Natural treatments for hypertension can be as effective as prescription drugs, without the harmful side-effects. First, it's important to ensure that you get a reliable blood pressure reading done. Many measurements are artificially high because of the 'white coat effect' (anxiety about seeing your doctor). So try to relax before you have your blood pressure taken, and ask for it to be checked again in a day or two, if the reading is high. Better yet, let your blood pressure be taken over over an extended period, especially if it is a border line reading.
But whatever the case, start to take control of your own blood pressure by drinking plenty of water — at least two litres a day. Lose any excess weight — reducing weight by just 9lb has been found to bring blood pressure readings down to normal in some cases.
Cutting out sugar and reducing your intake of refined carbohydrates, like white bread and pasta, can help you lose weight and will also help to prevent insulin resistance and diabetes — two significant risk factors for hypertension.
Blood pressure regulation is reliant on many essential nutrients, like potassium, magnesium, calcium, essential fatty acids and vitamin C — so it is important you're not deficient in them.
Eat more oily fish, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids — particularly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) — which have been found to be as effective in lowering blood pressure as beta-blocker drugs. If you don’t like oily fish, take a 1,100mg fish oil capsule three times a day.
Eat your greens — and your blood pressure will drop
Because vegetarians have lower rates of hypertension than meat eaters, it used to be thought that meat consumption causes high blood pressure. But tests have shown that eating meat, eggs or fat has little effect. The difference comes from the amount of green vegetables and fruit eaten, because of their high content of potassium, magnesium, vitamin C and fibre — which can all lower blood pressure.
The right balance of sodium and potassium is vital for regulating blood pressure. So limit your salt intake and eat more potassium-rich foods, such as leafy green vegetables, bananas and sunflower seeds. In tests, restricting potassium intake for just nine days led to an average four-point increase in blood pressure.
Magnesium is also crucial, and is found in dark green vegetables, nuts and figs. A low magnesium intake correlated most closely with high blood pressure when the diets of 615 men were analysed. The vitamin C in fruit and vegetables is another powerful preventive - research shows that hypertension and strokes occur most frequently in people who eat the least vitamin C.
Complementary treatments have an extremely high success rate in the fight against hypertension
Despite the fact that hypertension can often be successfully controlled using a drug-free approach, a recent study found that only 5 per cent of patients with high blood pressure were aware of the usefulness of complementary treatments for the condition. The study also found that the majority of patients — up to 94 per cent — who did use complementary treatments experienced a significant drop in their blood pressure levels.
One of the most beneficial natural treatments for hypertension is garlic. It not only helps reduce blood pressure but also reduces the stickiness of the blood inside the arteries — thereby preventing the blood from clotting, which could otherwise cause a heart attack or stroke.
In a recent study conducted by a team of researchers from the Department of Biological Sciences, Kuwait University, garlic was found to work by influencing the concentration of nitric oxide — a substance that reduces blood pressure by widening the arteries — in the blood.
Better still, nitric oxide has an additional benefit for men as it also widens the arteries of the penis, thereby helping to reverse impotence. It's no coincidence that many men who suffer from high blood pressure also suffer from impotence, because they generally have narrow arteries.
So supplementing with garlic can help combat both conditions. Research suggests that aged garlic may offer greater protection than ordinary raw garlic. For the best results take 900mg of garlic powder a day (containing 1.3 per cent alliin — garlic's active ingredient).
I will continue tomorrow.....
To your abundant health,
Dr Ike
Functional Health Expert and Health Coach
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