Did you know what you listen to (and how loudly you listen) can not only effect your hearing but also your blood pressure? I really hadn’t ever given much thought to this, but it does make sense. People who live near an airport get blood pressure spikes whenever a plane flies overhead at night. Traffic noises, similar effect. At work, constant noise not only spikes pressure but also makes your arteries tighten, raises the risk of chest pain, heart attack and heart disease. Using or playing with loud devices like snowmobiles and power tools seem to have the same effect. I am wondering what listening to (and/or playing) cranked up music does to our numbers?
If managing your blood pressure is an issue, and it is for so many of us, we all need to take a look at the noises we are surrounded by at work and play and think about which ones we can cut back on and definitely consider some ear plugs! Foam plugs with a noise reduction level (NRR) of 33 will tone down the noise enough to make it not only safer on our ears (and having lost a good amount of hearing in one ear years ago, I can attest to the importance of protecting our precious ears) but even more importantly may actually save our hearts and lives. Remember exercise, eating nutritiously (this is not the same as watching calories or following a fad diet) and staying connected with others socially are also great ways to keep our pressure in the healthy zone. Personally, I have watched my numbers get lower simply by eliminating processed food from my daily diet. Whenever possible I aim to eat “single ingredient” food. IF there is a food label on what you are about to eat, you can assume it is NOT a single ingredient food. Think fruits, veggies, beans, nuts, and though I would always encourage you to lean away from animal products an egg, a piece of fish, those are single ingredient foods, too. Keeping our blood pressure at or under 115/76 can make us as much as 12 years younger.
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