High Blood Pressure Be Gone

Posts Tagged ‘high blood pressure’

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?

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.

The acceptable range of blood pressure is debatable. The new regime of defining everything over 120/80 as hypertension (or pre-hypertension) is more a “confluence of interests” than scientific fact.

The former “rule of thumb” for acceptable blood pressure levels went like this:

- systolic 100 + your age

In other words, it was accepted that blood pressure would rise as one aged.

The new regime is must simpler. It says that 120/80 and below is OK. Up to 140/90 is “pre-hypertension”. And anything over 140/90 is hypertension.

The 120/80 is now the one-size-fits all model. “Pre-hypertension” is regularly treated with prescription medication to prevent it from turning into “the dreaded silent killer” hypertension.

The new regime has resulted in a multi-billion dollar boom to the pharmaceutical industry dealing in blood pressure regulating medications leading some to question this shift to regulating blood pressure at lower levels.

Is it more motivated by profit than health?

Doctor are caught between a rock and a hard thing regardless of their own professional judgment. They are bombarded almost daily by sales literature from powerful pharmaceutical companies that can and do sway the prevailing opinions of accepted medical practice. Doctors leave themselves open to malpractice litigation if they don’t follow the newly established measurements and procedures.

But a blood pressure measurement of 120/80 is not necessarily ‘normal’ – rather it’s an ideal.

If your BP is consistently near to 120/80 range then pat yourself on the back. It doesn’t get much better. The other  95% of us in our 40s and above require a range a little more flexible to remain in reality and avoid becoming a lifelong medication junkie.

The upper ‘safe’ range has been suggested to be 140/100 and below.

If you are on or below this range, and over the age of 40, you don’t have life-threatening high blood pressure. Now is the time to think about lifestyle changes to ensure it doesn’t get too much higher.

In other words, it’s normal to have slightly higher blood pressure levels as one ages. Welcome to the human race.

What isn’t normal is to have desperately high blood pressure levels. If you’re measuring in at over 150/110 It’s time to act.

That doesn’t necessarily mean running to your doctor to get a prescription.

High  blood pressure is an indication that your body is out of balance. You can get your body back in balance through exercise and diet. See my Natural Cures Review for more information.

I brought my blood pressure from close to 200/120 down to 130/90 range in four months through diet and exercise. Six months on it is now usually below 130/90. And I’ve never felt better.

Mind you I only embarked on alternative remedies for high blood pressure after two months of medication (ACE inhibitor).  That medication was a total failure for me.  It gave me a persistent dry cough and didn’t bring my BP down at all.

Had I stayed with the medication route I’m sure the doctor would have found some combination of chemicals that forced my BP to lower levels but that’s hardly a cure. And it would have turned me into a lifelong pill popper.

So, three things to remember:

1. If your BP reading are consistently under 140/100, relax, you’re OK.
2. If your readings are consistently over 140/105 then it’s time to take action.
3. There are better ways to reduce your blood pressure to acceptable levels than taking daily doses of blood pressure lowering drugs.

Best wishes,

Simon

You don’t have to spend too much time searching the web to find dire warnings about hypertension “the silent killer” urging you to run to your doctors and start a lifelong enslavement to the pharmaceutical industry.

Here’s an example from South Africa (www.findarticles.za.org):

High blood pressure rates are also growing among American children, paralleling an epidemic of obesity. Hypertension in grownups will usually be measured on at least two different trips to the doctor before a diagnosis is made. It can be treated by both modifying lifestyles, usually as the first step, and, if necessary, with medications. Diuretics work in the kidney and flush out excess water and sodium from the body.

Nearly 1 in 3 American adults has hypertension. Once It develops, it usually remains for the rest of your lifetime. Fortunately, it can be easily detected, and once you know you have it, you can work with your physician to control it.

About the Author:

About The writer: R. Ealom is the writer of this article and the creator of “Free Articles On Diseases: How To Prevent and Cure Them”. Need more information Please visit us at our websites@Diabetes & Cancer Secrets OR Go To Heart Disease & Obesity Secrets. You have full permission to reprint this article provided this box is kept unchanged.

My response:

Simon Foster

Controlling hypertension through medications should really be left as a last resort when everything else fails. Why?

Medications do not treat the cause of high blood pressure – just the symptoms – which means you’ll have to take them till the end of your days.

Statistics show that people on blood pressure controlling drugs are more likely to die from heart disease that those not on them.

Blood pressure controlling drugs often come with side effects that can significantly reduce your quality of life.

Certain exercises and dietary changes can reduce blood pressure to safe levels in 90%+ of high blood pressure sufferers. The end result is not just the end of severe hypertension but a healthier, happier and longer life.

There’s simple formula that is pounded out day after day on the web and it goes something like this:

“Go to your doctor, get your pressure read, if it’s over 140/90 get a prescription and start your lifelong habit of daily drug taking.”

Ok, that’s an oversimplification but it all amounts to the same thing – too hasty a diagnosis and a preference to patronize the pharmaceutical industry over getting you body back in a healthy balance.

here’s an example from copdnewsoftheday.com:

Always ask your provider what your blood pressure is and write it down. Discuss these numbers with your provider.

Your provider may prescribe medicine to help lower your blood pressure.

Take your medicine every day, or as directed by your provider.
If your blood pressure numbers get lower, it’s because your medicine is working. Don’t stop it or take a lower dose unless your provider says you should.

Blood pressure reading is an inexact science at best. Blood pressure readings vary as much as 10 points from one reading to another taken in succession. In other words, you could be pre-hypertension for one reading and below normal for the next – without your actual blood pressure changing at all. Accuracy can only be measured in ranges, not exact number.

Lowering blood pressure via natural an alternative means is easily achievable for most. Prescription medication should only be promoted as a last an desperate measure for that small minority that can’t do it any other way.

Although not well publicized, people on blood pressure lowering drugs have a greater chance of suffering heart attack and  stroke. That doesn’t necessarily mean that these drugs cause heart attack and  stroke. That’s just statistics.

The bottom line is this:

If you suffer from high blood pressure make the necessary lifestyle changes and get healthy – not drugged up.

From: bloodpressurequestions.org

What are the symptoms of high blood pressure?

Lace asked:I was just recently told i had high blood pressure, never would of thought it, i even told the doctor, i feel fine…wow…silent killer huh? thats pretty scary, i didn’t know that….thanks…

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.

from: www.newsreelnetwork.com

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Simon Foster

Thankfully there are a number of effective natural cures to high blood pressure being promoted these days.

I know they are effective because I am using them everyday to lower and keep low my otherwise severely high blood pressure.

For a review of cures that work visit my blog review page:

Alternative High Blood Pressure Cures Review