Maintaining your heart health is a process best done early. Here are some useful tips for taking care of your blood pressure in your 20s and 30s.
There are different types of age: chronological age and biological age. Chronological age refers to how many years you’ve been alive. In contrast, biological age refers to how old your body appears according to factors such as genes, biomarkers, and more.
In addition to these two types, researchers focus on a third type called brainAGE. This refers to the difference between your chronological age and the age predicted on brain-imaging data. Furthermore, according to a recent study, blood pressure has a significant impact on your brainAGE.
The study, published in October in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, shows that elevated blood pressure accelerates brain aging. Conversely, optimal blood pressure helps the brain remain six months younger than your chronological age.
“This research was designed to be able to detect subtle effects that might speak to younger populations and to be able to demonstrate that the effects of increasing blood pressure start occurring earlier than one might think and even within the normal range,” says Nicolas Cherbuin, first author of the study.
Cherbuin is the head of the Center for Research, Aging, Health, and Wellbeing at the Australian National University.
Optimal Blood Pressure
While normal blood pressure is less than 120/80, optimal blood pressure is around 110/70. The study examined 2,000 brain scans across a 12-year period in which researchers observed the brainAGE of participants.
Their results show that increasing blood pressure led to poorer brain health and optimal blood pressure led to healthier brains. Moreover, the impact of hypertension can take years to develop, eventually impairing our ability to regulate memory, emotion, and more.
“The main point here is that having an older brain means that we think less clearly, quickly, and efficiently as we might otherwise do,” Cherbuin. “If this is spread over decades it represents a long time during which our cognitive and mental health could be better than it actually is.”
Taking Care of Your Blood Pressure In Your 20s and 30s
If you want to keep your brain young, you need to make optimal blood pressure a personal goal. While it may be difficult, there are things you can do to improve your blood pressure and keep it healthy. For example, you can exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet, avoid sedentary behavior, get restful sleep, avoid smoking, and more.
In addition, you can give your heart health an extra boost by taking supplements like L-arginine Plus. Its ingredients can effectively promote your circulation, blood pressure health, cholesterol, energy levels, and more. Try L-arginine Plus along with the other tips mentioned here to give your blood pressure health the support it needs.