Filed under: Women's Health, Men's Health, Diet & Nutrition
A great physique. A chic pixie 'do. Glowing skin. A thriving Hollywood career.
Yep, to look at the 'Southland' star - who turns 40 on Saturday - you'd never guess that she is combating two health conditions that are thorns in the side of many African Americans: high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
"I definitely know that if I was not a very active person, I would have been diagnosed with it sooner. My sisters are not as active as me and all of them had been diagnosed with high blood pressure before I was," says King, who was diagnosed in August.
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, occurs when the force of the blood against the artery wall becomes excessively high. It's reportedly more prevalent in African Americans, with more than 40 percent affected by it, according to the American Heart Association. The medical community doesn't have a definitive explanation behind hypertension's higher occurrence in African Americans but does cite stress, obesity, alcohol overconsumption, physical inactivity, smoking and diabetes as controllable risk factors for it.
Virtually showing no symptoms, high blood pressure is called the 'silent killer' because most people don't realize they have it until they develop another ailment like stroke or heart attack.
But those factors weren't an issue for King. She developed high blood pressure through heredity - her parents and grandfather also had it. A higher blood pressure reading during a routine physical exam at the end of 2009 alerted King that something was amiss. Her physician monitored her blood pressure to make sure it wasn't a fluke and officially diagnosed her with hypertension after it remained high for several months.
And that's just exactly what the former '227' star did. King, who's always been athletic, took action by continuing her dedicated workout schedule of two hours, three times - four, if she's lucky - a week and opting for a natural approach to keep her blood pressure from surging. Every morning she downs a tasty cocktail of Açaí berry juice, CoQ10 (which improves cardiovascular health) and Vitamin C.
"It reduced my blood pressure significantly. I personally try to avoid taking any prescribed things. If I don't have to take it, I'd rather not, so I'm happy that this is working out," King says of her daily drink.
King knows the consequences of not addressing hypertension right away; her 61-year-old sister died last month from a high blood pressure-related illness. So in King's eyes, there's just no way around it: get regular physical exams and commit to improving your well-being.
"It's got to be a lifestyle change. It's not going to be something simple. You've got to live a different way for the rest of your life," she insists.
"Pretty much the majority of dairy is out of my diet. For me, dairy was the biggest culprit," says King, who made this discovery through process of elimination. She removed meat and eggs from her diet, but didn't notice a significant decrease in her cholesterol levels until she eliminated dairy. That meant out with cow milk and in with rice milk. And her beloved cheese had to go, too.
"I took the dairy out and [my cholesterol readings] dropped tremendously. Then I added things like flaxseed oil and Omega-3 and that helped to reduce my cholesterol as well," says King, a true turophile who may have a smidgen of a cheesy dish every now and then.
Don't know if you could commit to working out, dietary changes or taking other steps to lower your blood pressure or cholesterol levels? King has a message for you:
"Love yourself. If you can't find that to be reason enough to stay on top of your health, then, for most of us who are in our 40s, who are mothers - you want to be here to see your grandkids and see your kids do some amazing things."