High blood pressure is something everyone should be concerned with as it can lead to dangerous and deadly consequences if not treated. You don't have to take high blood pressure drugs that potentially can cause liver and kidney damage - you can solve this problem with natural ingredients, food, and exercise.
In a recent email exchange with a friend, we were talking about soaking salty foods in a water bath for a half an hour before consuming them. She's quite petite and has about eight pounds she'd like to lose, but I tease her and ask where she's hiding it since she's quite beautiful. In the ensuing emails, I realized I hadn't passed down any information in regards to blood pressure since I wrote about removing excessive salt from my diet. So I decided it might be time to update my progress and pass on the information I've learned to you.
Salt is necessary for regulating blood pressure, so everyone needs some in their diets. It's like fat – you must have some in your diet because fats make up cell walls, among other things in the body structure. It's never wise to eliminate all from your diet in these two cases because they do serve critical functions. There are “good” fats and “bad” fats; omega-3 is a good fat whereas trans-fats are bad. In the case of salt, I've heard arguments you need iodine and this and that…and you can only get it from table salt. I think you can probably get all of the “missing” elements from table salt from a balanced diet; I suspect this is more marketing brainwashing to sell salt in a time where it's demonized.
My initial blood pressure reading was 150/102 , which according to the charts meant I was half way through stage one of a four stage ranking system. The higher up you are on the chart, the greater your health risk becomes, which should scare anyone into making fundamental changes to prolong your life. At this point in time, I'm happy to report my blood pressure has substantially dropped. I'm on average maintaining around 120/80, which eases my mind. There are things I've learned about this process that could be beneficial to you or someone you love. I recommend you investigate them yourself and talk with your doctor about such remedies as they might not be suitable for you due to your unique health condition(s).
If your blood pressure is too high, the first thing you should do is get into the habit of reading the product labels while in the store. If you can leave the high salt products on the store shelves, it will not only remove the temptation from your pantry shelves, it will save you money, too. This advice sounds so boring, but it's easy to waste money by accident.
As I started on my diet, I thought it might be nice to have a jar of low fat peanut butter in the house for those occasional indulgences. I don't consider peanut butter to be a diet food by any stretch, but there are times when you first start out that the cravings are the worst because you're going to the detoxification stage. It's a temporary crutch to help you over the sweet/fat tooth stretches without going wild and falling off the wagon. I found a peanut butter that was a small container, had 2.5 grams of fat, and cost me $4.00. I got it home, it tasted like hell, and then to my horror I discovered I had missed the sodium and caloric intakes because I was watching for low fat. The peanut butter had 2.5 grams of fat, 110 calories per teaspoon, and 400 mg of salt! I threw it away instantly and was mad at myself for not noticing such things. Lesson: don't selectively read nutrition labels!
For a short-term start, you might want to consider a natural diuretic like dandelion root. I say short term because you don't want to dehydrate your system, and generally speaking, a water intake level that matches your health and exercise profile should tell you how much water your body requires . It's a huge myth that if you drink too much water, you will become bloated. By consuming the right amount of water for your body, your system will not hold onto it – just like fat in response to diet starvation. You are also “telling” the body to flush out excess fat and toxins (this includes excess sodium) that are stored up in the fat cells.
Garlic is a wonderful natural substance that many swear will not only help lower blood pressure, but performs a whole host of other blood “cleaning” functions. If you wish to go this route, let me save you some time and frustration: the odor-free garlic capsules over the counter do not work. You're going to have to dice the old fashioned smelly clove up and eat it in your food. This will make everyone stay far away from you, but you can temper the garlic breath by chasing the meal with lemon water.
