Lowering Blood Pressure Naturally - 3 Weeks to a Healthier New You!

Seeing my grandmother's medication list is quite depressing - there are medications to lower cholesterol, to reduce tremors, to dilute blood, to lower blood pressure... and about 20 more pills to reduce the side effects of each of the major pills.  If left untreated, hypertension can dramatically increase your risk for heart attacks, strokes and peripheral arterial disease.  As we age, it is important to turn to the natural remedies first, before committing to medications that can throw off the body's hormones, alter the sleep cycle, weaken nerve endings, change neurotransmitter activity, induce muscle atrophy, and cause the thyroid to go "out of whack". Your body is a very finely-tuned instrument, and it will try to repair itself whenever something is wrong - you just have to know what to feed it.

Before giving any advice regarding supplements and diet, I have to remind you that all bodies are different, and that all systems work for some people. There is no need to frantically purchase all the items I list in the article, but incorporating some of these supplements, foods, and exercises into your daily routine will greatly benefit you!

Becoming more active can lower the systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) by an average of 4 to 9 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) - that's as good as some blood pressure medications. Healthy blood pressure can be maintained by engaging your body in regular exercise- walking, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and deep breathing can all be extremely beneficial.

Reducing sodium and alcohol, as well as adding supplements to the diet are great ways to keep your readings low. Here are my supplement suggestions for regulating blood pressure naturally:

Vitamin D-3
Consider taking 5,000 IU of vitamin D-3 daily. Getting enough sunshine throughout the day, and monitoring your blood D-3 levels is always a great idea. Research shows that vitamin D-3 plays a very important role in preventing disease and maintaining optimal health. We have about 30,000 genes in our bodies, and vitamin D-3 affects nearly 3,000 of them. Your skin creates same D-3 in response to sunlight as the D-3 you get from an oral supplement, and it’s much safer than tanning!

Vitamin K-2
More than 90% of the Nation is deficient in vitamin K. This vitamin is abundant in Japanese fermented natto, but can be purchased as a supplement over the counter. 100 mcg per day of vitamin K-2 is enough to help make your bones stronger, increase vascular health, and support the immune system!

Omega 3

Make sure you’re taking Omega 3 oils daily – I recommend 2 soft gels a day, each with 180 EPA / 120 DHA. While doing my cancer research for mom, I came across Johanna Budwig - based on her work on fatty acids she developed a diet that she believed was useful in the treatment of cancer. She was a German biochemist, pharmacist and held doctorate degrees in physics and chemistry. Budwig was nominated for the Nobel Prize 6 times, and her genius recipe is still reviving patients, and helping them live longer. You can look up the “Budwig Diet” for additional info and recipe.

Potassium

This mineral is essential for our body's functions - it supports electrolyte mineral balance, strengthens the heart muscle, and supports nerve conduction. Many population studies have found links between low potassium intakes and an increased risk of high blood pressure and death from stroke. If you're active, you should know that a lot of potassium is lost in heavy sweating. The loss of potassium from the cell will result in intra-cellular water loss - dehydration that will become chronic unless more water and some high potassium-containing foods are added to the daily diet. Continued pattern of potassium loss from the body will result in excess sodium retention by the kidneys and the first stages of high blood pressure, raised cholesterol, heart disease and irregular pulse will ensue.

By eating more fruit (bananas, raisins, dried apricots) and vegetables (potatoes, yams, kale, beets), you will increase your potassium levels and help to restore the balance. This will help your kidneys to work more efficiently - and help to lower your blood pressure to a healthy level. Supplements are available in 99mg, and can be taken 1-5 times daily with food.

CoQ10 
Coenzyme Q-10 is a natural substance found in every cell of the human body. In our mid twenties its activity decreases, so we need to maintain healthy levels of it with supplements. Naturally occurring in the tissue of plants, CoQ10 (also known as “ubiquinone”) is a vitamin-like anti-oxidant that boosts cellular activity. CoQ10 is an critical antioxidant that not only neutralizes free radicals, but is also important in energy production (ATP). CoQ10 helps the body in many other ways like reducing high blood pressure, cholesterol, reverse neuro-degenerative disease, prevent heart diseases. CoQ10 is known to be taken as high as 1000mg/day without side effects!