Heart rate/gym/diet/etc

[Quincy]

Well, I had my first official gym class today, since um like over a year ago! (before going veggie or vegan)

anyway, my resting heart rate was 50...
then she had us do 3 minutes of brisk stepping, followed by a 60-second break and then we checked out heart rate. she had us do it with partners and both me and my partner counted 58 for me...

she asked if I worked out or had a family history of low blood pressure and my answer was no to both of them.
she seemed kinda perplexed at first, but then said, "you're gonna live a long time!"

so I was wondering, how big of a role can diet play into heart rate/blood pressure?
the last time I had my BP taken was last summer and that was shortly before I officially went veggie. my weight wasn't much higher than it is now, but the doctor did say it was a little bit on the high said. (maybe I was just nervous too?)

so is it all that unusual for someone who doesn't work out all that much to have such a low heart rate?
thanks!

[DieselAmy]

Not entirely sure on heart rate, but I think some folks just are like that. However, a quick search pulled up that a low heart rate can be due to an electrolyte imbalance in ppl with a very restricted diet: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/cardio/archive/1800.html

Low blood pressure runs in some of our family, and I sometimes can't give blood because mine's too low (our blood center requires at least 90/60). It's apparently pretty unusual, and they always ask if I work out a lot (even when I didn't work out and pre-veg*n I had this low BP issue). I've only been veggie a month and my cholesterol seems to have gone down some (never was too high) and BP is doing the same as usual.... will be interesting to see what happens over time.

Talk to your doctor about it to see if it's ok/weird. My guess is she'll say as long as you aren't faint/dizzy it's ok. Are you eating and drinking enough? Not sure how to test for electrolyte imbalance, but you should probably ask your doctor!

You can always keep track of your BP at those free readers at drugstores if you're curious.

Low BP can be due to dehydration, btw.

[Quincy]

thanks,
I'm pretty much on target for everything (health-wise), but I don't always get enough liquids...
my body dehydrates easily and I can easily go through 10 glasses of water a day...