dealing with high blood pressure naturally

High Blood Pressure.   Statistics from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute tell us that more than 70 million American adults over the age of 65 in the USA have High Blood Pressure (1/3 of that population) . If you are over 65, the numbers double (2/3 of this age group have HBP).   Everyone knows what High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) is, but what is High Blood Pressure and is it possible to solve it naturally — without pharmaceutical assistance?  I would contend that not only is it possible, High Blood Pressure is one of the easier health problems to deal with naturally.  When patients do the right things, results are often dramatic and rapid (changes seen in a matter of days). 

For the record, not everyone will respond to natural methods.  Neither this post nor this site are meant to diagnose or cure any diseases, but are for “informational” purposes only.  No animals were harmed in the writing of this post.  The stunts were the work of professional stunt men — do not try this at home.  As always, consult your physician before using live ammunition. 

Now that that the disclaimer is out of the way, let’s get down to business.  And in order to do this, we will have to have a basic understanding of hydraulics.  Let’s look at a simple garden hose for a moment.  We’ve all used garden hoses before.   What will create higher pressure in a garden hose?  In other words, what can you do to make water shoot farther out of the end of the hose with more force?

• How about putting your thumb over the end of the hose to make the outflow hole smaller? 

• What if we could somehow shrink the diameter of the entire length of the hose itself? 

• How about using a hose that was more like a steel pipe (something like PEX, without any real give to it)? 

• What about increasing the power / output of the pump? 

• What if we could change the viscosity / thickness of the fluid going through the hose? 
• What would happen if we could affect the temperature of the fluid or hose? 

The truth is, all of these things have the ability to affect the pressure in the garden hose, and all can be modulated (not being an engineer, there are probably a few I have left out).  Let’s start transferring this information over to the human body and talk about some of the things that have the ability to increase or decrease your blood pressure according to the things on this list.

Many people are inclined to tell you that things like OBESITY, SMOKING, CRAPPY DIETS, or lack of exercise are the things that cause Hypertension.  While not exactly being false, this is not the complete story.  These sorts of things are the risk factors for Hypertension.  Others include GENETIC FACTORS, being male, DIABETES, having AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES (particularly Psoriasis), or being pregnant.  Before we move on, I want to address another common risk factor —- salt.

Dietary Salt is a touchy issue that seems to attract a lot of erroneous information, and I think that for the most part, doctors who tell patients to avoid Table Salt (sodium chloride —- NaCl) are getting it wrong.  The peer-reviewed scientific literature is loaded with studies saying that salt is not nearly the health problem that it was once declared to be (HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE are a few examples of many — as always, do your own research).  This would make sense in light of the fact that meat and other foods were, for centuries, preserved in the stuff.  I do, however, believe that sodium can be problematic.  Where does the majority of sodium come from?  Why processed foods, of course.  Once you learn a bit about MONO-SODIUM GLUTAMATE (MSG), you will see yet another reason it is important to read food labels. 

Now that the salt issue is settled, let’s move on to the real culprit behind the vast majority of hypertension.  Without going through each potential disease process, what over-arching health problem could possibly constrict your blood vessels to the point of raising blood pressure?  How about Inflammation.  INFLAMMATION is the collective name given to a group of Immune System chemicals, and in my years of experience, not one person in a thousand has a clue what it really is despite hearing / using the word on a near-daily basis.  Although there are a boatload of reasons that these chemicals might be out of balance (BLACK MOLD, TRANS FATS, parasites, HEAVY METAL TOXICITY, and a whole host of others) I like to look for the most common first.  These would be UNCONTROLLED BLOOD SUGAR and Food Sensitivities such as GLUTEN INTOLERANCE (an Immune System attack against wheat proteins that your body has ‘recognized’ as foreign invaders and decided to make antibodies against).  By the way, besides being massively inflammatory, Trans Fats are a huge problem as well, actually having the ability to alter your cell membranes.  This not only gives those who consume them the “stupid cell membranes” that are known to result in DIABETES, but tends to result in significantly greater tissue rigidity rather than their normal state of fluidity and suppleness.  Think about it like this: when the blood vessels are more like a pipe than a garden hose, High Blood Pressure will result since the vessel has no give to it.  This leads us to another controversial topic in our quest to defeat HBP naturally — animal fats.

Practically all lists of risk factors for Hypertension will include dietary fat as a culprit, and more particularly animal (saturated) fat / red meat.  But is this really true?  Again, when you look at the peer-reviewed literature on the subject, it seems that this is another of those salt-like myths that seems to be tougher to kill than the Hydra.  HERE is one such example.  Are there more?  HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE, are a few of many (HERE is an article from a heart surgeon not named Mehmet).  So; if things like dietary salt, CHOLESTEROL, and red meat / saturated fat are not the cause of High Blood Pressure, what the heck is?  It’s not like I haven’t spilled those beans on this already. 

The major cause of heart disease (high blood pressure, High Cholesterol, etc) is UNCONTROLLED BLOOD SUGAR — the leading cause of Inflammation.  That’s right, unless you have some sort of genetic issue from a young age, you can typically control your Blood Pressure with diet and lifestyle changes.  Follow closely because not all diets or exercise programs are created equally.   For instance, who here remembers the “High Carb / Low Fat / No Fat” 80’s and 90’s?  Makes you wonder how many people died as the direct result of the Heart Association Diet and Food Pyramid?  Here is the really cool thing.  This same diet I recommend for people with High Blood Pressure (THE PALEO DIET) also happens to be the best way to eat whether your problem is Heart Disease, High Cholesterol, AUTOIMMUNITY, CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DEGENERATIVE DISEASES, or any number of others (including your WEIGHT).   Tightly / strictly / narrowly control your blood sugar, and watch everything improve at once.  This is what happens when you get to the root of the problem instead of masking symptoms. 

Under a section called, “The Myth of Symptoms” the website of the American Heart Association published these words.  “There’s a common misconception that people with high blood pressure, also called hypertension, will experience symptoms such as nervousness, sweating, difficulty sleeping or facial flushing. The truth is that HBP is largely a symptomless condition. If you ignore your blood pressure because you think symptoms will alert you to the problem, you are taking a dangerous chance with your life“.  The AHA is correct here.  Although there are lots of symptoms that could lead a doctor to conclude that you might be dealing with High Blood Pressure, taking a blood pressure reading is so easy that you could purchase an inexpensive device from Mal Wart to do it yourself at home.  One more important point to remember about this list is that these symptoms are all potential side effects of anti-hypertensive medications as well as hypertension (more shortly).

• SEVERE HEADACHES:  As crazy as it seems, there are actually studies showing that HBP (or an increased pulse pressure — the difference between the high and low numbers) can actually decrease one’s chances of headaches.  Be aware that this can be the result of a condition that would almost be akin to a NEUROPATHY in the brain.

• VISUAL DISTURBANCES:

• POUNDING OR ‘WHOOSHING’ IN YOUR EARS, NECK, OR CHEST / PALPITATIONS OR IRREGULAR HEARTBEAT:

• CHEST PAIN / ANGINA:

• FATIGUE / CONFUSION:

• BLOODY URINE / NOSEBLEEDS:

• BREATHING PROBLEMS:

There are a host of natural things that you could be taking for your blood pressure.  Some of these include PGFO, and anti-inflammatory plants such as CINNAMON, Tumeric / Circumin, Boswellia, Ginger, etc (THE YELLOWS).  But I will warn you.  Simply taking supplements without radical changes to your lifestyle is a recipe for failure.  Frequently, these are the people who want to eat whatever they want, lead a sedentary lifestyle, and then take supplements.  And when people in this group fail, they always want to blame it on the fact that those blasted supplements just don’t work!   Here’s what I wrote about this phenomenon several years ago. 

The truth is, there are about a half a jillion things that you can do to diminish your BP.  None takes the place of DIET (don’t forget to drink more WATER) and EXERCISE.  Most of the good ones are anti- inflammatory in nature.  One word of advice.  The website of the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension)  says, “The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend the DASH eating plan as a model for healthy eating for everyone!”  The DASH Diet was developed by the government (National Institutes of Health) as a way of lowering blood pressure without the need to go on medications.  Does it work?  For many people, it does.  The truth is, for many people this diet would be a huge step up from the junk they are consuming on a daily basis.  However, I would argue that it is not the best diet for the job. 

For one, the NIH seems to be trying to conjure up the ghosts of the Food Pyramid by suggesting people eat between 6 and 12 servings of grains a day.  The problem with this is that today’s grains are not the same grains that were being consumed by our great-grandparents (HERE).  Not to mention, grain is what farmers use to pack fat on their cattle.  You eat 6 to 12 servings a day, and eventually you’ll look like the offspring of the Goodyear blimp.  DASH also allows up to 4 servings from a category labeled “fats and sweets“.   Sorry, but it’s 2014.  Equating fats to sweets in this day and age is about as distant from anything scientific as one could get. On top of all this, DASH wants you to, “put away the salt shaker“.  I’ve already shown you that this is bad news (HERE is one more short example from my site).  And the recommendations to consume low fat or no fat dairy each day?  The whole thing reminds me of 1988.   

All of this begs the question as to why our own government would not want its citizens on BP (other than the fact that they / we are now paying for most of it through taxes).  In other words, why are tax dollars being spent on telling us what to eat, and what are the side effects of the medications used to lower Blood Pressure?

There are a plethora of potential side effects with Blood Pressure medications, with IMPOTENCE and HEADACHES being two of the most common. Be aware that you will often hear doctors saying things like, “We are having a difficult time regulating your blood pressure medication.”  Why would this be?  When you look at the list of side effects below, you will notice that there are lots of symptoms that are exact opposites of each other.  Some of the potential side effects of blood pressure medications include things like……

• DEPRESSION / ANXIETY: 

• HEADACHES:  This was one of the number one side effects of antihypertensive drugs.

• CHRONIC FATIGUE:

• DIZZINESS:

• PALPITATIONS:

• RAPID HEART RATE:

• DECREASED HEART RATE:

• LOW BLOOD PRESSURE / FAINTING:

• HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE:

• WEAKNESS:

• INABILITY TO THINK OR CONCENTRATE:

• SYMPTOMS OF CELIAC DISEASE, SUCH AS UNCONTROLLED DIARRHEA OR UNCONTROLLED WEIGHT LOSS:

• CONSTIPATION:

• DIZZINESS / VERTIGO:

• MALE IMPOTENCY:  This was a top side effects of this class of drug.

• LACK OF SEX DRIVE:  This can be male or female

• BREAST CANCER:

• INSOMNIA:

• ASTHMA:

• DRY HACKING COUGH:

• SKIN RASH:

• LOSS OF TASTE:

• WATER RETENTION / SWOLLEN ANKLES / SWOLLEN EYES:

• HEARTBURN:

• STUFFY NOSE:

• HIRTSUISM:  Excessive Growth of Hair

• JOINT PAIN:

• DRY MOUTH:

• FREQUENT URINATION:

• BLEEDING GUMS:

• LOSS OF POTASSIUM:

• ODD OR METALLIC TASTE / LOSS OF TASTE:

• TROUBLE BREATHING:

• BLURRED VISION:

• MORE:  To see the entire list of types and brands of blood pressure medications as well as their side effects, just do an online search. 

Listen; I get it.  You may end up having to go on antihypertensive drugs.  Particularly if you have seriously abused your body for years and years or if you have Secondary Hypertension (Hypertension of a known origin such as ENDOCRINE PROBLEMS or Kidney Disease).  But Primary Hypertension (aka Essential Hypertension or Idiopathic Hypertension — Hypertension of unknown cause) is 95% of all hypertension.  The great thing about this is that you now know much more about solving this problem than you did just one hour ago.   Continue to learn and make changes, and one day soon (with your doctor’s help of course) you may be able to get off the drugs.  Or better yet, never need to start the drugs in the first place.