High Blood Pressure Be Gone

Posts Tagged ‘how to lower high blood pressure’

It’s a fact that the French nation enjoys better cardiovascular health than many other nations in the developed world – despite their fondness of culinary treats that may not deserve the label of ‘health food’.

Known as the  ‘French Paradox’, it’s been explained by their habit of drinking good red wine everyday with their main meal. Having visited and spent time with a family in France in the past I can personally vouch that it’s true.

It’s the resveratrol in red wine that keeps your blood pressure down and your heart healthy. Resveratrol is a a powerful antioxidant that keeps your arteries healthy and working as they were intended. Additionally, resveratrol provides a number of benefits including:

• protects your arteries against oxygen free radicals
• helps prevent atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries)
• prevents your platelets from clumping together (reduces risk of blood clotting)
• inhibits angiotensin II (which can increase blood pressure if your body produces too much)
• improves the function of blood pressure lining

All in all, resveratrol has shown to help keep your heart and circulatory system healthy and your blood pressure down where it should be.

Resveratrol comes from the skin of red grapes but getting it via red wine is better because the alcohol in wine extracts and dissolves the resveratrol making it easier for your body to absorb. In short, you’d have to eat a basket full of grapes to get the same benefits of a glass or two of good red wine.

But what if you don’t like red wine or react badly to it? (Some people get headaches from drinking red wine.) The good news that there are other ways to get the benefits of resveratrol including buying resveratrol extracts.

But what has really taken the spotlight lately as the new superfood is Acai berries. Pronounced ah-sigh-ee, these berries harvested from the Amazon have been featured on US news channels, BBC, and the celebrity circuit (Oprah Winfrey and co.). They have been promoted as the new super-supplement to assist in weight loss and to retard the aging process.

What’s the big deal with acai berries? They are chock full of resveratrol. The French must be feeling so smug!

According to reports, one dose of Acai berry contains up to 30 times the amount in reveratrol as a glass of wine.

Super Antioxidant – The Acai Berry

The Acai Berry has shown to be a super antioxidant that can be absorbed well by the human body. This is, perhaps, why research has shown that this little berry does so much for the human body. It can do everything from fight against excess weight and bad toxins to fight the aging process. Yes, it has been around for quite some time, but not until recent years has research been done that proves the health benefits of this super food.-What are the benefits?

First of all, don’t get really excited before you finish reading this and run to your local produce department to pick up some fresh Acai Berries. They only grow in the Amazon Rainforest and they are very perishable. This is why they are usually freeze dried and turned into powders and into other forms that make it easier for you to use the Acai Berry in certain foods, drinks, and even as a topping.

So with that said the benefits are:

• The antioxidants are so rich that they make you rapidly lose unwanted weight.

• Because the antioxidants help get rid of toxins in the body, you’ll feel more energetic. Ridding your body of toxins also has a lot to do with why the Acai Berry can help you lose weight.

• Evidence has shown that the Acai Berry and reduce cholesterol and blood pressure.

How to get these benefits

The best way to get these benefits is through a 100% pure supplement. In other words, you can get Acai Berry in capsules. Pure Acai Berry is one of those capsules because it has 1500mg of pure Acai Berry within it. The Acai Berry is untouched, but refined to where it fits into a portable capsule form. It is 100% organic and is certified pure.

So if you want the benefits of Acai Berry, the Super Antioxidant, capsule form is a great way to go. You can get a healthy dose of Acai in just a second.

Visit www.PureAcaiBerry.com to experience the best of Acai Berry!

In short, Acai Berry:

• lowers your blood pressure
• reduces your cholesterol levels
• helps you lose weight
• makes you feel younger and full of energy
• slows the aging process

To good to be true? I’m a naturally skeptical person … but considering the company is offering a 100% refund if you’re not satisfied it must do what it says or they wouldn’t be in business very long.

If you are suffering a combination of being overweight and high blood pressure, a few months of taking Acai Berry could be a very sound choice.

On a purely cost base analysis, Acai berry is a lot cheaper way to get the benefits of resveratrol than red wine. But drinking red wine is more pleasurable.

Here’s a link to the Acai Berry website I got all this info from – www.PureAcaiBerry.com
where you can order it direct. They supply from the USA but ship worldwide.

Definitely something to consider if you suffer from high blood pressure.

It has been well documented that the French nation enjoys better cardio-vaschlar health than many other nations in the developed world – despite their fondness of culinary treats that may not deserve the label of ‘health food’.

This ‘French Paradox’ and has largely been explained by their habit of drinking good red wine everyday with their main meal. Having visited and spent time with a family in France in the past I can personally vouch that it’s true. (By the way, if you ever find yourself dining around a French table, don’t mix your red wine with water as they do in Portugal, or you risk social disapproval and mild condemnation!)

So how does red wine help keep your blood pressure down and your heart healthy? Red wine conntains resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant that keeps your arteries healthy and working as they were intended. Resveratrol provides a number of benefits including:

• protects your arteries against oxygen free radicals
• helps prevent atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries)
• prevents your platelets from clumping together (reduces risk of blood clotting)
• inhibits angiotensin II (which can increase blood pressure if your body  produces too much)
• improves the function of blood pressure lining

All in all, resveratrol has shown to help keep your heart and circulatory system healthy and your blood pressure down where it should be.

Resveratrol comes from the skin of red grapes but getting it via red wine is better because the alcohol in wine extracts and dissolves the resveratrol making it easier for your body to absorb. In short, you’d have to eat a basket full of grapes to get the same benefits of a glass or two of good red wine.

But what if you don’t like red wine or react badly to it? (Some people get headaches from drinking red wine.) The good news that there are other ways to get the benefits of resveratrol including buying resveratrol extracts.

But what has really taken the spotlight lately as the new superfood is Acai berries.  Pronounced ah-sigh-ee, these berries harvested from the Amazon have been featured on US news channels, BBC, and the celebrity circuit (Oprah Winfrey and co.). They have been promoted as the new super-supplement  to assist in weight loss and to retard the aging process.

What’s the big deal with acai berries? They are chock full of resveratrol. The French must be feeling so smug!

According to reports, one dose of Acai berry contains up to 30 times the amount in reveratrol as a glass of wine.

What are Superfoods – Acai Berry and more

Superfoods are those foods that do such things as lower cholesterol and blood pressure. In other words, they have several benefits to them that other foods don’t have. The Acai Berry is one of those foods. It provides energy, helps you to lose weight faster, lowers cholesterol, lowers blood pressure, and helps to prevent several serious diseases like heart disease. However, Acai Berry is not the only superfood, but is part of a family of superfoods. There are several that you can take advantage of.

Superfoods

So not only do you have the amazing Acai Berry, but you also have antioxidants in blueberries as well as potassium and vitamin C. Blueberries have been shown to lower the incidence of heart disease. They are also anti-inflammatory.

Here are other superfoods you may wish to know about:

• Fish is a superfood in that it contains Omega 3 fatty acids and a number of vitamins and minerals. Omega 3s reduce inflammation and blood clotting. You can also reduce heart attack.

• Bananas provide you with energy and consists of antioxidants that can help prevent cancer and heart disease.

• Kiwis are amongst the 5 most nutritious fruits in the world. They have fiber, potassium, Vitamin A, and Vitamin E. It is also full of antioxidants that fight against disease.

These are all great superfoods. Between Acai Berry, blueberries, fish, bananas, and kiwis, you can have a very healthy diet.

Get started

If you’re not eating healthy now, start with something such as an Acai Berry capsule. PureAcaiBerry.com has such a capsule that contains 1500mg of Acai Berry that is immediately vacuum sealed and not tampered with. That way you get the most out of this superfood without having to locate it and prepare it. Throw in the other superfoods and you are in business.

Visit www.PureAcaiBerry.com to experience the best of Acai Berry!

So Acai Berry can:

• lower your blood pressure
• reduce your cholesterol levels
• lose weight
• feel younger and full of energy

If you are suffering a combination of being overweight and high blood pressure, a few months of taking Acai Berry could be a very sound choice.

For lowering blood pressure it’s the antioxidant resveratrol in Acai berry that has the most benefits. And onn a cost analysis it’s cheaper to get resveratrol through Acai berry than than red wine.

When you consider that Acai Berry contains up to 30 times the amount of resveratrol as red wine then Acai Berry wins hands down on red wine in every way. (But I still like my glass of wine! )

You can also get Acai berry capsules through Amazon in the UK and US

To your good health,

Simon

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’.

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.

Side effects of hypertension drugs

Anti-hypertension  medications are often the first thing that a doctor will prescribe when high blood pressure is detected.  This leads to millions of people taking them everyday.

This has resulted in soaring profits for the pharmaceutical industry. But what about the people taking these drugs?

Unfortunately anti-hypertensive medications do not cure high blood pressure  but merely regulate it.  Which means you have to take them everyday for the rest of your life – or your blood pressure will climb back up to dangerous levels.

Another negative aspect of blood pressure medications is bad side effects.

Below is a list of common blood pressure medications and their associated side effects:

ACE inhibitors

The most common side effect is a dry cough

Rarer side effects include:

• Lightheadedness,
• dizziness,
• rash,
• reduced
• appetite,
• increased blood potassium,
• changes in the flavor of foods and swelling.

Alpha Blockers

dizziness and feeling faint when sitting up or standing up.

Additional side effects include:

• headache,
• pounding heartbeat,
• nausea, weakness,
• weight gain.

Angiotensin II receptor blockers

Side effects (relatively rare) include:

• Diarrhea,
• dizziness,
• headache,
• lightheadedness,
• back and leg pain,
• sinus congestion,
• kidney failure,
• liver failure,
• allergic reaction,
• lowered white blood cells,
• swelling.

Beta Blockers

Common side effects include:

• Cold hands, dizziness,
• fatigue, and weakness.

Less common side effects include:

• Depression,
• reduced libido (sex drive),
• insomnia (trouble sleeping),
• shortness of breath.

Beta-blockers may cause severe asthma attacks.  They can also block indications of low blood sugar (like a racing pulse) in diabetics.   Beta-blockers can affect cholesterol and triglyceride levels, typically temporarily.   Abrupt discontinuation of beta-blockers can increase risk of heart attack and other heart issues.

Calcium channel blockers

Common side effects include:

• Constipation, drowsiness,
• flushing,
• headache,
• nausea,
• rapid pulse,
• swelling in the lower legs and feet.

Some calcium channel blockers react with grapefruit and foods that contain grapefruit by blocking the liver from properly removing them from the blood – resulting in dangerous concentrations.

Central-acting agents

Side effects include:

• Constipation,
• depression,
• dizziness,
• dry mouth,
• drowsiness,
• fatigue,
• headache,
• impotence,
• impaired thinking,
• weight gain.

Abrupt discontinuation can cause dangerous spikes in blood pressure – especially when taken with a beta-blocker.

Diuretics

Side effects include:

• Increased urination,
• too much potassium in the blood (with potassium-sparing diuretics),
• too little potassium in the blood (with thiazide diuretics),
• breast enlargement in men,
• increased blood sugar,
• increased cholesterol,
• erectile dysfunction (ED, impotence),
• low blood sodium,
• rash,
• gout (joint inflammation),>
• menstrual irregularities.

Vasodilators

Side effects include:

• Chest pain,
• dizziness,
• flushing
• headache,
• fluid retention,
• heart palpitations,
• nausea,
• sinus congestion,
• racing pulse,
• vomiting
• excessive hair growth.

(anti-hypertension medication side effects list source:  www.bloodpressuresecret.com)

Side effects from blood pressure medications is not something I’ve simply read about.  It’s something I’ve experenced.

When I was first diagnosed with dangerously high blood pressure I was prescribed Rampril, an ACE inhibitor commonly used here in the UK.  Just like it says on the  list above, I developed a persistent dry cough. All day and night. (For the two months I was on Rampril I kept a glass of water besides my bed. Taking a sip of water was the only way I could relieve the irritation long enough to get back to sleep after waking up every few hours needing to have a bout of coughing.)

After two months of this slow  torture and my blood pressure remained high with no sign of coming down. I could have gone on to other medications but instead made a commitment to try to get my body back in balance using alternative methods without the use of drugs.

Four months on and my blood pressure had dropped to 135/100 range – a drop of some 55 points. Now, 8 months after following natural methods my blood pressure in in the 120/80 range.

So the good news is  – there are ways to lower your blood pressure naturally that really work – without having to take medications and putting up with side effects.

The only catch is that it doesn’t come in the form of a pill. It takes time and practice. It also requires a change in diet and lifestyle.

If you need to lower your blood pressure without taking medications  I can give no higher recommendation than Kevin Riley’s 12 week program  Get Natural! This program is a pleasure to read and follow – with no bad side effects.

The Get Natural! program is now bundled in as a free bonus as part of the BreathEasy program. This program also helps to lower blood pressure through following regulated breathing exercises 15 minutes a day.

I would  recommend 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 my blood pressure will often drop 5 – 10  points systolic.

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

These two programs have worked for me. What has worked 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!