Hypertension, High blood pressure and Holiday gifts

This morning I realized that Christmas is only 50 days away and I started thinking of holiday gifts to give to the people I love that have or may soon develop High blood pressure. Since I have been able to reduce my high blood pressure this year and I am feeling the health benefits, I decided that the gift of educating people on blood pressure would be a great gift to give. I have made a short list of those things that people could use to control their hypertension.

Of course, from my postings here, you know that my first gift would be a blood pressure monitor. There are quite a few models available as you can see at the right side of this posting. One of the most popular is the Omron BP742 5 Series Upper Arm Blood Pressure Monitor. This Omron has an irregular heart beat detector and 2 different people can use and store their information. It also has different cuff size options which are very useful. Advanced Averaging is another feature that automatically displays the average of up to the last three readings taken within the last 10 minutes. And maybe the most life saving feature is a Hypertension Indicator that alerts you if your blood pressure reading exceeds internationally recognized guidelines for normal home blood pressure levels. At $47.99 it could be a life changer for someone you love.

My next gift idea would be the book The High Blood Pressure Solution: A Scientifically Proven Program for Preventing Strokes and Heart Disease by Richard Moore MD PhD. It is written from a Doctor’s perspective and according to many reviewers, has lots of common sense advice for those suffering from High Blood pressure.

Eating is always associated with the Holidays, so another gift might be a cook book that not only has great tasting recipes but can also help make you healthier. One cookbook that I would recommend is 500 High Fiber Recipes: Fight Diabetes, High Cholesterol, High Blood Pressure, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Delicious Meals That Fill You Up and Help You Shed Pounds!
by Dick Logue. High fiber is often recommended by Doctors and Nutrition experts to help you fight disease and lose weight, but how do you find recipes to enjoy? This book gives you the start to eating better and feeling full.
As I have discovered, hypertension can also benefit from a more active lifestyle. So another gift might be a Pedometer. They are small and relatively inexpensive, yet can make a huge difference and a pedometer can make adding steps to your normal routine, simple and rewarding. Omron, the maker of one of the high blood pressure monitors we discussed, also makes a great Pedometer. It has features that include, Omron Dual-Axis Technology that counts steps accurately and quietly, an automatic reset to let you start off fresh daily, a weekly log to see how you are doing, and a six tracking modes that include a calorie, time and distance mode.

There are so many more gifts that could be included, but I hope this gets you started thinking of the Holidays ahead. Health is a very precious gift and helping your friends and family find ways to improve their health will make all of you feel better and fight high blood pressure.