Myth Busting: Hypertension
Every body is different but in my practice as a health coach I keep hearing about how many people have hypertension or high blood pressure.
A common response in the medical community is to reduce salt intake. Salt is actually necessary to life and to suggest someone reduce salt intake is, well, frustrating.
I would suggest that “reducing salt intake” be clarified to “reduce processed salt intake.” Processed salt has been stripped of its nutrients and truly serves no other purpose than, maybe, cleaning your cast iron pan. (Even that, I would use sea salt for.) Do use salt that has not been stripped of its nutrients such as Himalayan or Celtic Sea Salt and salt your food to taste.
What else can you do?
- Decrease sodium intake? NO!
- Frequently, hypertension is an imbalance of sodium and potassium in the cells so hypertension may be too little potassium which is why you are told to decrease your sodium. Instead, increase the potassium by increasing the fruits and vegetables in your diet. However, increasing fruits and vegetables alone may not be enough. Magnesium is a common deficiency in the United States and it is needed to help transport potassium into the cells.
- Action step 1 would be to increase fruits and vegetables in your diet AND take a magnesium supplement, up to 500 mg a day with food.
- Increase exercise? Also, NO!
-Exercising too much and too intensely may actually be part of the problem. I have actually had clients cry when I tell them this. High stress hormones, such as cortisol, which is elevated from exercise, contribute to the hypertension dynamic.
– Action step 2: Switch from strenuous exercise such as aerobics and running to less strenuous exercise such as yoga or walking.
- Decreased saturated fat in the diet? Um.. NO!
- There is a direct correlation between hypertension and insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, and diabetes. Despite many myths, increasing healthy fats actually improves blood pressure.
- Action step 3: All grains should be removed from the diet and replaced by foods high in healthy fats such as real olive oil, coconut oil, avocadoes, nuts, and seeds.
- Stop calcium supplements? YES!
- Calcium supplementation without the support of other nutrients that work with it to build strong bones, will run rogue in the body and this causes calcification deposits which show up as pain in the joints, thyroid issues, kidney stones, and… hypertension due to plaque build-up on the arteries and veins. Calcium does not only come from dairy products of which 2/3rd of the population has allergies or sensitivities to.
- Action Step 4: To increase calcium naturally, consume green leafy vegetables, sesame seeds, and tahini (sesame seed paste).
- Increase nitrates. WHAT?
- There is so much negative association with nitrates because they show up in bacon and other processed foods and have been linked to cancer. However, nitrates are also found in fruits and vegetables and are key in producing nitric acid which has been scientifically shown to naturally cause blood vessel dilation.
- Action Step 5: The simple act of blending some fruits and vegetables such as cucumber, celery, some greens, and an apple or beet and consuming that for breakfast or lunch will give you nitrates that convert into the coveted nitric acid. Add a drop of lemon and ylang-ylang essential oils (from DoTerra or Young Living ONLY please since they have been approved for consumption) and increase the vasodilation effects even more.
- Recommend trying a statin. NO! One of the side effects of a statin is that it depletes Co-Q10 which is necessary for endothelial function in the lining of the blood vessels. Endothelial dysfunction is one of the causes of hypertension so why would you treat it with a drug that causes it?
Be sure to keep an eye on your blood pressure. Too low may be as dangerous as too high but these are all easy, natural ways to reverse your hypertension naturally.
Be well!
