High blood pressure does not just happen - it is the result of a lifestyle that does not agree with what the body needs, throwing one's system out of balance.
First of all, what IS blood pressure exactly? Your doctor tells you two numbers, say 130 over 80 - what do they mean? The first or top number is the pressure or force the blood is exerting on the walls of the artery while the heart is contracting, and the bottom number is the pressure or force the blood is exerting on the walls of the artery when the heart is relaxing between beats, and filling up with blood. So, if the pressure is high, it means the arteries may be constricted or possibly partially blocked, which is why blood pressure is an easy way to detect potential cardiovascular risk factors. The bottom number is particularly telling, because if that number is higher than it should be when the heart is between beats, it is likely there is a problem. "Normal" blood pressure is considered to be 120/80, and most people get put on medication if their blood pressure rises to 140/90. I find it interesting to note that in the primitive cultures that were studied in the 1920s and 30s, blood pressure tended to decline with age, rather than go up, as we are currently witnessing in Western society.
Here is the Cole's Notes version for lowering blood pressure naturally. For more info on each, click through the links. (Except for the refined sugar and starch section, which I'll expand upon below.)
There are two mechanisms by which eating too much sugar and flour (which the body treats as sugar) increases blood pressure. First, diets high in refined sugar and starch cause a greater insulin response, which I have discussed at great length in other posts. High insulin increases heart rate, constricts blood vessels, and stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, all of which increases blood pressure. So, eat no sugar and refined carbohydrate, lower the insulin response, lower the blood pressure. I think that doctors that study their patient data have probably noticed that frequently high blood-pressure patients also have higher insulin levels.
The other way in which eating easily digestible and refined carbohydrates increases blood pressure is by causing the kidneys to retain salt. The body then retains water in order to keep the blood sodium concentration constant. So water is not necessarily retained by consuming too much sodium, but rather by the easily digestible carbohydrates stopping the excretion of the sodium which is already there. So, stop eating the sugar and flour products, the kidneys stop retaining salt, the body stops retaining water. A much healthier diuretic than a drug!
I'd love to hear your comments on my blog!
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Taubes, Gary Good Calories Bad Calories Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2007.
Batmanghelidj, F. MD Your Body’s Many Cries For Water, Global Health Solutions, Vienna, VA., USA, 1997.
Formby and Wiley; Lights Out! Sugar, Sleep and Survival Books, New York, NY, 2000
Online www.chekinstitute.com Balancing the autonomic nervous system
Copyright 2008 Vreni Gurd
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