Do You Have High Blood Pressure? Here Are 15 Natural Ways to Prevent or Reduce It

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As the wise saying goes, the best doctors in the world are Doctor Diet, Doctor Quiet, and Doctor Merryman. Doctor Diet is the focus of this article -- specifically, Doctor Diet in reference to preventing or reducing high blood pressure.

Being a vegetarian for forty-six years and realizing the health benefits from such a life style has helped to make me keenly aware of this serious problem many Americans are experiencing.

In fact, in this country approximately 50 million Americans are currently afflicted with it. Also, it is important to note that one out of every three Americans have a condition that leads to high blood pressure or hypertension and is not aware of it.

You need to get your blood pressure checked regularly and take specific action to prevent hypertension from becoming a factor in your life.

Here are 15 Natural Ways to Prevent or Reduce High Blood Pressure:
1. Eliminate refined, sugary, fried, and fatty foods.
2. Eat foods that are rich in fiber such as vegetables and whole grains.
3. Compute your Body Mass Index by multiplying the weight in pounds by 703; and then divide by your height in inches; then again by your height in inches. You want to stay between 18.5 and 24.9.
4. Take a daily multiple multivitamin to make sure that you're getting the basics.
5. Potassium is crucial. It is found in many fruits, vegetables, dairy foods, and supplements.
6. Emphasize foods with Vitamin C. The less vitamin C in the blood, the higher the blood pressure in hypertensive patients.
7. Boost your bioflavonoids by consuming more fruits, vegetables, and supplement. Bioflavonoids enhance the effect of vitamin C.
8. Hypertensive patients are usually low in calcium. Drink milk and take calcium supplements. Eat more broccoli, spinach, and tofu.
9. When choosing supplements, make sure you include vitamin E. It magnifies Vitamin Cs' blood pressure lowering effect.
10. Include whole oats in your diet more often. Oats lower hypertension.
11. In choosing your spices, go for basil, black pepper, cinnamon, chili powder, cloves, curry, fennel, horseradish, Marjoram, nutmeg, oregano, rosemary, sage, tarragon, and thyme. Some of these antioxidants may directly lower blood pressure and all can substitute for salt.
12. Go to your health food store and get grape seed extract.
13. Get a restful sleep every night. It doesn't matter whether it's four hours, six hours, or eight hours. Just make sure that you are relaxed and mentally at ease.
14. Keep your weight down. A 10% reduction in total body weight will sometimes lower blood pressure.
15. Flat out eliminate all forms of tobacco.

While owning a good health care plan is both important and necessary, choosing Doctor Diet and natural ways to prevent or reduce high blood pressure is equally as important. Choose a good health care plan and choose the natural ways.


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What You Need to Know When Shopping for Health Insurance

Money can't buy health, but it can certainly make it easier to stay healthy. As a single parent, for the sake of your children, and yourself, you need to stay healthy.  Moreover, if you have been sick or injured you know that it's important to have the right kind of health insurance at the right price. To get to this point, you need to ask the right questions and get the right answers. There is a lot to learn when shopping for health insurance and you need the coverage clearly explained to you.

Health insurance coverage refers to a collection of insurance policies and government programs which pays for a range of costs from doctors and hospitals to more specific needs, such as for long-term care or disability expenses.

This type of policy doesn't just cover medical expenses, it can also provide payment of benefits for the loss of income and or the medical expenses arising from illness or injury. Consequently, you may find health insurance under another name such as Accident and Health insurance. The different kinds of policies vary according to the methods of underwriting, the type of insurers, types of benefits and services provided, types of losses covered, and amount of benefits available.

So, what about health insurance. In choosing the right type of policy for yourself, begin with knowing some of the key common terminology. Here are three terms and their definitions:

Benefit Period - the benefit period defines the period during which the insured is eligible for benefits. Usually a 90 day benefit starts with each illness and commences the day the insured is admitted to a hospital and ends when the insured has not been hospitalized for a period of 60 consecutive days.

Co-insurance - the co-insurance is the cost percentage of the medical bills the insured is expected to pay. Co-insurance usually constitutes a fixed percentage of the total cost of your medical covers covered by the plan. If a health plan pays 80% every doctor's bill, the remaining 20% is co-insurance.

Deductible - the deductible is the sum of money you must pay out-of-pocket before a health care plan reimburses a percentage of additional covered medical expenses.

Elimination Period - the elimination period means the period of time, usually is expressed in days or months, at the beginning of the confinement in a long-term care facility, during which no benefits are payable.

After making yourself familiar with some of the basic terminology, consider how you will use your policy. If you practice good health principles - eating healthy, finding time for exercising, managing stress effectively, and getting proper rest - you may properly choose a health care policy with a high deductible and a large co-insurance feature to save money. You will pay more out-of-pocket for an annual checkup and tests, but you need health insurance and will save money in the long run.

Also when shopping for health insurance, consider buying Accident and Critical Illness Insurance. The premiums for these plans are low and will compensate for the high deductible and co-insurance you may have chosen and also give you the protection you need if a catastrophic event occurs.

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Retirement Considerations for Single Parents

 
In 1983, the retirement age for Social Security was changed by Congress from 65 to 67 beginning in the year 2000. It was designed to go up steadily so that everyone born in 1943 will have their retirement age increased to 66. It will then remain at 66 for 12 years and then steadily increase to age 67 for workers born after 1959.

Therefore, if you are a single parent born in 1943 or thereafter, your retirement age will be either 66 or 67.

However, this retirement age only pertain to those whose retirement funds are from the Social Security system therefore highlighting the unequal basis of the retirement system in this country. More on this later. In considering your retirement, if you are looking forward to receiving Social Security funds when you retire, realize that there are no funds in the Social Security "lockbox". The fact is there is no "lockbox". It is a complete fiction. Every dollar taken from your salary in FICA taxes is sent to the General Fund and is spent by the politicians as fast it comes in. The Social Security is currently sending out more money than it's taking in. It is hemorrhaging and soon will be completely bankrupt.

It is important therefore as a single parent and the sole support for your children and yourself that you seriously consider and then act on this matter.

Here are three strategies to do so:
1. Let your Senators, Representative, and President know that you realize that the Social Security will soon be bankrupt and that you no longer want to participate in it -- that you want equality in the retirement system and to own your retirement plan rather than be at the mercy of 535 politicians who can decide much you can receive and when you can receive it.
2. While actively engaging in the political process, you must concurrently study the options for building a substantial fund that can be annuitized, partially or fully, and also provide for your children if you experience an untimely death. Some politicians try to frighten you by saying that by owning your retirement plan, you would irresponsibly invest it in the volatile stock market and when it's time for you to retire, you will not have any money to retire on. This is a fear tactic and need to be rejected.
Look up the retirement plan that your Representatives and Senators have established for themselves. Afterwards, let them know that you want to have the same retirement plan that they have. Keep in mind that not only federal employees, but across the country, county, state and municipal employees often can retire as early as age 55 or even younger with roughly 80% of an average of their last three years of income. Tell them that you want to be able to do the same.
3. Finally, realize that once you own your retirement plan, you may have several options that range from choosing highly risky investments to those with hardly any risk at all. In planning for your retirement, stay away from risky investments. Analyze what the pension funds for public employees and what major insurance companies invest their money in. You will see a wide variety of different investments. However, you will find that a majority of their money will be in one sector primarily, bonds. Become knowledgeable of the different types of bonds, and also consider fixed annuities and the guarantees cash value and self-completing feature of life insurance.


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