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Hi, I just went to the doctor and found out I have elevated blood pressure. I'd like some suggestions (good or bad) on what I should do to bring it down. I currently do not take any medication, but sometimes I do not get enough sleep as I work two jobs. My jobs are physical and I rarely sit down. Thanks!
Hi, I just went to the doctor and found out I have elevated blood pressure. I'd like some suggestions (good or bad) on what I should do to bring it down. I currently do not take any medication, but sometimes I do not get enough sleep as I work two jobs. My jobs are physical and I rarely sit down. Thanks!
I suggest you take this very seriously before you get to stage 2 hypertension with a bp >160/100. It would be helpful to get a home blood pressure monitor.
1) Optimize diet. Joel Fuhrman's nutritarian diet or the McDougall diet are effective in bringing down blood pressure. Good results are also reported with the Michael Eades protein power diet. The Dash diet may also help.
I recommend religiously avoiding any very high sodium lunch meats, canned food and takeout food.
2) Exercise! Walking will help. See references from previous posts. Also isometric exercise is reported to help with blood pressure and can be done without a gym membership.
Isometric exercise for <1 h per week reduced systolic blood pressure by 10.4 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure by 6.7 mm Hg. These changes are similar to those achieved with a single pharmacological agent.
3) Try using the Resperate device. They probably will have a Black Friday sale.
4) Check out this exercise for blood pressure by Wing Chun master Austin Goh. It looks very strange but from the comments many people have benefited by it. I think its similar to using a rebounder exerciser without the equipment.
I think the best way to naturally control blood pressure is through diet. I like Dr. Joel Fuhrman's diet the best. I highly recommend all of his books. Here is a Dr. Fuhrman youtube playlist.
Other dietary approaches might work. The DASH diet is promoted the "Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension" but it is not as effective or as extreme as the Fuhrman diet. The McDougall diet and the Caldwell Esselstyn diets are also worth investigating.
For people who do not want to adapt to a plant based diet the Protein Power Diet by Mark Eades is also reported to have beneficial effects on blood pressure.
Some foods also help with blood pressure.
Flaxseed is one of the best foods for lowering blood pressure.
"SBP was ≈ 10 mm Hg lower, and DBP was ≈ 7 mm Hg lower in the flaxseed group compared with placebo after 6 months. Patients who entered the trial with a SBP ≥ 140 mm Hg at baseline obtained a significant reduction of 15 mm Hg in SBP and 7 mm Hg in DBP from flaxseed ingestion"
These are impressive results but that is with 30g of flax/day(4 tbsp) and it was after 6 months.
Pistachios also may lower blood pressure according this study.
"Those randomly assigned to the blueberry powder showed improved blood pressure and reduced arterial stiffness; average systolic blood pressure (the top number) declined 5.1%, while diastolic pressure dropped 6.3%.
A weightlifting program may also improve blood pressure. In a small study "systolic and diastolic went down after 12 weeks on the program, 16 and 12 mm Hg, respectively (Figure 2). The decrease was enough to shift the group average from being stage 1 hypertension (150/93) to pre-hypertension(134/81)."
There is also a self published book on Amazon called "Reduce Blood Pressure Through Weight Training".
Resperate is a medical device that helps with blood pressure through breathing exercises. No side effects but ideally one needs at least 15min/day of breathing exercises.
They mentioned that grapeseed extract only lowered systolic blood pressure but that is better than nothing since systolic is considered a higher risk factor.
"Systolic blood pressure is a more important risk factor for cardiovascular disease than diastolic blood pressure"
What they did not mention are the different kinds of grapeseed extract. There are several trademarked grapeseed formulations. The best and most researched results are with MegaNatural GSE.
"GSE significantly reduced systolic BP (SBP) by 5·6%(P=0·012) and diastolic BP (DBP)
by 4·7% (P=0·049) after 6 weeks of intervention period"
Quote:
Originally Posted by capoeira
Qigong and Tai Chi are very helpful for blood pressure. I personally like the Chunyi Lin's Spring Forest Qigong program and Roger Jahnke's Qigong dvd. Learning directly from a teacher would be even better.
"In a review of 26 studies in English or Chinese published in Preventive Cardiology (Spring 2008), Dr. Yeh reported that in 85% of trials, tai chi lowered blood pressure — with improvements ranging from 3 to 32 mm Hg in systolic pressure and from 2 to 18 mm Hg in diastolic pressure."
Pomegranates are known to decrease blood pressure.
"They were given an ounce of pomegranate juice each day for a year. Not only did study participants' blood pressure lower by over 12 percent, but there was a 30 percent reduction in atherosclerotic plaque."
"current data suggest that long-term (at
least for 1 year) use of PJ has a beneficial effect on BP, improves
endothelial function, reduces arterial stiffness and
delays or reverses the progression of atherosclerosis"
Pycnogenol and grapeseed extract are also helpful.
"After 12 weeks of treatment, those who received the antioxidant supplement in addition to their medication were able to keep their blood pressure within normal levels with a 15-milligram dose of the drug compared with an average dose of 21.6 milligrams per day among those who took the placebo."
Garlic is well known for its beneficial effects on blood pressure but one has to take enough of it. Here is a study using the Kyolic aged garlic supplement.
"Mean systolic blood pressure was significantly reduced by 11.8±5.4 mm Hg in the garlic-2-capsule group over 12 weeks compared with placebo (P=0.006), and reached borderline significant reduction in the garlic-4-capsule group at 8 weeks (−7.4±4.1 mm Hg, P=0.07). "
Cayenne is also considered to be excellent for maintaining healthy blood pressure.
And I almost forgot about Natto! This fermented product is found in Japanese stores. I think it tastes terrible. Fortunately it is available as a supplement and I like the one made by Nutricology.
"Two controlled clinical trials have investigated the effects of reishi on high blood pressure in humans and both found it could lower blood pressure significantly compared to a placebo."
Also one may be able to lower blood pressure through excellent nutrition. Joel Fuhrman's nutritarian diet is very beneficial for cardiovascular health.
"Of the 443 individuals with high blood pressure, the average drop in systolic blood
pressure after a Nutritarian diet was followed for at least one year was 26 mmHg. In contrast,
standard blood pressure medications lower systolic blood pressure on average about 10 mmHg. The
drop for the Nutritarian patients in diastolic blood pressure was about 15 mmHg. These results dwarf
what can be achieved with routine blood pressure medications—and they are achieved without the
risks of side effects"
Something very simple like walking can also be effective.
"Another study of Japanese men indicates that hypertensive men who walked more than 10,000
steps per day showed an average 10 mm Hg decrease in SBP and an average 8 mm Hg decrease in DBP as
compared to those who were sedentary"
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