Lower Your Blood Pressure Naturally – Part 3

Part 3 of 3 parts

11. Eat Berries. Berries are full of more than just juicy flavor. They’re also packed with polyphenols, natural plant compounds that are good for your heart.

One small study had middle-aged people eat berries for eight weeks. Participants experienced improvements in different markers of heart health, including blood pressure.

Another study assigned people with high blood pressure to a low-polyphenol diet or a high-polyphenol diet containing berries, chocolate, fruits and vegetables. Those consuming berries and polyphenol-rich foods experienced improved markers of heart disease risk.

Tip: Berries are rich in polyphenols, which can help lower blood pressure and the overall risk of heart disease.

12. Try Meditation or Deep Breathing. While these two behaviors could also fall under “stress reduction techniques,” meditation and deep breathing deserve specific mention. Both meditation and deep breathing are thought to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. This system is engaged when the body relaxes, slowing the heart rate and lowering blood pressure.

There’s quite a bit of research in this area, with studies showing that different styles of meditation appear to have benefits for lowering blood pressure. Deep breathing techniques can also be quite effective.

In one study, participants were asked to either take six deep breaths over the course of 30 seconds or to simply sit still for 30 seconds. Those who took breaths lowered their blood pressure more than those who just sat. Try guided meditation or deep breathing.

Tip: Both meditation and deep breathing can activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps slow your heart rate and lower blood pressure.

13. Eat Calcium-Rich Foods. People with low calcium intake often have high blood pressure. While calcium supplements haven’t been conclusively shown to lower blood pressure, calcium-rich diets do seem linked to healthy levels.

For most adults, the calcium recommendation is 1,000 mg per day. For women over 50 and men over 70, it’s 1,200 mg per day. In addition to dairy, you can get calcium from collard greens and other leafy greens, beans, sardines and tofu.

Tip: Calcium-rich diets are linked to healthy blood pressure levels. Get calcium through dark leafy greens and tofu, as well as dairy.

14. Take Natural Supplements. Some natural supplements may also help lower blood pressure.

Here are some of the main supplements that have evidence behind them:

• Aged garlic extract: Aged garlic extract has been used successfully as a stand-alone treatment and along with conventional therapies for lowering blood pressure.
• Berberine: Traditionally used in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, berberine may increase nitric oxide production, which helps decrease blood pressure.
• Whey protein: A 2016 study found that whey protein improved blood pressure and blood vessel function in 38 participants.
• Fish oil: Long credited with improving heart health, fish oil may benefit people with high blood pressure the most.
• Hibiscus: Hibiscus flowers make a tasty tea. They’re rich in anthocyanins and polyphenols that are good for your heart and may lower blood pressure.

Tip: Several natural supplements have been investigated for their ability to lower blood pressure.

15. Eat Foods Rich in Magnesium. Magnesium is an important mineral that helps blood vessels relax. While magnesium deficiency is pretty rare, many people don’t get enough.

Some studies have suggested that getting too little magnesium is linked with high blood pressure, but evidence from clinical studies has been less clear. Still, eating a magnesium-rich diet is a recommended way to ward off high blood pressure.

You can incorporate magnesium into your diet with vegetables, dairy products, legumes, chicken, meat and whole grains.

Tip: Magnesium is an important mineral that helps regulate blood pressure. Find it in whole foods, such as legumes and whole grains.

Take Away Message

High blood pressure affects a large proportion of the world’s population. While drugs are one way to treat the condition, there are many other natural techniques that can help. Controlling your blood pressure through the methods in these three blogs may, ultimately, help you lower your risk of heart disease.

Lower Your Blood Pressure Naturally – Part 2

Part 2 of 3 parts

6. Learn to Manage Stress. Stress is a key driver of high blood pressure. When you’re chronically stressed, your body is in a constant fight-or-flight mode. On a physical level, that means a faster heart rate and constricted blood vessels.

When you experience stress, you might also be more likely to engage in other behaviors, such as drinking alcohol or eating unhealthy food, which can negatively affect blood pressure. Several studies have explored how reducing stress can help lower blood pressure.

Here are two evidence-based tips to try:

• Listen to soothing music: Calming music can help relax your nervous system. Research has shown it’s an effective complement to other blood pressure therapies.
• Work less: Working a lot, and stressful work situations in general, are linked to high blood pressure.

Tip: Chronic stress can contribute to high blood pressure. Finding ways to manage stress can help.

7. Eat Dark Chocolate or Cocoa. Here’s a piece of advice you can really get behind. While eating massive amounts of chocolate probably won’t help your heart, small amounts may.

That’s because dark chocolate and cocoa powder are rich in flavonoids, plant compounds that cause blood vessels to dilate. A review of studies found that flavonoid-rich cocoa improved several markers of heart health over the short term, including lowering blood pressure.

For the strongest effects, use non-alkalized cocoa powder, which is especially high in flavonoids and has no added sugars.

Tip: Dark chocolate and cocoa powder contains plant compounds that help relax blood vessels, lowering blood pressure.

8. Lose Weight. If you’re overweight, losing weight can make a big difference for your heart health. According to a 2016 study, losing 5% of your body mass could significantly lower high blood pressure. In previous studies, losing 17 pounds (7.7 kg) was linked to lowering systolic blood pressure by 8.5 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure by 6.5 mm Hg.

To put that in perspective, a healthy reading should be less than 120/80 mm Hg.

The effect is even greater when weight loss is paired with exercise. Losing weight can help your blood vessels do a better job of expanding and contracting, making it easier for the left ventricle of the heart to pump blood.

Tip: Losing weight can significantly lower high blood pressure. This effect is even greater when you exercise.

9. Quit Smoking. Among the many reasons to quit smoking is that the habit is a strong risk factor for heart disease. Every puff of cigarette smoke causes a slight, temporary increase in blood pressure. The chemicals in tobacco are also known to damage blood vessels.

Surprisingly, studies haven’t found a conclusive link between smoking and high blood pressure. Perhaps this is because smokers develop a tolerance over time.

Still, since both smoking and high blood pressure raise the risk of heart disease, quitting smoking can help reverse that risk.

Tip: There’s conflicting research about smoking and high blood pressure, but what is clear is that both increase the risk of heart disease.

10. Cut Added Sugar and Refined Carbs. There’s a growing body of research showing a link between added sugar and high blood pressure. In the Framingham Women’s Health Study, women who drank even one soda per day had higher levels than those who drank less than one soda per day.

Another study found that having one less sugar-sweetened beverage per day was linked to lower blood pressure. And it’s not just sugar — all refined carbs, such as the kind found in white flour, convert rapidly to sugar in your bloodstream and may cause problems.

Some studies have shown that low-carb diets may also help reduce blood pressure. One study on people undergoing statin therapy found that those who went on a six-week, carb-restricted diet saw a greater improvement in blood pressure and other heart disease markers than people not on a diet.

Tip: Refined carbs, especially sugar, may raise blood pressure. Some studies have shown that low-carb diets may help reduce your levels.

Lower Your Blood Pressure Naturally – Part 1

Part 1 of 3 parts

High blood pressure is a dangerous condition that can damage your heart. It affects one in three people in the US and 1 billion people worldwide. If left uncontrolled, it raises your risk of heart disease and stroke. There are a number of things you can do to lower your blood pressure naturally, even without medication.

Here are 15 natural ways to combat high blood pressure.

1. Walk and Exercise Regularly. Exercise is one of the best things you can do to lower high blood pressure. Regular exercise helps make your heart stronger and more efficient at pumping blood, which lowers the pressure in your arteries.

In fact, 150 minutes of moderate exercise, such as walking, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise, such as running, per week can help lower blood pressure and improve your heart health. Doing even more exercise reduces your blood pressure even further, according to the National Walkers’ Health Study (5).

Tip: Walking just 30 minutes a day can help lower your blood pressure. More exercise helps reduce it even further.

2. Reduce Your Sodium Intake. Salt intake is high around the world. In large part, this is due to the abundance of processed and prepared foods. For this reason, many public health efforts are aimed at lowering salt in the food industry.

In many studies, salt has been linked to high blood pressure and heart events, like stroke. However, research that is more recent has shown that the relationship between sodium and high blood pressure may be less clear. One reason for this may be genetic differences between how people process sodium. About half of people with high blood pressure and a quarter of people with normal levels seem to have a sensitivity to salt.

If you already have high blood pressure, it’s worth cutting back your sodium intake to see if it makes a difference. Swap out processed foods with fresh ones and try seasoning with herbs and spices, rather than salt.

Tip: Most guidelines for lowering blood pressure recommend lowering sodium intake. However, that recommendation might make the most sense for people who are salt-sensitive.

3. Drink Less Alcohol. Drinking alcohol can raise blood pressure. In fact, alcohol is linked to 16% of high blood pressure cases around the world. While some research has suggested that low-to-moderate amounts of alcohol may protect the heart, those benefits may be offset by negative effects.

In the US, moderate alcohol consumption is defined as no more than one drink a day for women and two for men. If you drink more than that, cut back.

Tip: Drinking alcohol in any quantity may raise your blood pressure. Limit your drinking to no more than one drink a day for women, two for men.

4. Eat More Potassium-Rich Foods. Potassium is an important mineral. It helps your body get rid of sodium and ease pressure on your blood vessels.

Modern diets have increased most people’s sodium intake while decreasing potassium intake.

To get a better balance of potassium to sodium in your diet, focus on eating fewer processed foods and fresher, whole foods. Foods that are particularly high in potassium include:

• Vegetables, especially leafy greens, tomatoes, potatoes and sweet potatoes
• Fruit, including melons, bananas, avocados, oranges and apricots
• Dairy, such as milk and yogurt
• Tuna and salmon
• Nuts and seeds
• Beans

Tip: Eating fresh fruits and vegetables, which are rich in potassium, can help lower blood pressure.

5. Cut Back on Caffeine. If you’ve ever downed a cup of coffee before you’ve had your blood pressure taken, you’ll know that caffeine causes an instant boost. However, there’s not a lot of evidence to suggest that drinking caffeine regularly can cause a lasting increase. In fact, people who drink caffeinated coffee and tea tend to have a lower risk of heart disease, including high blood pressure, than those who don’t.

Caffeine may have a stronger effect on people who don’t consume it regularly. If you suspect you’re caffeine-sensitive, cut back to see if it lowers your blood pressure.

Tip: Caffeine can cause a short-term spike in blood pressure, although for many people it does not cause a lasting increase.

Reasons to Avoid Taking Statins – Part 2

Ten things you really need to know before considering taking statins (Bold is my emphasis).

1. There are over 500 published scientific studies showing harmful or toxic effects of statins (This is an excellent resource.)

2. Common side effects include muscle damage, impaired heart muscle function, liver damage, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, impaired brain function, memory and cognition, loss of libido, depression, and reduced circulating levels of key nutrients such as coenzyme Q10, selenium, glutathione, these and other factors contributing to increased risk of atherosclerosis and heart disease

3. British private health insurer BUPA cites common side-effects of statins as stomach problems – pain, diarrhea, feeling sick and vomiting, jaundice, headache, sleep disturbances, dizziness, depression and extreme tiredness

4. Cardiovascular risk is over-predicted by risk calculators used by doctor’s to prescribe statins

5. There is no compelling evidence to show any benefits of statins for the very elderly, even though these are among the group with highest rate of statin medication

6. The 2011 Cochrane Review of the evidence from 14 randomized clinical trials (RCTs) showed that only high risk groups might gain some benefit in quality of life, while “Caution should be taken in prescribing statins for primary prevention among people at low cardiovascular risk”.

7. Cochrane changed its conclusion with its review in 2014, recommending statins to all those with raised cholesterol, irrespective of risk. This revised conclusion was largely as the result of the influence of one trial headed by leading British statin advocate, Dr Rory Collins that was likely tainted by his Pharma interests. Additionally, Dr Collins has also tried his best, fortunately unsuccessfully, to bury the views of his scientific critics. The Cochrane review also discounts the importance of side effects—contrary to a gamut of evidence and clinical reporting over years, as well as the requirement to warn patients of such risks on product information leaflets.

8. The evidence that long-term use of statins significantly increases and approximately doubles the risk of type 2 diabetes is unequivocal. Brand new evidence from long-term studies also shows clear evidence that statin use increases the risk of acute and chronic kidney disease.

9. For those who have a low risk of suffering a heart attack, leading British cardiologist Dr. Aseem Malhotra argues that a daily apple will do more to protect the heart than using statins.

10. Find out how you can reduce your heart attack risk without using statins by leading metabolic cardiologist, Dr Mark Houston, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine; Director of the Hypertension Institute and Vascular Biology; and Medical Director of the Division of Human Nutrition at Saint Thomas Medical Group, Saint Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee.

In number 7 above, Dr. Malcolm Kendrick has several blogs about Dr. Rory Collins and is rather upset about his actions and his not reporting conflicts of interest. I am giving you two references from Dr. Kendrick referring to Dr. Collins. Reference one, Reference two.

Reasons to Avoid Taking Statins – Part 1

I like the opening statement from AnhInternational, which states - “If you hadn’t noticed that the statin bubble had burst, you were probably suffering a statin-induced fuzzy head and hadn’t managed to stay up with breaking news.”

Over the past months a flurry of long-term studies have been emerging, driving the last nails into the coffin of one of the most profitable drug classes the pharmaceutical industry has yet seen. Or so it might seem.

Statins are prescribed for the purpose of reducing cholesterol levels, which have long been viewed as a major risk factor for heart disease. How many people know the long-term risks (or benefits, or otherwise) of statins before they take them?

While the scientific edifice for this assertion may largely have collapsed, major health authorities like the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) are much slower to retract their argument that high cholesterol in the bloodstream leads to clogging up of arteries and increased heart attack risk. This misinformed and greatly over-simplified view results in over-prescription of statins, with the US being the number one prescribing nation in the world and the UK the second biggest. Over a million statin prescriptions are filled each week in the UK.

If they were talking about more sensitive measurements of C-Reactive Protein (CRP), sub-clinical low-grade inflammation, apolipoproteins profiles or oxidized fractions of very low-density lipoprotein (ox-VLDL), that would be an entirely different issue. But only doctors and practitioners really prepared to look at the totality of evidence, including emerging evidence, are presently using comprehensive cardiovascular risk profiles including some of these emerging markers. To top if off though, statin drugs themselves actually cause atherosclerosis and heart disease…

Big Pharma, and its servants in health and regulatory authorities, don’t give up so easily. Even the US FDA, while being forced to admit and communicate more evidence of harm, still argues that purported benefits in reducing heart disease outweigh risks, be these kidney, brain, muscle or eye damage, or increased type 2 diabetes incidence. More than that, seemingly outlandish new claims for other ‘spin-off’ benefits keep emerging, helping offset the bad publicity about side effects.

Among the headlines generated recently are:

• “Statins can halve patients’ risk of dying from cancer”. These data were based on observational studies, they were publicized at a conference, generated headlines globally—and have since been contested.
• “Statins may reduce dementia by a third”

• “Double duty drug: statins may fight MS”

• “Statins could reverse most common form of blindness”

AACE and ACE Changing Name for Obesity

Kenny Lin who blogs at Common SenseFamily Doctor has a great blog about what the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) and the American College of Endocrinology (ACE) are proposing to replace the word obesity. I appreciate that he spoke out and discussed his thoughts about this.

The AACE and ACE want the words "adiposity-based chronic disease," (ABCD) which does not define accurately the one word “obesity.” The authors argued that this new term emphasizes that most persons with obesity will struggle with weight gain for their entire lives; encourages a complications-centric as opposed to body mass index-based management approach; and "avoids the stigmata [sic] and confusion" associated with obesity in popular culture. They also asserted that ABCD is more amenable to interventions based on the Chronic Care Model, which explicitly recognizes that screening and office-based management need to be adapted to the patient's unique environment.

None of these concepts should surprise family physicians, though, and after reading through the AACE/ACE statement, I was not sold on the benefits of the new term. Some patients with body mass indexes above 30 don't like the obesity label, but would they respond any more positively to the disease acronym ABCD? There are potential harms to consider, too. One of my American Family Physician colleagues felt that the new term was "intimidating" and "not at all patient centered," while another thought that it "only hides the issue [of obesity] instead of confronting it."

This discussion brought to mind another medical term often associated with overweight and obese patients: prediabetes. On one hand, being classified as "prediabetic" or at risk for this exceptionally common diagnosis may motivate obese patients to lose weight through improved diet and physical activity. On the other, the term prediabetes is misleading: many of these patients will not develop diabetes, and the diagnostic accuracy of the most common screening tests (hemoglobin A1c and fasting glucose levels) is poor, according to a systematic review published in the BMJ. Due to the tests' low sensitivity and specificity, some persons are incorrectly diagnosed with prediabetes, and others who might actually benefit from interventions to prevent diabetes are falsely reassured. Therefore, the review authors concluded, "'screen and treat' policies alone are unlikely to have substantial impact on the worsening epidemic of type 2 diabetes."

For all its limitations, obesity is a diagnosis with well-established clinical utility. It is less clear how many patients have been helped (or harmed) by being diagnosed with prediabetes. With more study, adiposity-based chronic disease might someday become a useful term, but the current case for more widespread use is unconvincing.

Then on January 18. 2017, Endocrinology Advisor published this article praising the new term and how it may end the stigma obesity has with it. They also believe that the BMI should no longer be associated with the term ABCD. To me this is doing nothing more that obscuring the meaning for patients and using terms, even some doctors may find confusing.

Inflammation Happens with Every Meal

Several members of our support group are skeptical of this article and have told me that they don't believe much of this. They do admit that some people are susceptible to the inflammation more than others.

When we eat, we do not just take in nutrients - we also consume a significant quantity of bacteria. The body is faced with the challenge of simultaneously distributing the ingested glucose and fighting these bacteria. This triggers an inflammatory response that activates the immune systems of healthy individuals and has a protective effect, as doctors from the University and the University Hospital Basel have proven for the first time. In overweight individuals, however, this inflammatory response fails so dramatically that it can lead to diabetes.

It is well known that type 2 diabetes (or adult-onset diabetes) leads to chronic inflammation with a range of negative impacts. A number of clinical studies have therefore treated diabetes by impeding the over-production of a substance involved in this process, Interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta). In diabetes patients, this messenger substance triggers chronic inflammation and causes insulin-producing beta cells to die off.

This inflammation does have some positive aspects, however, as was recently reported in the journal Nature Immunology by researchers from the Department of Biomedicine at the University and the University Hospital Basel. In healthy individuals, short-term inflammatory responses play an important role in sugar uptake and the activation of the immune system.

In their work, Professor Marc Donath, Head of the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at the University Hospital Basel and his research team demonstrate that the number of macrophages (a type of immune cell) around the intestines increases during meal times. These so-called "scavenger cells­" produce the messenger substance IL-1beta in varying amounts, depending on the concentration of glucose in the blood. This, in turn, stimulates insulin production in pancreatic beta cells. The insulin then causes the macrophages to increase IL-1beta production. Insulin and IL-1beta work together to regulate blood sugar levels, while the messenger substance IL-1beta ensures that the immune system is supplied with glucose and thus remains active.

According to the researchers, this mechanism of the metabolism and immune system is dependent on the bacteria and nutrients that are ingested during meals. With sufficient nutrients, the immune system is able to adequately combat foreign bacteria. Conversely, when there is a lack of nutrients, the few remaining calories must be conserved for important life functions at the expense of an immune response. This may go some way towards explaining why infectious diseases occur more frequently in times of famine.

This last paragraph was where the members of the support group said this is the reason that we have Allison monitoring our nutrient intake and have our doctors test for the vitamins and minerals we might be deficient in per Allison.