct summer sun the skin can produce up to 10, 000 IU vitamin D in 30 minutes. Most people avoid direct summer and use sun screen which inhibits vitamin D production. Desired levels are 400-800 IU / day. Recent research is challenging that value and puts it as high as 2000-5000 IU / day. Food sources such as salmon, cod, shrimp, eggs are high food sources. Research is finding vitamin D absorption problems in the American diet especially in processed-fortified foods.
Knowing your numbers and learning to control them will reduce your heart, cancer and diabetes risks and add years to your life.
