High Blood Pressure
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High blood pressure or hypertension is classified when both the systolic and diastolic pressures are recorded to be too high. 140 is said to be the safe limit for the upper systolic value.
I decided to write this post because I recently had a close, elderly family member of mine that has been diagnosed with hypertension. The pressure recorded was 195 over 85 which is radically higher than the normal value that I have always been taught of as 120/70-80.
Disclaimer: The following advice is not meant to act as a prescription or even advice for sufferers of hypertension, but food for thought. If you feel you may suffer from high blood pressure of know that you do and are on medication or thinking about going on medication in the near future, you should first speak to your doctor or healthcare professional.
The cause of high blood pressure is simply that the pressure of the blood inside the arteries is too high. The reasons why this happens tend to be attributed to excess bodyweight, electrolyte imbalances, lack of exercise, dehydration, fluid overload due to poor kidney function, stress and fatty-acid imbalances.
It would seem obvious that lower blood pressure would aid the individual but the studies show that while it is clear that having normal blood pressure is better for your long-term health than elevated blood pressure, lowering pressure with medicines does not improve the outcome and improve health.
Further to this, many of the drugs in use to treat hypertension have side effects that many would not wish to have. Diuretics cause the loss of valuable minerals, thereby making the patient open to cardiac arrhythmia. Beta-blockers alter lipid levels and can worsen the tendency to type-II diabetes, which can lead to the same adverse outcome as hypertension in the first place. Similar problems have been found with calcium channel blockers and even with the new ACE inhibitors.
This leads me to believe that high blood pressure is best treated without drugs. Of the list of causes mentioned above, four of the most important I will mention in this Blog are:
- Excess bodyweight
- Stress
- Dehydration
- Fatty acid imbalances.
I have found that the biggest contributor to excess bodyweight is the inability to regulate blood sugar and insulin. The body’s insulin receptor sites for fat are actually on the sides of the waist, thus when insulin is released excessively then fat will be stored in this place leading to excess weight and body-fat. Also, when you have low blood sugar, the body will release more adrenaline and cortisol so that you don’t die. This creates high blood pressure. Interestingly, cortisol’s receptor sites for fat are on the front of the tummy – another reason why this creates high blood pressure.
To best manage blood sugar levels and to aid in weight loss, Metabolic Typing, or the process of finding your optimal ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates for your unique body type, is the best place to start. Simply, each person has a different nutrient need and will find that working on your unique Metabolic Type will stabilise your blood sugar, and give you the right energy for your needs, and lead to maintenance of your ideal weight. Add comments for information on how to find out your Metabolic Type.
Stress is commonly cited in cases of high blood pressure. The increased adrenaline and cortisol levels are responsible for this. Typical methods to reduce stress levels, apart from eliminating your stressors from your life, are meditation and other relaxation techniques. There are literally hundreds of these out there and it is best to find the right type of method for you.
In his book Your Body’s Many Cries for Water: A Revolutionary Natural Way to Prevent Illness and Restore Good Health, Dr. Batmangheldij says that hypertension is a state of adaptation of the body to a generalised drought, when there is not enough water to fill all the blood vessels, which diffuse water into vital cells. Water and some high quality Celtic sea-salt will bring blood pressure back to normal! Not recognizing hypertension as one of the major indicators of dehydration in the human body, and treating it with diuretics that further dehydrate the body will, in time, cause blockage by cholesterol of the heart arteries and the arteries that go to the brain. It will cause heart attacks and small or massive strokes that paralyze. It can eventually cause kidney diseases.
The important message here is that if you suffer from hypertension then drinking plenty of water will most certainly reduce your blood pressure.
Lastly, a supplement of omega-3 fatty acids, usually in the form of a small amount of flax oil or cod liver or fish oil can eliminate the deficiency of omega-3 fatty acids in the diet. As well as a deficiency in omega-3′s, a typical Western diet contains far too many trans fats. These replace saturated fats in the cell walls with the result that they become too stiff.
Following these four basic guidelines with guidance from your doctor and you never know, you could just eliminate high blood pressure and hypertension for good.
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