Being Proactive About Your Health

Typically there are two types of patients. Patients that are diligent about their health care needs and are invested in what the medical provider offers. The other type of patients are reactive and will only follow up with a medical provider when there is a health care crisis. Our view of health tends to help lay the medical road map to what health care needs lies ahead.

At Jupiter Internal Medicine Associates, our medical team encourages our patients to look into what preventive healthcare services are available to you and your family. Primary healthcare shouldn’t be looked at as a reactive service that should be used to help you recover, but rather as a proactive service used to prevent diseases.

Preventative medical care is just as important as reactive medical treatment, if not more so. According to the CDC, chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are responsible for 7 out of 10 deaths in the United States each year. Many of these deaths are preventable through proactive treatment. Below is a helpful list of six preventive medical services that can help you improve your health, and avoid chronic diseases.

Regular Medical Checkups

Regular Checkups- It is essential for people to make regular doctor appointments, especially when they are healthy so that they can stay healthy. Doctors can point out habits that you have that will keep you healthy and point out some bad habits that potentially derail your health. Going to the doctor on a regular basis is a way to catch a chronic disease early and will give yourself a better chance to overcome it. For example, if you go to the doctor’s office and are diagnosed with stage one cancer, you have a much better chance of beating it then if you were diagnosed with the cancer too late.

Monitoring Your Blood Pressure

Blood Pressure Monitoring- High blood pressure is not good for your heart. If you monitor your blood pressure regularly, you can instill habits that will lower your blood pressure -such as exercising and changing your diet- to help prevent any heart conditioned caused by high blood pressure.

Check Your Cholesterol

Cholesterol Tests- Like high blood pressure, high cholesterol is not good for your heart. Being able to test your cholesterol levels early will help you catch diseases early or prevent them all together by changing dietary habits.

Monitoring Your Blood Sugar

Diabetes- According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), in 2015 30.3 million Americans (9.1% of the population) had diabetes. Diabetes affects 1 in 4 people over 65 years old. Use your primary healthcare provider to test your blood sugar levels to be sure that you do not have diabetes.

Establish Annual Cancer Screenings

Cancer Screenings- Cancer screenings are covered under most primary healthcare providers, and usually serve to find breast cancer, cervical cancer and colorectal cancer. Like previously mentioned, early detection is the key to beating cancer.

Monitoring Your Weight

Obesity- Your doctor can tell you if your weight and body fat levels are normal, or if you are considered obese. Obesity can lead to many diseases such as heart attacks, diabetes, and others. It is critical that your doctor knows if you are obese, so that you can collaborate on a plan to beat it.

Nearly 1 in 3 American adults have high blood pressure. Treating high blood pressure does not have to challenging with the help of Jupiter Internal Medicine Associates. The dangers of high blood pressure is not as widespread as it should be, and treatments are even less so. The DASH diet should be widespread to combat high blood pressure.

Consequences of High Blood Pressure

It is extremely important to understand the consequences of high blood pressure before going into different ways to fight it. There are many factors that contribute to high blood pressure such as age, weight, sex, diet, stress and genetics to name a few. If blood pressure gets too high, the heart has to work harder which can lead to a heart attack. The DASH diet aims to lower the risk of high blood pressure.

DASH is an acronym for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (high blood pressure). The physicians at Jupiter Internal Medicine Associates may refer to the DASH diet during your medical appointment. This diet encourages to lower your sodium by mixing in potassium, calcium and magnesium into your daily intake. Food groups such as fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods are emphasized within this diet. Foods like sweets, white wheats, and alcohol are not eliminated but rather limited.

Americans and the DASH Diet

The average American eats up to 3,400 milligrams of sodium, while the DASH diet allows you to consume 2,300 milligrams of sodium. According to the World Health Organization, salt intake of less than 5 grams per day helps to reduce blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular disease. Some tips to lower your sodium include using sodium-free spices rather than salt, and not adding salt into your pasta or rice. Look for products labeled “no salt added,” or “low sodium” in your local grocery store to help lower your sodium intake.

Grains -such as pasta, bread, and cereals- should be limited to 6-8 servings a day. In general, look for grains that you can see the seeds. For example, whole grain bread you can see the seeds sprouted, where as the white bread there are not seeds visible. Another way to look at it is the darker the grain the better. Look for products labeled “100% whole grain.”

Try to eat like a bird. Snacking on seeds and legumes -such as almonds, sunflower seeds, kidney beans, peas, and lentils- are great sources of protein, and are good fats (unsaturated). The DASH diet recommends 4-5 servings a week.

While fats have a bad reputation, they are important to absorb vitamins and to build up your immune system. Unsaturated fats -such as nuts, and avocados- are good fats that are essential for your immune system (as opposed to saturated fats such as cake, and creamer). 2-3 servings of fats and oils a day is important towards maintaining a balanced diet with DASH.

Limit Sweets and Alcohol Consumption Can Lower Your Blood Pressure

Limiting your sweets, and alcohol consumption will lower your blood pressure levels. Getting rid of sweets all together is not recommended, but rather limit them. Try switching to fat-free or low-fat sweets, and using artificial sweeteners -such as Splenda- to replace sugar. The same can be said for alcohol: You don’t need to eliminate it, but rather cut back. Men should limit their alcohol to no more than two drinks and women to one or less.

Tips to Following a DASH Diet While Living with Hypertension

There are a few strategies to utilize when you start the DASH diet. It is really important to not thrust yourself into the diet. You need to start slow and implement maybe 2 or 3 of these tips for the first week or so, and gradually add on. Attempting everything the DASH diet has to offer in the first week would be a shock to your body, and extremely hard to maintain. Starting slow will allow your body to adapt, leading to a more sustainable plan.

Another tip is to try and do this diet with someone who you trust and love. Having a support system and someone to hold you accountable to your diet will be very valuable to you both in the short and long run.

And finally, stay positive. You are going to have mistakes and hard times during the beginning stages of this diet. Just keep in mind that this will be a long process and will be extremely beneficial to your body.

Author: Charlie Von Werne