7.Improve Your diet
7.改善饮食
You will almost certainly have heard the saying that you are what you eat!
你肯定听说过“人如其食”这句谚语。
It can be easy to tell someone to improve their diet but it is a difficult change to make.
告诉别人改善饮食很容易，但改变很难。
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
但如果你收到高血压的诊断书，饮食便不再尽如人意，这是我们逃不过的事实。
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.
吃过多的加工食品会导致饮食中含过量钠、饱和脂肪和胆固醇，导致动脉硬化，血压升高。

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.
研究已经表明，和标准美国饮食相比，多吃水果蔬菜、低脂肪食物，减少奶制品、饱和牛羊肉和其他类脂肪摄入量能有效降低血压。
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!).
这叫做“抗高血压饮食法”，只是饮食建议，而非禁食或必食食品（如不必非吃藜麦，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.
这并不是说要你绝了吃多汁奶酪汉堡的想法，你可以偶尔吃一个。
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.
但若你已被诊断患有高血压，最好现在就凭自己意志力抽时间改变饮食习惯。不要再一味逃避，继续原有饮食习惯，否则可能会在五年后因心脏病坐上救护车住进急诊室。
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!
不仅如此，改善饮食还能降低摄钠量，让体重更可控——一举三得！

6.Skip the Booze
6.戒酒
Do you enjoy the odd glass of wine in the evening or a bottle of beer with your friends?
你是否享受晚餐时怪酒瓶的酒，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.
这种享受，并不是你自己独有，很多人都会用白酒放松，但除了帮我们放松，喝酒还可能导致高血压问题。
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.
偶尔喝杯红酒有益健康，但饮酒多过一杯会对健康造成多种危害，尤其是血压升高的风险。
The CDC advise that men drink no more than 2 alcoholic drinks a day with a limit of 1 a day for women.
美国疾病控制中心建议，男性一天饮酒不超过两杯，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.
在其他国家，如英国，对女性的饮酒建议是每周不超过14杯，男性不超过21杯，这是整整一周的饮酒量。

Research studies have shown that the alcohol that you drink over the preceding three days can contribute to a raised blood pressure reading.
调查研究早已显示，前三天喝的酒会提高血压值。
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).
也就是说，即使你饮酒量并不比每周建议饮酒量高，但如果你在短时间内喝很多酒（如周末），照样会出问题。
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.
幸亏白酒对血压的影响是暂时的，少喝酒并且尽量喝温和一些的酒，影响会随时间消散。
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'.
要喝酒应酬的人会觉得少喝酒是一大难题，尤其是好友叫你“就再来一杯”时。
Be honest with them about why you are reducing your intake so that they can support and help you.
其实，和朋友坦白为什么降低饮酒量，他们便会支持你。
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.
如果你想控制饮酒量不超过医生建议的饮酒量，最好请教一下医生，如何降低对酒精的依赖。

5.Relax Man. De-stress
5.放轻松，缓解压力
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.
到底是压力导致高血压，还是高血压使我们难以承受压力？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.
人们无时无刻不处在压力之中，只要适度，并非坏事，我们的身体可以承受短时间的强压。
In fact, a small amount of stress from time to time is health and can help keep your responses physically and mentally honed.
事实上，保持少许压力有益健康，能够时时磨练身心素质。
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.
但若你日复一日，时刻处于高压状态，那自然不可一概而论。

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.
压力随时可能降临，因此我们需要了解压力从何而来、以及是否已经受到了影响，以便采取保护措施。
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.
压力极少能直接引发高血压，但压力对高血压的形成确实有一定影响，并不断刷新血压值。压力还会加重其他风险因素的影响。
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.
既然压力能够加重高血压，那么我们就应该了解一些放松技巧，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.
感到压力时，试一下这些技巧，能够有效控制血压，也能减轻对药物的依赖。

4.Drink Green Tea
4.喝绿茶
It may seem as though the claims are too good to be true but green tea really is a superfood.
虽然听起来过于神奇，让人难以置信，但绿茶确实是饮中极品。
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.
不但价格低廉，便于选购（各大超市皆有供应，不用去专卖店或者网购），而且对健康大有裨益。
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.
远东人几百年前就发现了饮茶有益健康，经常喝茶以预防疾病，也提高了整体人口健康水平。

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%.
研究人员对饮茶的功效做了研究，分析结果发现，喝一次茶不会对整体健康产生实质性影响，也不会对血压造成影响。连续饮茶12周或以上可以使血压下降2毫米汞柱，足以将中风风险降低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).
绿茶在日本广受欢迎，调查发现，喝绿茶的人比不喝绿茶的人死亡率要低（根据饮茶量，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.
了解了这些，估计你以后逛超市的时候，肯定会拿上一包绿茶，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!
如果你不喜欢绿茶的味道，可以加一些茉莉（很受欢迎）等不同口味的茶。据说，绿茶跟薰衣草也很配哦，一杯茶，双重益。