Lower Blood Pressure Naturally

Effective blood pressure control requires neither high-tech equipment nor time-consuming regimes like meditation

Blood pressure remedies don’t work.

I’m talking specifically about the types of things you “take” such as herbs, supplements, “superfoods” and specific blood pressure “formulas”.

Oh sure, there may be a few things that have a minimal impact on your system. Dark chocolate has recently been shown to drop blood pressure by up to 3 points systolic. That’s with practical amounts that you could live with.

A 3 point reduction is welcome but is by no means the result of an effective blood pressure remedy.

Most other natural “remedies” don’t stand up to investigation at all. They’re usually the result of fads that get brief publicity through the placebo effect. And because such remedies are red herrings that waste your time, money and nerves they are not harmless.

Hypertension medications are only slightly more effective…

We have a false impression of blood pressure medications as well. We tend to think they are very effective – it’s just the side effects that make them hard to take. But the truth may surprise you…

Any doctor will tell you that determining the right drug(s) and dosage for each patient is often a long and frustrating process of trial and error. And any patient will confirm that it can be a horrible ordeal. And that’s before you even get to the side effects!

It may still be worth it if the drugs do what they’re designed to do, but they often fall short. In a landmark study by the Office of Veterans’ Affairs, still used as a basic reference, the most effective blood pressure drug, diltiazem, showed a response rate of just 63%. That’s why effective blood pressure control often requires multiple drugs, compounding the side effects and health risks.

Isn’t lifestyle the key to healthy blood pressure?

If you listen to the media you would think that lifestyle is the key to all good health! Of course lifestyle is important but its effects on our blood pressure may be exaggerated. A recent study produced shocking results that cast new light on the issue. A massive medical review showed that obesity is not linked to any health risks, at least based on medications used. These and other new findings will hopefully lead to an end of the demonization of overweight people.

We also know that high blood pressure does not discriminate and it can afflict people with extremely healthy lifestyles. And there are just as many cases where even major lifestyle changes have no effect on ones’ hypertension. For many people the cause of high blood pressure remains a mystery but it’s clear that it’s not all lifestyle-related.

What exactly is natural blood pressure control and why is it more promising?

Remedies and drugs are things you take… they’re an “outside-in” approach. Blood pressure control allows you to use your body’s own resources to regulate your blood pressure; it works from the inside-out.

The mind is a surprisingly powerful tool you can use to help regulate internal processes. We’ve all heard tales of gurus, yogis and martial arts masters who can nearly stop their heartbeat and accomplish amazing physical feats using mind  control.

The placebo effect is another very common example of the mind influencing our health. But the placebo effect is only temporary and is beyond our control. And other forms of mind control require intensive training and devotion.

But we have another tool at our disposal, a mechanism that’s one of our body’s most powerful regulators of blood pressure. And it’s something we can all learn to use relatively quickly and easily…

It’s our breathing.

This time I’m not talking about yoga or any ancient practices we associate with breathing. Doctors have developed a modern method called slow breathing that’s tested and proven specifically to reduce high blood pressure.

Slow breathing has been clinically tested by the same rigorous methods used for testing drugs and the results have been published in peer-reviewed medical journals around the world.

Slow breathing does some pretty amazing things. Using just 15 minutes a day has been shown to:

• Reduce blood pressure by significant amounts: Top reductions average 36 points systolic over 20 points diastolic. Overall average reductions come out at 14 points systolic and 8 points diastolic.
• Produce cumulative effects: Both intensity and duration of results build over time. In most cases, blood pressure reductions start to last around the clock within a few weeks. Some people respond even faster.
• Produce an extremly high response rate: one study achieved an 82% response rate in resistant hypertensives, people who had failed to respond to other forms of treatment, incuding drugs.

Another great thing about slow breathing is that it affects much more than just your blood pressure. It’s extremely effective stress and aniety relief, it strengthens the respiratory system, improves sleep and much more. In fact, our breathing affects just about every aspect of our health.

Try a unique method of slow breathing with music for lower blood pressure yourself on my website. Some people get great results from just the demo online.

Are natural blood pressure remedies like supplements and superfoods really effective?

Search the Internet for natural blood pressure treatments and I dare you not to get overwhelmed or confused!

The cornucopia of so-called superfoods claiming to reduce blood pressure include garlic, beetroot, chocolate, celery root, bananas, apple cider vinegar and many many more. What a menu!

And these are just the food group… Supplements follow close behind: magnesium, potassium, omega-3, Q-10 and Hawthorne berry to name just a few.

And let’s not forget drugs… not quite natural but definitely remedies!

These are all what I call “outside-in” remedies and the problem with all of them is their unpredictability. You take something with the hope that they will act on you in a certain way internally. Yet reality often does not correspond with theory.

Lowering blood pressure with “outside-in” remedies is about as effective as taking shots in the dark!

Are any of these remedies really very effective? Rarely. Most of the remedies that make the rounds of the Internet do so under the influence of the placebo effect. Somebody gets lucky with great results from something and it spreads like wildfire. Remedies like apple cider vinegar and celery root are still circulating in this way.

But talk to the same person a couple months later and it’s likely they’ve already given up on this particular remedy and moved on to another. But no matter… like the proverbial bus, there’s always another natural remedy coming along any minute.

By the way, the placebo effect is also why product testimonials are often acquired from new customers. (By the time it wears off they’re usually too embarrassed to demand withdrawal of their testimony!)

What about hypertension medication?

As I already mentioned, blood pressure drugs are remedies for the purpose of this discussion. But in contrast, drugs are widely held to be extremely effective; it’s just their side effects that you have to watch out for.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Any doctor will tell you that treating high blood pressure with drugs is often a long and frustrating process of trial and error. And any hypertension patient will confirm that finding the right drug and dosage for their condition is a painful ordeal.

What’s more, blood pressure drugs are so ineffective that many cases require multiple prescriptions to control. In a landmark study by the Office of Veterans’ Affairs, still used as a basic reference today, the most effective blood pressure medication, diltiazem, had a response rate of only 63%.

Another common problem with drug treatment for hypertesion is, of course, side effects. Sometimes the only option left is to prescribe additional drugs to counteract the side effects of the primary medications!

Sadly, some people will always require medication to control their blood pressure but you can see plenty of reason that these should clearly be a last resort rather than the routine treatment that they are.

Lifestyle modification is surely the answer to high blood pressure… isn’t it?

If you were to believe the media you might think that a healthy lifestyle is the answer to high blood pressure… to all disease and unwellness, in fact!

Many medical experts claim that up to 95% of hypertension cases could be resolved with lifestyle changes.

Of course lifestyle is important. But is it the be-all and end-all it’s made out to be?

Genetics, for example, is clearly a factor. High blood pressure tends to run in families and is more prevalent in some races than in others.

A healthy lifestyle has many benefits... but don't count on it to always drop your blood pressure

And what about the fit and healthy people who are routinely afflicted with blood pressure problems? Hypertension doesn’t discriminate by picking just the old, fat and infirm. And speaking of obesity, a recent study has exposed the myth of the link between being overweight and high blood pressure. Lots more study is needed but it seems that obesity is not the health risk we’ve been led to believe it is.

Read the full story about these surprising findings in my article: Struggling To Lose Weight For Lower Blood Pressure? Don’t Worry About it!

Finally, I can also tell you from my own experience and that of many other hypertension sufferers that improving your lifestyle is no guarantee of beating hypertension. It’s clear that by no means is all or even 95% of high blood pressure lifestyle-related.

Again, lifestyle is surely important. But lifestyle modification specifically as a blood pressure remedy is unpredictable.

The most effective approach to hypertension is control, not remedies!

The effects of “outside-in” remedies, whether drugs or dandelions, are unpredictable at best. Lifestyle modication can be difficult to nearly impossible depending on your condition and personal circumstances. It’s effects are also unpredictable.

The best approach to healthy blood pressure is through something we don’t often hear about - control – i.e. from the inside out! You have various mechanisms to do this at your disposal… without getting into mysterious realms of mind control and other more esoteric practices.

One of the most powerful natural regulators of blood pressure – and surely the easiest to learn – is your breathing. Breathing has a direct and nearly instant effect on our blood pressure. Just 15 minutes a day using a modern method of slow breathing developed by doctors is more than enough to make significant and lasting changes in your blood pressure.

More of that in the next post… see you there!

Click here for details on the BreatheEasy System, a clinically-proven method of natural blood pressure control that works together with (or even regardless of) lifestyle.

How much does lifestyle really affect our health?

To question the importance of lifestyle to our health seems almost blasphemous in today’s world. The effects of our weight, diet, fitness levels, drinking habits and, increasingly, virtually everything we do are endlessly analyzed. Large groups of people – those who are overweight, for example - have become stigmatized for what they are supposedly doing to themselves.

More specifically in my field of interest, if you’re stuggling with high blood pressure you’ve probably become convinced that your lifestyle is the number one culprit (you degenerate!).

Top of the list of common hypertension dangers are a bad diet and being overweight. That extra 15 pounds and your fondness for rich foods has got to go if you’re ever going to reduce your blood pressure!

Or do they? Shocking new findings from a massive medical review show that obesity may have very little to do with high blood pressure, at least according to the number and amounts of medications prescribed. In fact, the figures indicate that obese people are at no greater risk of any major health problems and this holds true throughout their lives!

You can read the entire story in my recent article: Struggling To Lose Weight For Lower Blood Pressure? Don’t Worry About It!

Other studies have indicated that genetics along with factors such as birth weight play a big role in future blood pressure problems. And there are plenty of people who can attest to the fact that even the healthiest lifestyle is not a guarantee of healthy blood pressure. In other words, not all high blood pressure is lifestyle-related.

Stigmatized: Many people believe that even moderately obese people are unhealthy.

So where does this massive anti-fat hysteria and prejudice come from? To be sure, human weaknesses such as the need to feel superior and tell others what to do plays a part. And these tendencies are fed and reinforced by a steady drip-feed of misleading research “findings” promoted by the media… myths in the making.

As always, more research is needed. Lifestyle surely does affect us in countless ways. Nobody could argue that smoking has no effect on our health or that idleness is good for the heart.

But we’ve got it way out of balance! Fretting over every morsel we eat and stressing out about being 5 pounds over our “ideal” weight (whatever that is!) may be doing more damage to our health than our occasional indulgences.

I’m afraid the natural health movement has done more than its share in promoting this ”lifestyle insecurity”. As The Natural Skeptic I say we need to relax and get a grip…

I’d like to give the lead researcher of the obesity and blood pressure study the final word:

Don’t worry if you are overweight. What is all that stress and dieting doing to your body? Probably more damage than the extra 15 pounds.

Slow breathing is a unique lifestyle technique with the ability to reduce blood pressure both predictably and significantly. Click here for details on the BreatheEasy System of slow breathing with music: 100% safe and natural.

The Natural Skeptic

Lower Blood Pressure Naturally… and Scientifically!

Welcome to my natural health blog! News, features, opinions and articles on natural health and blood pressure control with a difference…

My name is David O’Hara. I’m the creator of the BreatheEasy System for lower blood pressure. And I’m the “Natural Health Skeptic”.

Why a skeptic? Especially since I myself promote a totally natural method of blood pressure control and caution against the excessive role of the pharmaceutical industry in health care?

A very good point, but first and foremost I’m a skeptic. I find the gullibility, anti-scientific mumbo-jumbo and even outright charlatanism of much of the natural health movement as disturbing as the manipulations of the drugs and medical industries.

Natural methods need scientific testing…

It’s not enough that some natural method has been practised for thousands of years and has a logical-sounding theory behind it. Many of our health myths in the West have thankfully been exposed but among certain people any ancient practice from the East – the more mysterious, the better – gets instant credibility and slavish promotion.

And it’s not enough that thousands or even millions of people swear by the effectiveness of some remedy. I don’t think there’s any one among us who has not been fooled by the placebo effect.

Health claims must be tested and proved scientifically! I would never have been compelled to try slow breathing (and would never have beaten my high blood pressure) were it not for the method’s impressive results in rigorous, scientific testing.

The Natural Skeptic Difference…

What you’ll find here is the latest news and discussion of natural health topics with a critic’s eye. That means no gullible acceptance and furthering of every misguided theory and trend making the rounds of natural health circles…

And no sales or promotion of expensive supplements and other products of uncertain value to your health. I make full disclosure: I produce and market the BreatheEasy System. That’s all I do of a commercial nature and the main website is the place for it.

The Natural Skeptic blog is the place for quality and balanced information affecting your health and blood pressure. I hope you enjoy it!