Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Health News: Malunggay and Blood Pressure

While in the grocery last weekend, my husband and I agreed it was time to go to the next stage in our son's milk supplement. From Enfagrow 3 A+, we decided to go to its next step which is Enfakid A+ Stage 4. That night, many things crossed my mind and realized time indeed really flies fast. He is definitely off to nursery next year immediately after he turns 4 years old.

Meanwhile, I found out just recently that a malunggay tree sits in the backyard of our compound. Malunggay (Moringa, Sajina) is a kind of green vegetable that has triple the iron of spinach and more attributes than olive oil. Studies show a cup of malunggay has 400 grams of calcium while a cup of milk has 350 grams of calcium. The malunggay leaves are excellent sources of vitamin C, iron, protein, potassium, magnesium and zinc. This is why I was advised to eat as many malunggay as possible when I gave birth, to produce more breast milk for my baby. Now it will please me more to have dishes with malunggay in it from now on. We can start with chicken tinola by garnishing it with malunggay leaves.


Also, today's Philippine Star health section covers the new guidelines for hypertension and diabetes. It is good for us to know the baselines for when taking our blood pressure. We may notice everytime we visit our doctor, our blood pressure and pulse rate are taken preceding the consultation proper. During my birthday last week, my husband gifted me with this personal blood pressure wrist monitor. I found it so cute and so useful so that everyday, we monitor our blood pressure and pulse rate to ensure everything is okay.


The revised national blood pressure goals (top number is systolic/bottom number is diastolic) are: Normal if less than 120/less than 80; Prehypertension if 120-139/80-89; High blood pressure (HBP) if 140-higher/100-higher. To translate, a blood pressure reading of 120/80mmHg (millimeters in mercury) is considered normal, and likewise, a reading of 140/90mmHg or higher is considered high blood pressure.

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