High Blood Pressure Be Gone

Posts Tagged ‘food’

How I lowered blood pressure without drugs

It’s been just over 5 months since I dispensed with high blood pressure medications (that weren’t working and had unpleasant side effects) and began exploring alternative cures.

Yesterday was a big milestone. For the first time ever my blood pressure was monitored below the much slated ideal of 120/80. After doing a slow breathing exercise for 15 minutes it came in as 116/79.

Of course I was suspicious at first as because my blood pressure is usually in the 125-135 / 85-95 range. Given that my parents both suffered from high blood pressure and my higher blood pressure is most likely ‘in the genes’. So I figured that’s about as good as it’ll get for me. So I took the reading again at it this time it came in at 111/ 76 – amazing!

Amazing when you consider I was consistently 190+/120+ only five months before, plagued by headaches, heart palpitations, and the end of my life seemed to be approaching rapidly. You could say I’ve come a long way.

So what’s the secret to my new found health and ‘normal’ blood pressure? Two things – Diet and Exercise.

Exercise includes:

1. A 30 minute walk up the hill behind my house that gets my lungs and hearts working two or three time a week
2. Taking 15 minutes off for a slow breathing exercise (assisted by BreathEasy audio tracks)

Diet includes:

1. Drinking water more often (I prefer it carbonated)
2. Having a bowl of oatmeal every morning
3. Supplementing my daily diet with 500mg Vitamin C, multi vitamin (including 100mg Magnesium), 600mg Calcium, Cod Liver Oil capsules (Omega 3), 60mg Ginkgo Biloba, 160mg Korean Ginseng, 30 drops of Hawthorn tincture
4. Virtually eliminating processed foods now sticking with the basics.
5. Apples, bananas, celery, onions, garlic, tomatoes, (among other things of course).
6. Cayenne powder, apple cider vinegar, and only the best extra vigin olive oil.
7. Reduction in the amount of salt I consume. I now use the Celtic Sea Salt (Sel de Gurerande) naturally harvested from the coast of Brittanny, France (as they have done it for centuries)
8. Less red meat, more chicken and fish (but not the skin)
9. Red wine and dark chocolate everyday … and more nuts.

In a nutshell that’s about it. I now live a much healthier, relaxed and trouble free life with optimal blood pressure as well. It’s more than I would have imagined 5 months ago but now there’s no turning back. My final curtains have receded well off into the distant future.

How did I know what to do and eat to lower my dangerously high blood pressure? I did a lot of research and reading but the two indispensable helpers was Kevin Riley’s Guide Get Natural! Drop your Blood Pressure and BreathEasy.

Kevin Riley’s Get Natural! is the most informative (and enjoyable to read) guide on lowering blood pressure naturally without the use of medication. It really is top of the ‘lower your blood pressure advice’ mountain in my opinion.

BreathEasy audio tracks are also a great way to take 15 minutes off everyday and completely relax and calm down. I’m sure this is good for your whole-self, not just heart and blood pressure.

Well that’s what has worked for me. Please leave a comment and tell us what’s worked for you.

There is no single answer for the question – what causes high blood pressure and high pulse rate. In the majority of cases it remain unknown and is put down to genetics. It certainly seems to run in families.

Regardless of causes you can reduce your blood pressure permanently through diet and exercise. (I speak from direct experience – not something I read somewhere.)

You may have heard of the DASH diet standing for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. It’s a simple overview but worth a look. I uploaded a copy and you should be able to download a pdf copy (Adobe Reader) by clicking here. (It’s written  and published by a government department so don’t expect it to be too racy or entertaining.)

So here are some of my favorite foods good for high blood pressure:

• bananas (full of potassium)
• apples
• extra virgin olive oil
• apple cider vinegar
• oatmeal and oat bran
• red wine (a glass a day)
• dark chocolate (min 70% cocoa)
• whole grain cereals
• nuts
• chamomile tea
• salads

The list could of course go on but the list above include things I eat regularly if not daily. Chamomile tea works on relaxing your nervous system (like slow breathing exercises) while other foods listed above have substances that directly affect your circulatory system in a positive way – repairing and expanding your artery walls and strengthening your heart.

To get the full picture foods, including their history, interesting facts, and how and why they work, I’d recommend Keven Riley’s Get Natural! Drop Your Blood Pressure. Of everything I have read so far on foods good for high blood pressure this guide has been the most informative and enjoyable to read.

From: hypnowil.wordpress.com

One of the most common high blood pressure causes is excessive salt consumption. Some people have high sensitivity to sodium (salt), and their blood pressure goes up when they use salt. When these people reduce their sodium intake their blood pressure tends to lower. According to many experts, taking in too much salt is common among Americans. It is estimated that we consume 10 to 15 times more salt than we need.

Diets of fast and processed foods contain particularly high amounts of sodium. To reduce your sodium intake levels read labels carefully to find out how much sodium is contained in food items and then avoid those with high sodium levels. Although this is only one of the high blood pressure causes for certain salt sensitive people, it can’t hurt to decrease your salt consumption, and may help prevent your risk of heart attack.

Be careful what drugs you put in your body. Certain drugs, such as amphetamines (stimulants), diet pills, and some pills used for cold and allergy symptoms, tend to raise blood pressure. Also, people that drink too much alcohol have a tendency to develop high blood pressure. For those that are sensitive to alcohol, drinking more than one to two drinks of alcohol per day tends to raise their blood pressure.

Simon Foster

There are also some nice things you can do to help lower your high blood pressure – like have a glass of red wine and 100 grams of dark chocolate everyday.

It’s not all about self-denial.

With regards to salt, yes, too much is not good. On the other hand, if you cut out all processed foods as I have, you have to be mindful to get enough salt.

And not all salt is the same. No no. Naturally harvested Celtic Sea salt from Brittany still contains all the nutrients and minerals nature intended. A much better substitute to common table salt most commonly used.

The bottom line is this: Lower your blood pressure by living a balanced happy life through moderation, not self-denial.

From: www.organicsandyou.com

FOODS THAT BALANCE BLOOD PRESSURE

Legumes: mung bean sprouts, soy bean sprouts, tofu, tempeh, peas, Adzuki Beans, Black Beans, Black-eyed peas, Broad Beans (Fava Beans), Butter Beans, Calico Beans, Cannellini Beans, Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans), Edamame
Great Northern Beans, Italian Beans, Kidney Beans, Lentils, Lima Beans, Mung Beans, Navy Beans, Pinto Beans, Soy Beans, including black soy beans, Split Peas, White Beans

Grains: (whole grains, ½ cup for all grains) sprouted wheat – hard red winter wheat, Amaranth, Barley, pearled, Buckwheat (kasha), Bulgar, Oats, whole kernel, Rice, brown, Rice, wild, Rye, whole kernel, Quinoa, Wheat, whole kernel, All Bran with Extra Fiber, Bran Buds, Fiber One, Kashi, Go Lean, Shredded Wheat, Shredded Wheat and Bran, Buckwheat Groats, Oat Bran, Old Fashioned Oatmeal, Steel-Cut Oats

Vegetables: (Pungent) radish, horseradish, hot peppers, onion family (garlic, onion, leek, scallion, shallot, chive), Leafy greens (cabbage, spinach, carrot greens, mint leaf, nasturtium leaf, dandelion greens, kale, wheat greens, barley greens, broccoli, parsley), asparagus, bell peper, rose hip, tomato, celery
Green seaweeds: Green rope, Green tuft, Dead man’s fingers, Encrusting codium, Bird guano alga, Sea lettuce, Stringy, hairy, ribbon Ulva, Green barrels, Brown seaweeds: Winged kelp, Bottlebrush seaweed, Seersucker, Three-ribbed kelp, Northern bladder chain, Flattened acid kelp, Witch’s hair, Green acid kelp, Geather Boa, Rockweed, Spiraling rockweed, Sea cauliflower, Perennial kelp, Twisted sea tubes, Bull kelp, Dwarf rockweed, Woody-stemmed kelp, Sea fungus, Sugar kelp, Stiff-stiped kelp, Sea cabbage, Split kelp, Wireweed, Soda straws, Studded sea balloons), Red Seaweeds (Turkish towel, Bleached burnett, Winged rib, Sea moss, Sea sac, Rusty rock, Sea tangle, Turkish washcloth, Tar spot, Iridescent seaweed, Coarse sea lace, Black pine, Flattened sea brush, Sea brush, Sea laural, Red ribbon, Sea comb, Bleachweed, Sea noodles, Red eyelet silk), chlorella, cucumber
Mushrooms: Honey Mushroom, Brown Stew Fungus, The Miller, Shaggy Ink Cap, Green Russula, Russula integra, Weeping Milk-Cap, Saffron Milk-Cap, Hedgehog Fungus, Man on Horseback, Wood Blewit, Chantarelle, Funnel Chantarelle, Horn of Plenty, Yellow-Crack Bolete, Slippery Jack, Brown Birch Bolete, King Bolete, Sheep Polypore, Pestle Puffball

Fruit: (citrus) Clementine, Kumquat, Minneola, Mandarin, Orange, Satsuma, Tangarine, Tangelo, Lemon, Rough Lemon, Lime, Leech Lime, Grapefruit, Pummelo, Sweety, Ugli, banana, persimmon

Nuts & Seeds: Almonds, hazlenuts (filbert), flax seed, chia seed, pumpkin seed (lightly roasted to remove surface E coli), poppy seed, walnut, sunflower sprouts

Animal products: fish: sardine, salmon, mackerel, Cold water fish (LAKE TROUT, RAINBOW TROUT, BROOK TROUT, BROWN TROUT, ARCTIC GRAYLING, ARCTIC CHAR, SPLAKE, etc.) raw honey, bee pollen

Herbs: hawthorn berry, dandelion root, burdock root, chaparral, peppermint (palpitations), cayenne pepper, ginger, rhubarb root (constipation), yarrow, chamomile, motherwort, valerian (Traditional Chinese herbs & American herbs)

FOODS TO AVOID (worsens high blood pressure)

Sugar, or foods with added sugars, Processed grains, or foods containing them (except as listed on the Grains List e.g. packaged cereals, even whole grain cereals, are usually processed, verify), Refined grains (which don’t say “whole” in front of each grain on the label) or foods containing them, “Wheat” or “wheat flour” without the word “whole” is usually a code word for “white” (includes white rice, “Flour” listed alone is always white flour), Potatoes, Cakes, cookies, muffins, etc. Crackers, unless whole grain, Cereals, unless whole grain and at least 8 grams of fiber per serving, Chips, Ice cream, Jams and Jellies, Maple Syrup, Regular Soda and other sweetened beverages, Juices, Oils except for extra virgin olive oil, nut oils, and canola oil, Mayonnaise, Creamy salad dressings, Butter, Magarine, Dairy products that are not fat-free, including cheese, cream cheese, milk, etc., Fatty meats such as bacon or sausage, Anything with hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats in it.

“The sages follow the laws of Nature and therefore their bodies are free from strange diseases. They do not lose any of their natural functions and their spirit of life is never exhausted.” — Inner Classic

Mark Hammer C.M.H.,  Master Herbalist - Longevity Mountain    5/09

Simon Foster

That’s a huge list of foods to help lower blood pressure. Kinda boggles the brain!

My favorites from your list (that I eat regularly) include: oatmeal, oat bran, spinach, lavabread (locally harvested dark green/black seaweed in South Wales), bananas, mackerel, sardines, and hawthorn flowers/berries freshly picked locally (in my back yard).

With regards to your list ‘Foods to Avoid’ I would suggest that these should be eaten in moderation or healthy substitutes found.

High blood pressure is a sign of you body getting out of balance from too much this, or not enough of that – not from accidentally eating the wrong thing one day.