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Corporate Wellness News

The Road to Health: Managing Blood Pressure for Commercial Drivers with Walking and the DASH Diet

For commercial drivers, maintaining good health, particularly in managing blood pressure, is essential. The nature of the job often involves long hours and sedentary periods, making proactive health measures crucial. Implementing a blend of regular walking and adherence to the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet can significantly impact blood pressure levels while aligning with the unique demands of a commercial driver’s lifestyle.

The Challenge for Commercial Drivers

The demanding schedules and the sedentary nature of driving can pose challenges to a driver’s health, particularly regarding blood pressure. Prolonged sitting and potentially irregular eating patterns can contribute to increased blood pressure, underscoring the importance of targeted strategies for managing this vital health marker.

Leveraging Walking for Wellness

1. Schedule Integration:

Given the nature of the job, finding time for structured exercise can be challenging. However, incorporating walking breaks into the day can be remarkably beneficial. Drivers can schedule short breaks during stops or rest periods to engage in brisk walks.

2. Utilizing Rest Stops:

During mandatory breaks or layovers, drivers can utilize the available space for short walks. Whether it’s a stroll around the rest area or nearby paths, these intervals can be instrumental in keeping the body active and aiding in managing blood pressure.

Tailoring the DASH Diet for Drivers

The DASH diet’s principles can be adapted to fit the specific needs and constraints of commercial drivers.

1. Snack Preparation:

Drivers can pre-plan and pack healthier snacks adhering to the DASH diet, such as fruits, nuts, or cut vegetables. This strategy minimizes the reliance on high-sodium, processed snacks commonly found at truck stops.

2. Mindful Eating:

Although eating options might be limited on the road, drivers can make informed choices by selecting meals that align with the DASH diet’s principles. Opting for grilled options, salads, or dishes that contain more vegetables can be a step toward healthier eating.

Safety and Efficacy

It’s important for drivers to ensure that their health strategies, including walking, comply with safety regulations and driving guidelines. Prioritizing safety and adhering to regulations while integrating health measures is crucial.

The Power of Synergy

The fusion of walking and the DASH diet can yield amplified benefits when tailored to the unique circumstances of commercial drivers.

1. Stress Management:

Walking serves as a stress reliever, and combined with the balanced nutrition of the DASH diet, it can mitigate the stress often associated with long hours on the road.

2. Weight Management:

Both walking and the DASH diet aid in weight management, which is crucial for controlling blood pressure. Drivers can benefit from these strategies to maintain a healthy weight.

Conclusion

For commercial drivers, the proactive management of blood pressure through walking and the DASH diet is not just about health—it’s a pivotal aspect of their ability to perform their job optimally. By integrating brief walks into their schedules and making mindful, DASH-aligned dietary choices, drivers can proactively address their blood pressure concerns. This synergy between exercise and nutrition serves not only to manage blood pressure but also contributes to overall well-being, ensuring that drivers can continue their essential work while prioritizing their health. By adopting these practices, drivers can navigate the road to better health, improved blood pressure and pass their DOT Physical in Grand Junction.

Improving Diabetes

Commercial drivers have a tough job. They are away from their home, living in their truck or other unhomely arrangements. Furthermore, they are away from their support system. No matter how you slice it, it’s tough to eat on the road. This article will help give some recommendations on how to make it easy and help you create a plan to get off metformin.

Plan The Journey

Despite the challenges of living and working on the road, there is one thing commercial drivers should know. That one thing is called: Logistics. Metabolism and eating right can be a logistical challenge, but when you create a written plan and verbalize it to a support person you’re going to follow it better. If you have a long, tough trip and you need to get from one side of the country to another you are going to plan it out. If your health is deep down south in the pits and you need to journey to greener pastures, write out the plan for yourself and communicate it someone who cares about you.

Increase Muscle Mass

The need for muscle mass in diabetics and pre-diabetics needs to be encouraged more. We will discuss the obvious things next, but this article is transitioning from forgotten elements to a metformin elimination plan to the common things you hear about.

It’s really simple. The more muscle mass you have the better your body can utilize the sugar and carbohydrates you (and only you) are adding to your body.

Starting with low weight, low repetitions, low sets workout is critical. First, you need to form the habit of exercise. Then you need to get your muscles and joints used to the new activity and then you can focus on pushing it. If you need guidance, there are a ton of options for in-person training, small groups, and remote coaching. Please contact us if you need help. We have programs and are happy to refer you to someone else if our program doesn’t work for you.

Protein

You need carbohydrates and a small amount of sugar. When you eat protein with the carbohydrate, it helps reduce the impact the sugar has on your blood.

Reduce Sugar

Yes, reduce sugar. You probably already know this.

For Diabetics

CLICK HERE if you have a DOT Physical coming up to get your free pre-exam checklist.

Need More Help?

DOT Physical CDL Exam Grand Junction Colorado

If you try these or have tried these and you are not making progress, please reach out. There are additional ways to lower blood pressure beyond supplementing with beets or walking.

For instance, we offer a 12 month nutrition program specifically for commercial drivers. This is a remote program that helps drivers make one better choice at a time and often they lose weight. Our last commercial driver lost 40 pounds in 12 months. Call 970-712-8193 to schedule a free 10-minute consultation. And you get 50% when you sign up within two weeks of your last DOT Physical.

To schedule the most affordable DOT or CDL Physical Medical Exam in Grand Junction, CLICK HERE

Disclaimer

Only make the transition off of using Metformin under the supervision of the prescribing provider.

Highway Health Nutrition Program

DOT-Exam-Grand-JunctionAre you ready to ditch your diet attempts?  Reduce your medications?  Stop feeling so much pain when you get in and out of your seat?  Want to get rid of those achy joints from excess weight?  Ready to look and feel AMAZING but aren’t sure where to start (or REstart)?

Check out this 2-minute video here and let us know what the best part of this transformation could be for you: CLICK – IMPORTANT 2-MINUTE VIDEO

The transformational Highway Health Nutrition Program has arrived! The feedback we’ve had has been lifechanging. One client lost 13 pounds in 3 months and reduced triglycerides levels by 33%.  Another remarked he’s already making improvements in hydration and noticing he feels better with less headaches.

What is included?

It’s a habit-based program with daily videos, audios, articles, and optional workouts. The BIGGEST asset is that you receive UNLIMITED email access to your Certified Nutrition Coach. Coach Diana knows how to support commercial drivers (and supported her husband with losing and keeping off 110 pounds of excess weight). After all, she’s married to a trucker!

What is the commitment?

The Highway Health Nutrition Program is a 12 month commitment. You need long-term improvements, not 5-day crash fixes or 30-day challenges.  Besides, what do you do when those programs finish?  Most people immediately return to their old habits. What typically happens is people work hard for 1 week, but then fall off the wagon. This program is for drivers who really want to make change last and transform their bodies, lives, and families while keeping their career secure.

FREE Consultation

Curious?  Call Certified Health & Wellness Coach Susie today at 970-712-6059 and see if this program may be just the tool you need for your big breakthrough!

Email us at Admin@FirstAidOccHealth.com to find out more.  What are you waiting for? 😉

Eat Slowly for Weight Loss

“Don’t take such big bites!”  “Eat your vegetables!”  “Slow down and chew your food!”  Maybe you heard those words from your Mother while you were were growing up.  I know that I did.  As a child it sounded like momma was just nagging, and maybe she was, but it turns out to be good advice.  Research is showing you should Eat Slowly for Weight Loss.

Most of us think about food, A LOT.  What are we going to eat?  Where are we going to eat?  Who are we going to eat with?  Do we need to shop or cook before we eat and the list goes on and on.  Even though we spend so much time thinking about the food we are going to eat, or the food we just enjoyed, we seldom stop to think about what happens in our bodies after we eat, or why it matters.

Let me explain it this way.  Think of a symphony and all the different players that are involved.  It is like that in our bodies. It is complicated and beautifully precise.  Chewing is the first step of digestion and signals the rest of the digestive organs to prepare to play their parts.  As we chew the digestive enzymes, amylase and lipase, are secreted by the salivary glands and mixed with our food. Just like in a symphony, not all player are playing at the same time.  Chewing slowly gives time for the stomach to prepare to play their part by secreting stomach acids, mucus, enzymes, and bile.  Just an interesting fact.  The main acid secreted by the stomach is hydrochloric acid and it has the same pH as battery acid.  This not only breaks down our food but also destroys most of the pathogenic bacteria that we swallow with our food.

As partially digested food leaves our stomach and enters our small intestine it is mixed with alkaline bicarbonate – based fluid that originates in the pancreas and helps to neutralize all that stomach acid.  The pancreas also secretes the hormone insulin with is necessary to  digest carbohydrate.  The gallbladder stores bile, that is produced by the liver and aids in the digestion of fat.  The liver “inspects” most of our nutrients as well as pathogens and decides what to send on through our system for energy and what to destroy and eliminate from our body.

People eat food and not nutrients, so it is important to realize how different food choices affect our body.  For instance a glass of apple juice and a apple will both end up as glucose in our blood stream, however there are some key differences in their effects on our body.  Because of the higher fiber content in an apple it is eaten and digested much more slowly.  This results in less glucose being present in the blood at one time.  Less insulin is  released and less fat is likely to be stored.  The same comparison can be make between table sugar and whole wheat bread.  

Maybe you have heard the phrase “garbage in, garbage out” when referring to a poorly designed computer program.  Our bodies are no different.  Giving our bodies high quality, whole, live foods like fruits and vegetables does make a difference in our health and well being.  

So belly up to the table with someone you love and enjoy some great conversation and delicious food.  Chew slowly and let the symphony inside of you make beautiful music just for you.  Bon Apetit.!

Importance of Fish Oils for Commercial Drivers

The importance of fish oils for Commercial Drivers cannot be understated.  You have probably heard that having too much saturated fat in your diet is not healthy for you, but do you know why?  There are many reasons to strive for a healthy balance between saturated fat, Mono and polyunsaturated fats as well as Omega 3 fatty acids in your diet, and I am going to tell you just a couple of them.

Did you know that a 150 pound human body has approximately 100 Trillion cells and all of those cells must work together in order to promote life?  When we eat a diet high in saturated fats it makes the cell membranes more rigid and less flexible, affecting their ability to carry out cellular communication. By eating a diet with the proper balance of polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats we help our cell membranes to remain more fluid and more flexible.

A great example of why it is important that our cell membranes remain fluid is the relationship between fluid cell membranes and insulin sensitivity.  When our cells are rigid and tightly packed they often have a stronger resistance to insulin, which leads to higher concentration of insulin in the blood. When all that insulin can’t get into the cell where it is needed to break down the glucose from the foods we eat, it increases our risk for developing Type II Diabetes and prediabetes.

Another cool thing happens when we include dietary Omega-3 fats in our diets, especially when we get it from fish oils.  Fish oils can cause our cells to break down fat in a different part of the cell than normal.  When fat is broken down  in the Peroxisomes instead of the Mitochondrion it causes more fat to be broken down to produce the same amount of energy.  This means that more fat is burned to do the same daily activities. If you are trying to maintain a healthy body composition that can be very good news.

Fish Oils Grand Junction DOT Physical

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