High Blood Pressure Be Gone

Posts Tagged ‘what causes high blood pressure’

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.

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!