High Blood Pressure Be Gone

Archive for the ‘hypertension dialogues’ Category

High hopes for a quick-fix

When I was first diagnosed with high blood pressure (160/110) I realized I had to make some changes. I had read somewhere that garlic was helpful to lower blood pressure and too much salt raised it.  So I reduced my salt consumption and ate garlic everyday hoping that would fix it.

It didn’t. My blood pressure remained high and later on went up to 190+.

You see, we all want a simple, quick fix to our problems. But the fact is that when it comes to high blood pressure it’s not quite so straightforward.

Here are your options …

Lower blood pressure with diet.

For example, I was asked the other day,  “Does cayenne pepper reduce blood pressure?”  Yes, cayenne has been shown to be beneficial to your heart and circulatory system. And yes, cayenne can help reduce your blood pressure. But no, simply taking a dose of cayenne everyday probably isn’t going to be the answer to your blood pressure problems.

The same could be said for other beneficial foods and  such as garlic, celery, oatmeal, bananas, apples, tomatoes, onions, dark chocolate, you-name-it. All these foods can assist in reducing your blood pressure and getting your body back in balance. But they can’t do it by themselves.

Mind you,  I’m talking about seriously high blood pressure here. Sure, any one of these foods eaten daily might help reduce your blood pressure a few points. But is that going to be much consolation to someone banging in at 175+ systolic?

Medications – quick, but no fix

If you think prescription medication is the simple fix for high blood pressure, think again. The pharmaceutical industry has yet to produce a drug that cures high blood pressure.

Sure, there are pills that can lower your blood pressure – if you continue to take them day after day. But it’s not a real cure because your blood pressure will shoot back up if you stop taking them regularly. Add to that all the unpleasant side effects many of us suffer from taking these drugs and you can see why alternative methods of  lowering your blood pressure naturally are better.

Additionally, when you consider the statistic that more people die of heart disease while on anti-hypertension medications than those who aren’t on them, you realise that these medications don’t offer the protection that we might have hoped for.

How to lower blood pressure naturally

If you have high blood pressure and want to lower it without medications (or make a gradual shift from medications to natural cures), here’s the skinny: you have to move to a healthier diet and compliment it with exercises.

Simply reducing salt consumption and eating a clove of garlic a day won’t cut it.

But don’t despair.  Reducing your blood pressure naturally isn’t rocket science. Anyone can do it.

And no, you’re not going to have to give up everything pleasurable in life and live like a monk.

The truth is, once you start shifting to a healthy blood pressure lifestyle you’ll find yourself enjoying life more, not less. Remember, good health is the underpinning of real  happiness and pleasure.

In a nutshell, you can lower your blood pressure naturally by:

• lowering your stress levels through meditation, Yoga, etc. (I prefer to use slow breathing exercises).
• get your heart beating and blood flowing through physical exercise such as walking, jogging, sking, etc. (I climb the hill behind my house regularly).
• eat less “bad” foods such as table salt, trans-fats, etc.
• eat more “good” foods such as vegetables, olive oil, fruit, etc.

That’s basically it. Using these techniques I have managed to lower my dangerously high blood pressure of 195 over 120 range in March (2009) to  125 over 85 range in the course of 4 to 5 months.

Help is at hand

I got guidance from  Kevin Riley’s excellent 12 week program for lowering high blood pressure. It comes in a thoroughly enjoyable book called  Get Natural!. Combined with doing the  BreathEasy slow breathing exercises my blood pressure began to drop week by week.

If you want to lower your blood pressure quickly and naturally you can get both these programs through this link – www.highbloodpressurehq.com (Last time I checked Get Natural! was offered as a free bonus with the BreathEasy audio program).

Ypu can try out out some BreathEasy audio samples if you’re skeptical like I was.

But I got to say, using these two programs  worked wonders for me. I feel better – physically and mentally. No more high blood pressure worries.

BreathEasy is the closest thing to a “quick fix” for high blood pressure you’re going to get. You blood pressure will drop even after doing a 15 minute slow breathing exercise.

Of course for a permanent cure to high blood pressure time and commitment is needed – along with a more comprehensive lifestyle change. But for the here and now, you cant any better than BreathEasy exercises.

Here’s to your future good health!

Take care,

Simon Foster

By the way, if taking 15 minutes a day to do a slow breathing exercise isn’t ‘your thing’ you can download Kevin Riley’s Get Natural! direct from his website through this link:  www.naturalbloodpressure.com

Oatmeal makes a comeback

Oatmeal used to be a standard breakfast dish back in the ‘good ol’ days’ but has now been largely replaced by sugary cereals. From a health perspective this has been a big mistake. A bowl of oatmeal every morning is a great way to start the day. And it especially helpful in restoring balance to your cardio-vascular system and lowering your blood pressure.

Of course the are other ways to eat oatmeal than in porridge. You can add oats to your cooking – bread, meatloaf, deserts – use your imagination.

Mind you, oats never had a reputation of fine dining.

In 1755 Samuel Johnson described oats as “A grain which, in England, is generally given to horses, but which in Scotland supports the people”.

The Scot’s reply? “That’s why England has such good horses and Scotland has such fine men!”

Get Natural!  by Kevin Riley

Oatmeal gets FDA approval

In 1996 oatmeal was the first food that was granted by the FDA the right to make a specific health claim. The US Food and Drug Administration approved the health claim “Diets low in saturated fats and cholesterol that provide 3g or more per day in soluble fiber from oat bran, oatmeal, or whole oat flour may reduce the risk of heart disease.”

Overall, this wonder food reduces cholesterol, lowers blood pressure, and reduces the risk of heart problems. Study after study has shown this to be true.

How oatmeal works to lower blood pressure

There are a number of things in oats that contribute to your cardio-vascular health but it is thought that the water soluble fiber beta-gluten provides the most benefits. This gel slows down rates of digestion of other foods and helps keep your blood sugars down as well as keeping your insulin levels normal – resulting in lower blood pressure.

Oats also lowers cholesterol. In one test called The smart Heart Challenge hundreds of people ate one bowl of oatmeal a day and after a month. Afterwards 70% of the volunteers had lower cholesterol levels. The Journal of American Medical Association reported that the fiber beta-gluten found in oats is as effective in reducing cholesterol as statin drug treatment.

Eat oatmeal every day!

Need I say more? Give your cardio-vascular system a present, every morning, with a bowl of oatmeal. Here’s how i make it: One cup of water, one handful of oats, one big dollup of honey into a pot. Bring to a boil and then turn off the heat and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Add a chopped up banana and enjoy. There is no better way than to start your day.

Lowering your blood pressure naturally without the use of (or in addition to) prescription medications is fifty percent diet and fifty percent exercise.

Start lowering your blood pressure today

The good news is that there’s a way to lower your blood pressure naturally without taking medications and putting up with side effects.

But the catch is that it doesn’t come as a magic pill and takes some time and practice. It also requires a change in diet and lifestyle.

If you need to lower your blood pressure, and want to accomplish it without taking medications, I can give no better recommendation than Kevin Riley’s 12 week program  Get Natural! Following this program I managed to lower my blood pressure from 190+/120+ to 125/85 in less than 12 weeks.

Get Natural! is both easy to follow, fun to read, and it works.

Get Natural! comes as a free bonus as part of the BreathEasy slow breathing exercise program.

I would personally endorse the BreathEasy program too. I do a 15 minute slow breathing exercise most nights before bed. It’s very relaxing and even in the span of 15 minutes by blood pressure will drop 10 points or more.

You can check out some free samples of  BreathEasy audio tracks at this link:  www.highbloodpressurehq.com

These two programs have worked wonders for me.

Acupuncture is an ancient and respected form of treatment of a variety of aliments. Practiced for thousands of years in the east is still a controversial but accepted form of treatment here in the West.

A poll of American doctors in 2005 showed that 59% believe acupuncture was at least somewhat effective. As of 2004, nearly 50% of Americans who were enrolled in employer health insurance plans were covered for acupuncture treatments. – wikipedia

Acupuncture involves the insertion of needles into specific nervepoints below the skin. Acupressure works on the same principles as acupuncture except pressure is applied through massage with fingers rather than the insertion of needles.

Below is a list of the main acupuncture / acupressure points believed to “improve your blood pressure” as cited on  www.damazen.com the website of a Dharma-Zen Tai Chi studio in Calgary Alberta.

Yongquan

Located on the mid-line of the sole of the foot, 2/3 of the way forward from the back of the heel. First warm up your hands by rubbing them briskly together. Then use your right hand to rub your left foot. One rub is from heel to toe then back again to the heel. In total rub your foot thirty six times, then switch. After rubbing both your feet, use a thumb to press your foot’s Yongquan point. With medium force and speed, rub in a tiny circle thirty six times. Then stimulate your other foot’s Yngquan point in the same manner.

Baihui

A‘cross-road’ point on the vertex, belonging to the Du Mai channel. It is located at the top of the head, in line with the ears. Hold 5 fingers of each hand into a point, tap at Baihui lightly, alternating hands (left, right, left, right) for three minutes. Once in the morning and again at night.

Fengchi

These points (left & right) are found at the base of your skull where it meets with your spine. They’re commonly used for treatment of the common cold, the flu, headaches, neck pain, regulating blood pressure and blood circulation. Lace your fingers together, thumbs pointing up. Swing your hands to the back of your head so your thumbs rest just below your skull in the little hollows beside the central muscles along your spine. With medium force and speed, rub in tiny circles thirty six times

Well there you have it according to Dharma-Zen Tai Chi. I’ve never used acupuncture myself although I have massaged the Fendchi points cited above to ward off headaches – with good results. There is certainly more to manipulating the nervous system than meets the eye.

Has anyone used acupuncture or acupressure to help regulate their blood pressure? Has it worked? Share the wealth.

I can state that certain diets and exercises can lower blood pressure back to healthy levels without the need of medications. I’m living proof of that fact. For more information on what works see my Alternative Cures Reviews.

Is there a relationship between blood pressure and sex?

According to the authors of ‘Low Pressure Sex‘ there is. They make the connection from two different perspectives. They claim you can

“… radically increase your sex drive and sexual performance … by lowering your blood pressure”

Authors Frank Mangano and Jon Benson go on to argue that a side effect of many blood pressure drugs is to dampen your sex drive.They also argue that high blood pressure itself can be a block to sexual ardor.

In short, their program is designed to get you off blood pressure medications, lower your blood pressure, and heighten your libido.

Sounds good … or is it just hype wrapped around the old standard “sex sells”? Well there does seem to be a connection between sex and blood pressure – at least for men.

Viagra, the infamous pill to increase erectile strength and duration was first designed as a drug to lower blood pressure. It was only after test subjects began to report erections as a side effect that it was re-branded and marketed as a sexual stimulant.

The bottom line is that to achieve an erection you must have adequate blood flow to the penis. High blood pressure, it is argued, impedes blood flow and makes erections harder to achieve if not impossible. That’s the bottom line as I understand it.

In Low Pressure Sex Mangano and Benson go further and claim that high blood pressure can destroy sexual urges in women too – although it’s not clear on what that premise is based.

I’ve only recently come across this program so can’t endorse or dismiss it from personal experience but does lowering your blood pressure result in better sex? I’d have to say yes, my sex life is better since lowering my blood pressure through natural means. Not that I went from a complete flop to a rock hard sex machine. I didn’t get any younger. But perhaps an increase in stamina and pleasure.

Mind you, in Mangano’s program Low Pressure Sex program includes two books and an audio tape:

• Low Pressure Sex
• Revolutionary Sex
• Natural “Blue Pill” audio

By the way, my girlfriend thinks I should get get this program and ‘try it out’. But I can’t help thinking there’s an element of self-interest in her suggestion.

If you have used Mangano’s Low Pressure Sex please leave a thumbs up or down review in the comment section. There’s nothing better than hearing from a person who’s ‘been there, done that’.

What are high blood pressure causes? As they say, that’s the 64 thousand dollar question.  According to medical science, the causes of the vast majority of high blood pressure cases remains ‘unknown’.

That doesn’t mean that they don’t have a clue. Not at all. it just means they can’t prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was this of that that causes a person to develop high blood pressure. Indeed, the causes of high blood pressure is neither that simple nor evident. (It’s a lot more than simply eating too much salt )

But anyway you look at it is always comes back to this: genetics. The indisputable fact is that some people have high blood pressure ‘in the family’, other don’t. (I firmly belong to the former group).

Here’s an example from my life, today:

My girlfriend is a heavy smoker (although she’d probably deny that ), she gets easily stressed; can be very high strung at times; her diet is far from exemplary from a healthy blood pressure perspective. In short, her lifestyle has all the ingredients of a high blood pressure victim.

But the fact is, her blood pressure is usually too low and she can even suffer from dizzy spells sometimes as it can dip below 90/60. High blood pressure simply isn’t in her genes and there is probably nothing she could do to get it.

Me, on the other hand, non-smoking, OK diet, and comparatively relaxed and calm disposition was banging in at 195/120 last winter (before I got it down through natural methods of diet and exercise i discuss in this blog.)

So what gives? The fact is, my girlfriend’s family doesn’t have a history of blood pressure whereas mine does. I am genetically predisposed to develop high blood pressure whereas she is not. It doesn’t seem fair but that’s just the way it is.

Mind you, I am not saying that if you are genetically predisposed to get high blood pressure there is nothing you can do about it. I’m living proof that you can lower your blood pressure regardless, without even going on medications. Being genetically predisposed towards hypertension means you have to exercise greater diligence and expend further effort to ensure your blood pressure levels remain within a healthy range.

I also don’t mean to imply that genetics is the only cause of high blood pressure. If you are a chain-smoker, live on the couch, and are obese through a diet of processed foods and heavy salt consumption then it is highly likely that you have high blood pressure and the causes of your high blood pressure are due to your lifestyle.

Yes, a poor lifestyle can lead to hypertension and a healthy lifestyle can lead to lowering blood pressure levels.

Genetics plays its role in determining how hard you have to work at maintaining a healthy blood pressure level. I have to work hard at it. My girlfriend can get away with all sorts of transgressions.

If you’re like me, take heart. You don’t have to suffer high blood pressure or the depressing side effects of many blood pressure medications. I’m living proof that a change in diet and exercise can bring your body back in balance, regardless of the causes of high blood pressure.

P.S. In case your wondering exactly how I’ve done it I must give most of the credit to Kevin Riley’s 12 week program called Get Natural!. following the Get Natural! program and taking 15 minutes off a day to do slow breathing exercises with the BreathEasy audio tapes is pretty much all that I need to get a dangerously high blood pressure of 190+ / 120+ back down to the 120-130 / 80-90 range. Tidy! (as we say here in Wales). You can check out and get both programs from this website: www.highbloodpressurehq.com

P.P.S. Being in the ‘high blood pressure circuit’ with this blog I’ve been getting solicitations from vendors of a device called RESPeRATE. (Why all the capitalized letter I have no idea – must have been thought up by some marketing bigwig.)

Has anyone tried them?

They seem to be based on the same slow breathing exercise principle as BreathEasy (see link above) but with more of a technical approach. And not cheap!

Here’s some of sales info from UK pharmacy websites:

From Boots -

How does Resperate help to lower blood pressure?

Resperate guides your breathing from the typical range of 14 to 19 breaths per minute down to what is called the “therapeutic zone” of just under 10 breaths per minute. This enables the muscles surrounding the small blood vessels in your body to dilate, and relax. Blood flows more freely and pressure lowers.

Resperate should be used for just 15 minutes, 3 to 4 times per week. Within 3 to 4 weeks of use, a significant all-day reduction in blood pressure can be achieved.

Resperate contents:

• Resperate device & breathing sensor
• Headphones
• user manuals
• 4 x AA batteries

Price £199.99 at www.boots.com/en/Resperate_873109/

From ChemistDirect -

How RESPeRATE lowers your blood pressure:

RESPeRATE’s breathing sensor automatically analyzes your individual breathing pattern and creates a personalized melody composed of two distinct inhale and exhale guiding tones.

Simply listen to the melody through the headphones, and your body’s natural tendency to follow external rhythms will enable you to easily synchronize your breathing to the tones.

By gradually prolonging the exhalation tone to slow your breathing, RESPeRATE leads you to the therapeutic zone of less than 10 breaths per minute.

Within a few minutes, the muscles surrounding the small blood vessels in your body relax, blood flows more freely, and your blood pressure is significantly reduced.

While your breathing returns to normal after each session with RESPeRATE, the beneficial impact on your blood pressure accumulates. Within 3 to 4 weeks, you’ll see a significant, lasting reduction in your blood pressure.

What results can you expect?

More than 10 clinical trials1-9 have demonstrated the effectiveness of RESPeRATE in significantly lowering blood pressure. RESPeRATE can lower blood pressure by up to 36 points systolic and 20 points diastolic (top 10% reductions), with average reductions of 14/8 points.10

Lower your blood pressure with RESPeRATE. With regular use, you’ll get a significant, lasting reduction in blood pressure.

Price: £159.00 at www.chemistdirect.co.uk/resperate–free-omron-mx2_1_152128

Like I said, not cheap, but if it works I suppose it’s well worth it. After all, what’s the value of your health?

If anyone has tried one of the RESPeRATE devices please let us know in the comments section what you think of it.

Hope you’ve enjoyed my blurb on high blood pressure causes. Let me know what you think. All comments welcome.

Take care,
Simon Foster

While scouring  weblogs world for interesting articles on high blood pressure I came across this  article written by Christian Goodman.

If you don’t know who Christian Goodman is, he’s the promoter of the popular “3 easy exercises to lower your blood to below 120/80 in as little as a week.” (You can read my in depth review of his program. Link in the column to the right.)

What interesting about this article is that he focuses on bad foods and unhealthy environments causing high blood pressure. However, the 3 exercises he promotes are all based on the assumption that stress the main, if not the only, cause of high blood pressure.

Does this article suggest a change in direction for Christian?

Here’s in article as posted on: totalhorrormovies.com/how-toxins-and-pollution-affects-high-blood-pressure

How Toxins and Pollution Affects High Blood Pressure

So much is said about high blood pressure and the potentially disastrous health consequences if left untreated (heart attack, stroke, blindness, and all sorts of other scary health concerns) that almost everyone over the age of thirty knows at least something about it.

This is why I write so in a large extent about this condition and the fact that it is so very treatable.

We are all informed of things to avoid such as high sodium foods, processed foods, fast food, red meat, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine and tobacco.

Not everyone knows why we shouldn’t do this. The fact is that these types of foods all contain some sort of toxin which can affect ones health – high blood pressure being the topic of today’s article.

Sodium and caffeine can elevate blood pressure thou they are not inherently poisonous. This is especially true of people who have a family history or other issues such as being over weight that already increases their risk for hypertension.

Many processed foods and fast foods are comprised of a high amount of trans fats, sodium and cholesterol. Be wary of some diet foods as they sometimes replace sugar with chemicals high in sodium and are oftentimes not lower in fat.

Red meats, even those not processed or cured can be cause for alarm because you are basically eating whatever toxin the animal ate before it became your meal.

Alcohol and nicotine/tobacco, while not foods are things people inclined to ingest or breathe in in overabundance. While I don’t see a problem with limited alcohol consumption, research has suggested there is no safe cigarette. Keep in mind that these are by definition poisons to our bodies.

Also in the toxins category are medications, both over the counter and prescription. If you have any history of hypertension it is very important to let your doctor know because they can raise blood pressure.

Now, new research on animals has shown that when exposed to daily air pollutants (much lower levels than seen in many developing countries and parts of the U.S.), even short term, blood pressure was raised as much as 25%.

While we can carpool and recycle (yes, I’m a big believer!), we can’t control what goes on globally. Likewise, a hyperbaric chamber isn’t something we can budget for either.

Anyone who suffers from hypertension, I would highly recommend my High Blood Pressure program. It’s all natural breathing and relaxation exercises have shown amazing results and its something you can do no matter what the environment to help bring down your blood pressure.

Christian Goodman is a well known health researcher and the author of several revolutionary natural health alternative methods. One of his most popular breakthroughs is his natural high blood pressure cure. You can learn more about Christian on his Natural Health Blog.

My response:

Simon Foster

I would have to agree that the food we eat can both be a problem and a solution to high blood pressure problems.

Moderation is the key. For example salt. Everyone needs some in their diet to remain healthy – but eating lots of processed foods or eating out at restaurants gives us way too much – even if we never touch a salt shaker.

I still like a cup of real coffee (not decaffeinated) in the morning but don’t drink so much anymore. I know it might raise my blood pressure a bit but only temporarily.

It has been documented that the French nation enjoy better health all around and lower rates of high blood pressure and coronary disease than most other nations. This is partly due to diet and their habit of drinking red wine on a daily basis.

Red wine contains an antioxidant called resveratrol. Like other antioxidants resveratrol helps prevent hardening of the arteries and your blood platelets from clumping together.

Blood platelets are those things that enables your blood to clot – which is important if you cut yourself. But clots forming inside your circulatory system is not healthy and is the prime cause of strokes.

In other words red wine helps keep your blood system in good health and your blood pressure down.

In case you wondered, resveratrol isn’t just found in red wine. It comes from the skin of the grapes. You can get resveratrol simply from drinking grape juice but resveratrol isn’t water soluble. The alcohol in in wine extracts the resveratrol more efficiently and assists the absorption of it into your body.

So have a glass or two every day! Get the darker red wine for maximum resveratrol content. Say a merlot, cabernet, zinfandel, shiraz, or pinot noir.

I have to admit that before learning of the beneficial qualities of red wine I was not a big drinker of wine. Now I buy a bottle or two a week and have learned a few lessons on buying wine.

First, don’t be fooled by price alone. Expensive wine is not necessarily the best wine and cheap red wine is not necessarily the worst. On the contrary, some of the cheaper red wines seem to have the most pleasant taste.

On a  TV program this spring wine tasting experts had to taste and rank various popular red wines on the market – blind (they weren’t allowed to see what brand of wine they were tasting). They all agreed on the best tasting wine. And it turned out to be one of the cheapest! So much for price as an indication of quality!

To get a great tasting red wine I would suggest you experiment with various types. Make a list of what you drink – the good, bad and ugly – so you know what to pick and what to avoid.

If red wine really isn’t “your cup of tea”, you can get resveratrol supplements. They have become very popular lately in the USA as part of an anti-aging and weight-loss system being highlighted on TV shows like Oprah.

For UK-based people,

In the USA,

Hawthorn trees and Hawthorn tincture

Hawthorn is one of the three sacred trees of the Irish and has always played a big role in Celtic folklore.As a symbol of protection a cutting was placed on doorways to ward off evil.Ribbons were also placed on the tree as decorations on May Day.

Although Hawthorn don’t grow very large they are tough and can live for up to 400 years.Today the Hawthorn is found clinging onto the mountainsides here in Wales and is often used as a hedgerow shrub.

Welsh Mountain Hawthorn

The hawthorn berry has long been regarded as a ‘heart herb’. Tinctures and teas made from it has been used to relieve stress and strengthen the heart by the Druids.

Modern science backs these beliefs. Hawthorn has a mixture of phenols that strengthen the heart, lower cholesterol, reduce resistance in arteries, and lowers blood pressure. It acts as a vacillator – helping the arteries to relax and widen and let the blood flow more smoothly with less pressure.

One Iranian study showed a significant decrease in blood pressure over a three-
month period of using Hawthorn. The effects of Hawthorn build up over time if taken regularly. Hawthorn’s cardio-protective effect actually gets stronger over time.

Hawthorn (using the berries and flowers) can be taken as a tea or a tincture. I take it every morning – 25 to 30 drops of tincture in a glass of water. You can buy Hawthorn tincture at most good health food shops. Or you can make your own.

To make Hawthorn tincture pick the flowers in the May/early June and the berries in late September/October. Place the berries and flowers in a jar and fill the jar with a spirit of 50% to 60% volume alcohol. Strong vodka is usually recommended but I have used moonshine with good results. Leave the mixture for 2 – 4 weeks out of direct sunlight. Then strain it and dispose of the solid stuff. Store the tincture in small dark bottles with a dropper for easy access and use.

Take 25 – 30 drops of Hawthorn tincture up to three times daily for cumulative and beneficial results and lower blood pressure.

Consider Hawthorn a powerful ally in your arsenal to fight high blood pressure and restore good health. Taken with a health diet and ample exercise and you should see your blood pressure come start to come down in no time at all.

By the way, if you need to lower your blood pressure starting today, and want to accomplish it without taking medications, I can give no better recommendation than Kevin Riley’s 12 week program  Get Natural! Following this program I managed to lower my blood pressure from 190+/120+ to 125/85 in less than 12 weeks.

Get Natural! is both easy to follow, fun to read, and it works.

Get Natural! comes as a free bonus as part of the BreathEasy slow breathing exercise program.

I would personally endorse the BreathEasy program too. I do a 15 minute slow breathing exercise most nights before bed. It’s very relaxing and even in the span of 15 minutes by blood pressure will drop 10 points or more.

You can check out some free samples of  BreathEasy audio tracks at this link:  www.highbloodpressurehq.com

These two programs have worked wonders for me.

Good morning. And a very good morning it is.

Mornings play  an important part of my diet that has helped me to lower my blood pressure and keep it low.

Here’s how it goes:

I start with a glass of water as soon as I rise from bed. I prefer the carbonated water available in bottles from the store. But that’s just the kid in me. As far as I am aware carbonated water has no greater health benefits than still water.

After my first glass is consumed I pour myself another but with this one I add a squirt (25 – 30 drops) of Hawthorn tincture. It adds a subtle and refreshing taste to the water but it’s not the taste I’m after. Hawthorn flowers and berries act as a vacillator. They relax and widen blood vessels in the most pleasant manner.  One shot in the morning for me is plenty although for bad cases of high blood pressure some three shots a day is recommended.  (I make my own Hawthorn tincture as Hawthorn grows strong and potent up here on the Welsh mountainsides – but I’ll leave the details for another post if anyone is interested.)

So after my two glasses of water I’ll sometimes move to a cup of freshly brewed coffee. Not the decaffeinated variety but coffee straight from the bean – as nature intended. I say ‘sometimes’ because I used to drink coffee every morning as a rule – and lots of it. Now it’s a matter of choice – not habit or compulsion.

Later in the morning as hunger begins to rise its head I prepare a bowl of oatmeal.  As far as I am concerned, oats are the best health food anywhere – not just for high blood pressure but for all around good health. This traditional staple of the Scots.

A study in Chicago found that – in a group of people on hypertension drugs – eating
oat cereal daily for 12 weeks reduced … or eliminated their need for blood-pressure
medication. Dr Joseph Keenan noted that a diet containing soluble fiber-rich oat
cereals … greatly improved control of the patients’ hypertension.

Why is oatmeal so effective in reducing hypertension?

In a nutshell, oatmeal (or even better, oat bran) contains beta-glucan which helps to moderate our blood sugar  and insulin levels. It keeps your body in balance avoiding blood sugar spikes and avoids insulin insensitivity enabling your body to better store magnesium, which aids in the relaxing and expansion of you blood vessels. The results is lower blood pressure. I’m not a trained biologist but that’s how it was explained to me.

With my bowl of oatmeal I take some vitamin supplements currently composing of one multi-vitamin pill (containing magnesium among other things), one vitamin C pill, and one Calcium pill.  I also take some cod liver oil (rich in Omege-3) in gelatin capsules,  some Ginkgo and Ginseng for general well-being as well as lowering blood pressure.

The outcome of this morning diet is another enjoyable day with improved blood pressure and general well-being – better prepared to deal with all the muck that life sometimes throws at you.

This works for me. what Works for you?

The best way to lower your blood pressure and get your body back in balance is through diet and exercise. It’s really as simple as that.

The worst way, in my opinion, is also the most common – taking prescription medication to artificially lower your blood pressure while not changing the factors that led to high blood pressure in the first place.

So what causes high blood pressure?

Some people might object saying that high blood pressure is caused by genetic factors outside if their control.

I would agree that a lot of blood pressure problems can be ascribed to genetic factors. But that’s not the same as saying there is nothing can be done about it – or saying  prescription medication is the only solution.

Some people, like myself, seem to be genetically predisposed to high blood pressure. It runs in my family apparently. My mother had high blood pressure and my father who is still alive regularly takes half a dozen pills a day for this and that including high blood pressure.

I have taken another path. Instead of resigning myself to a lifetime on pills I have made an effort to re-regulate my blood pressure through diet and exercise.

What is considered high blood pressure / hypertension?

The old rule of thumb was 100 plus your age was an acceptable blood pressure given that it was accepted that blood pressure naturally rises with age. The new regime says that everyone should be at or below 120/80. This has been a great boon to international pharmaceutical corporations given that virtually everyone above the age of forty is now eligible to be prescribed a lifetime of daily pills. If I sound cynical it’s because I am.

Lowering my blood pressure through diet and exercise hasn’t been instant. But my blood pressure has kept down over the months to an acceptable level. No, I’ll probably never enjoy blood pressure consistently below 120/80 -  it’s not in my genes. But as long as I consistently remain below 140/105 (usually in the 130/90 range) I figure that’s OK for me. I’m not in a high risk category for heart disease or stroke. And I feel better and more fit than I have for many years.

So why do I shun hypertension medications? It’s not the cost. I could get them for free here in the UK. No, it’s because blood pressure lowering medications do not fix the problem. If they did, after your blood pressure was down you could stop taking them. But the pharmaceutical industry has yet to create a drug that can really fix blood pressure. Sure, their drugs artificially lower your blood pressure. But stop taking them and it shoots right back up.

Statistics show that more people die from heart disease and stroke while on blood pressure lowering medication. That’s not to say that these medications are causing heart disease or strokes. But if you think that your safer on them then think again.

And then there’s the side effects. My only experience with a blood pressure lowering medication was for 8 week with Rampril – an ACE inhibitor. For 8 weeks I had an irritating dry cough day and night while my blood pressure refused to come down from its 190+/120+ readings. I’ve read about even worse side effects with some other medications but have no experience to validate.

So .. the Rambril went in the bin and I embarked on a new regime of diet and exercise. Within one month my blood pressure was beginning to drop. Within 3 months my BP readings were consistently below 135/95 occasionally as low as 118/79 (rare but does happen).

Diets to control high blood pressure … or … recipes for hypertension

Blood pressure lowering diet means eating less of somethings and eating more of others. It’s not all about moving simply to a bland diet of ‘healthy foods’ that suck much of the culinary pleasures out of life. Not at all. My new diet included things like a glass of red wine and dark chocolate one a day. among other things.

My new diet also involves a bowl of oatmeal every morning and some vitamin supplements. Currently I take each morning calcium, vitamin C, multi vitamin (that includes magnesium – very important) , cod liver oil (in capsules), and Korean ginseng, and ginkgo extract. I also have 20 odd drops of Hawthorn tincture in a glass of water every day.  I make the tincture myself as we are blessed with many Hawthorn trees here growing up on the mountains.

Blood pressure lowering exercises involve walking more. For me it’s a 20 minute hike up the mountain when the weather is friendly. (I live part way up a mountain in Wales). When I get to my summit I eat an apple I usually take with me. Yep, that’s part of my diet.

Other exercises involve slowing you system down with breathing exercises and the like.  One exercise involves a kind of rhythmic walking which I’ll do indoors when the weather is miserable (like today).

I hope over the coming weeks to fill in all the details of my diet and exercise that has worked so remarkably well in lowering my blood pressure from dangerously high levels as a resource for others struggling with high blood pressure problems too.

If you have any questions and or suggestions please leave a comment. I will attempt to answer all feedback.

Take care, we’re all in this together.

P.S. If you suffer from high blood pressure and are considering alternative treatments being promoted on the web, be sure to check out my review pages (links on the right hand column). I’ve checked most of the popular ones out and give you an objective assessment – warts and all!