6 Steps to Lower Blood Pressure and Cholesterol ...and make your heart smile (Paperback)

The author, Brian M Stratton, writes: "I wanted this to be a book that was written from the heart. And it is - both literally and metaphorically. It focuses on helping the heart to stay fit and healthy, thereby reducing the risk of a stroke or heart attack. It's a first hand account of how I discovered I had high blood pressure and cholesterol, and the steps I took to reduce both. This was managed by looking at diet, lifestyle and exercise and managing these accordingly. With the diet element one of the things that made the most difference was cutting out salt and sugar. These two ingredients are acknowledged as the 'killers' in our food - especially salt. They are added to foodstuffs in production, but with the traffic-light system on food packaging it's relatively straightforward to monitor and regulate the amount of salt and sugar that you consume. Exercise is important and can take the form of walking, cycling, swimming - whatever works for you and whatever you find enjoyable. When beginning to exercise it can seem daunting but a saying that can help is: 'You don't have to see the whole staircase, just look at the first six steps.' The main thing is to make a start, no matter how small, and develop a routine from there. Regarding lifestyle, it was a question of reducing stress, and one phrase that resonates is: 'Don't let some random person be the cause of your death', which means not allowing petty matters - such as a row over a parking space - to escalate to the point where it raises your blood pressure to the extent that it triggers a stroke or heart attack. So, to summarise, I wanted it to be a book that gave advice and guidance towards a healthier lifestyle, but without preaching about it or being 'holier-than-thou'. I'd always be the first to say: "Why should I do that?" or: "Who says?" so I was conscious not to be 'telling' but just offering ideas, guidelines and different ways of looking at developing a healthy respect for our own well-being. This includes taking responsibility for our own health, rather than relying on others. I'm not a doctor or medically trained, just an ordinary person writing for other ordinary people in a style that is easy-to-understand, and written in plain English with no medical jargon or mumbo-jumbo."