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THURSDAY, Aug. 14 (HealthDay News) -- For people with high blood pressure, exercise can be the most important lifestyle change they can make, researchers say.

Yet two-thirds of doctors don't take the time to tell their patients with high blood pressure about the importance of exercise and physical activity, a new study finds.

"Patients do follow physician recommendations to exercise when instructed to, and patients who follow exercise recommendations tend to have lower systolic blood pressures than those who do not," said lead researcher Dr. Josiah Halm, a hypertension specialist at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

The findings are published in the summer issue of Ethnicity & Disease.

For the study, Halm's team collected data on 17,474 people who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Among these people, 4,686 reported having high blood pressure.

The researchers found that only slightly more than one-third of the people with high blood pressure said their doctor had told them to increase physical activity as a way of bringing down their blood pressure.

Yet, 71 percent of patients with high blood pressure saw a drop in their blood pressure when they increased their physical activity, which means that they listened when doctors told them to exercise more, according to the report.

"Non-pharmacological methods such as exercising are important in improving blood pressure control on a population level as this study looked at the cross-section of the U.S. population," Halm said.

Studies have shown that small changes in blood pressure -- 2 to 3 mmHg -- could result in a 25 percent to 50 percent decrease in the incidence of high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, Halm said. "That would result in an annual reduction of stroke, coronary heart disease and all-cause mortality by 6 percent, 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively," he said.

Exercise -- as part of a comprehensive lifestyle-modification program including weight loss, low-salt diet, diets rich in fruits and vegetables and low in saturated fats -- has beneficial effects on blood pressure, Halm said.

"It is thus appropriate to recommend exercise as most patients will follow their physician recommendations and this is associated with improved blood pressure control and likely a reduction in the morbidity and mortality associated with uncontrolled blood pressure," he said.

Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, thinks more needs to be done to get patients to make lifestyle changes that will reduce their blood pressure.

"Despite clinical trial evidence and national guideline recommendations for exercise counseling to be provided for patients with high blood pressure, this study demonstrates that only one-third of these eligible patients received exercise counseling," he said.

"Much more needs to be done to ensure that patients with high blood pressure receive appropriate counseling on lifestyle change -- including counseling on the importance of regular aerobic exercise -- from their physicians," Fonarow said.

More information

For more on high blood pressure, visit the American Heart Association  .

TUESDAY, Aug. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Eating eggs may help overweight adults lose weight and feel more energetic, according to U.S. researchers.

Their two-month study of overweight or obese adults, ages 25 to 60, found that those who ate two eggs for breakfast as part of a calorie-reduced diet lost 65 percent more weight, had a 61 percent greater reduction in body mass index, and had higher energy levels than those who ate bagels for breakfast.

Blood levels of HDL ("good") and LDL ("bad") cholesterol, as well as triglycerides, remained the same in both groups.

"People have a hard time adhering to diets, and our research shows that choosing eggs for breakfast can dramatically improve the success of a weight loss plan. Apparently, the increased satiety and energy due to eggs helps people better comply with a reduced-calorie diet," lead researcher Nikhil V. Dhurandhar said in an Egg Nutrition news release. Dhurandhar is an associate professor in the laboratory of infection and obesity at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, a campus of the Louisiana State University system,

The study, funded by the industry-affiliated Egg Nutrition Center, was published online last week in the International Journal of Obesity.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about weight loss  .

MONDAY, Aug. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Living a healthy lifestyle can cut your risk of stroke by about 80 percent, new research suggests.

Women who pursued healthy habits -- not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly and drinking moderate amounts of alcohol -- had a 79 percent reduced risk of any stroke, and an 81 percent decreased risk of ischemic stroke. Men living healthy lives cut their overall risk of stroke by 69 percent and their risk of ischemic stroke by 80 percent. An ischemic stroke is the most common type of stroke, and it occurs when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked.

"We've previously found that a low-risk lifestyle was very important in preventing coronary heart disease and diabetes, and now we've also found that these healthy habits can lower your risk of stroke," said study author Stephanie Chiuve, a research associate in the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.

The findings are published in the Aug. 26 issue of Circulation.

In the United States, stroke remains the third leading cause of death, and a major cause of permanent disability, according to the study.

Using data from the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, Chiuve and her colleagues included more than 71,000 women and almost 44,000 men for the new study. The study contained information gathered every two years on smoking status, weight, physician-diagnosed information on high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and the use of medications, including aspirin and vitamin E supplements. Physical activity was assessed with a questionnaire.

The researchers defined a low-risk lifestyle by five factors: not smoking; at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity on most days; drinking no more than a glass of alcohol daily for women and up to two for men (one drink is 4 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer, or one-and-a-half ounces of hard liquor); having a body-mass index under 25 in middle age; and eating a healthy diet, which means a higher intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, soy, nuts and more lean meat, along with taking a multivitamin for at least five years.

Individually, any one of these factors can have an impact on your stroke risk. For example, the study found that quitting smoking reduced the risk of stroke by about 50 percent, while having a glass of alcohol each day can cut the risk by 10 percent.

But, when all healthy lifestyle factors were combined, the risk of stroke dropped by about 80 percent.

"A healthy lifestyle is associated with an 80 percent lower risk for ischemic stroke compared to people who have none of these lifestyle factors," said Chiuve, who added that "more than half of ischemic strokes might have been prevented if everyone adhered to these healthy lifestyle factors."

Dr. Paul Cullis, chief of neurology at St. John Hospital in Detroit, said, "These things you can do yourself without your doctor's intervention are very important in making you healthier. This study tells us that we're in the driver's seat, and hopefully gets people more engaged in the process of trying to make themselves healthier."

More information

The American Heart Association has more advice on what you can do to reduce your risk of stroke and heart attack  .

MONDAY, July 21 (HealthDay News) -- With the exception of housing, and maybe gassing up your car, groceries are likely the next biggest expense in your family's budget. And increasingly, food is gobbling up more and more of the average Americans income.

During all of 2007, food prices rose almost 5 percent. Then, in just the first five months of 2008, food prices jumped 6.3 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

So, does this mean your family has to forgo meat and fresh produce, or head to the drive-thru to get a less-healthful but possibly less expensive meal?

Definitely not, said nutritionist Holly Scherer, from the University of Michigan Health System.

"If you're buying the basic ingredients to make a well-balanced meal, it's much less expensive to make it at home than to go to a fast food restaurant," said Scherer.

For example, in the New York metropolitan-area, a fast food meal for four, including two adult-sized specialty hamburger meals and two kid-sized hamburger meals with fries and sodas totals around $18. At the grocery store, the ingredients for similar meals, with leftovers, would cost about $14. If meat were on sale, the cost would be even less.

But, does saving money on food mean you have to sacrifice time? Not always, said Scherer. Buying a store brand instead of a name brand can save money, as can buying certain products when they're on sale and freezing them. Scherer said that's an ideal strategy for saving money on meat, which can be one of the most expensive items in your food budget. Buy meat in bulk when it's on sale and separate it into freezer bags and freeze it to use at a later date, she advised.

And having a meatless meal -- using beans or eggs instead of meat -- once or twice a week can also shave dollars off your food budget without draining your time.

The National Institutes of Health also suggests signing up for your local grocery store's frequent shopper card so you can qualify for additional savings. And, the NIH said, shopping without the kids will likely save you money by cutting down on those impulse purchases.

Don't always automatically reach for the largest container either; it's not always the best buy. Instead, compare the unit prices for each size, and buy the size with the lowest per ounce or per pound price.

Another big area where families can save is on beverages. Use tap water instead of bottled water, Scherer said. If you don't like the taste of your local water, buy a filtered pitcher or a filter for your faucet. Even with the cost of the filters, you'll save money over bottled water, she said.

Another big savings idea is to buy large sizes of snacks and create your own 100-calories packs at home. A bag of chips can easily break down into a dozen or more servings, while just five or six single serving snack packs cost the same amount, giving you twice as much food for the same price.

For those a little more ambitious and dedicated to saving money, growing your own fruits and vegetables is a great way to save money, Scherer said. Plants cost only a few dollars and can grow many times that amount in fresh produce.

The most important factor in saving money on food, said Scherer, is planning. "Look at sales; make a list; a little planning really can make a big difference in how much you spend at the grocery store."

More information

The University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension program offers more advice on stretching your food dollars  .