Lower Blood Pressure Naturally

Salt has been prized since days of antiquity; is it really such a high blood pressure risk?

What’s the truth behind salt and our health? Is it really linked to high blood pressure?

If you follow the media you would certainly think so. It’s easy to imagine salt as high blood pressure in a bottle. What else could you conclude? Wherever you look, health websites, TV news reports, magazines… one of the first tips for lower blood pressure is to avoid or reduce salt.

Then you have all the “low” or “reduced-salt” foods in the supermarkets. Some health experts even recommend using so-called salt “substitutes”. This salt must be dangerous stuff indeed!

But in these days of health and food scares it’s easy to forget the legacy of salt in our history…

Salt was traded throughout the ancient world. It's essential to good health and blood pressure.

In your early days at school you may have heard of the “Silk Route”, the celebrated trail from Europe to China forged by Marco Polo in pursuit of exotic spices and other treasures of the Orient.

But just as reknowned during its time was “The Salt Route”, the Roman roads over which the precious crystals were transported along with other expensive goods from all over the known world.

Salt has been coveted and traded – even used as a currency itself – since the earliest times. Wars have been fought over it. Animals travel vast distances to find it… and often die if they don’t.

With its value as a food preservative, salt had a major influence on the development of civilization. And early people recognized the many other health benefits of salt. Ironically, considering its demonization, sodium plays a crucial role in regulating healthy blood pressure. Life itself depends on maintaining sufficient levels of sodium along with other essential minerals.

So what’s gone wrong? Why is salt now so strongly linked to high blood pressure?

It comes down to over-use… you may even call it abuse. Salt tastes good. It livens up bland food. Calling it a drug experience may be a stretch but it definitely tickles our pleasure centers. Saltiness is one of the four basic taste groups… we have taste buds specifically adapted to it. It’s even mildly addictive.

It didn’t take food manufacturers long to realize that salt helps sell more food. The result of this is that the salt content of our food, especially snacks, have crept relentlessly upward.

And we can’t blame only food producers. Because salt is cheap, abundant and tasty, people began putting extra on their plates. Salt and pepper shakers became required accoutrements to any dining table (at least in Anglo-Saxon households… the French and other people shudder at our habit of shaking salt on food without even tasting it first!).

Healthy blood pressure is a matter of balance…

The eventual result of all this extra sodium is a mineral imbalance in our bodies. Blood chemisty is a key regulator of our blood pressure. If levels of minerals including calcium, sodium, magnesium and potassium become destablilized it throws the whole system out of kilter.

Specifically, when excess salt is consumed you end up with not only high sodium levels but also relative deficiencies of the other minerals. The overall effect is to destabilize blood chemistry thus raising blood pressure.

As we’re dealing with an imbalance there are a number of scenarios that can contribute to high blood pressure. So a deficiency of, say, magnesium, can increase blood pressure as surely as too much sodium does. But with the processed foods we eat and the general abuse of sodium in our diet, salt is nearly always the culprit.

Too little sodium is also a hypertension risk…

Of course, balanced levels of minerals – including sodium – are essential to good health and normal blood pressure. Which means that severely salt-restricted diets and/or the use of salt “substitutes” are almost never called for. But the same processed food manufacturers lacing their products with unhealhy amounts of sodium are now stoking the flames of hysteria in order to sell their equally dangerous “antidotes”!

What about “healthy” salt alternatives?

You may have heard about ”salt alternatives” such as sea salt and Himalayan salt that claim to be unrefined and healthier. Such products that are free from chemical additives are attractive but you do have to read the labels carefully. The labels of some sea salts and others with health claims expose them as little better than their cheap tabletop cousins.

Not everyone can afford the lofty heights of pure Himalayan salt, an unrefined, "healthy" salt alternative.

Others are terribly expensive and you have to wonder how much of it is a clever ruse just to capture those “healthier than thou” food dollars! It’s still healthier – and certainly cheaper – just to get your sodium naturally from a healthy diet.

A balanced and varied diet rich in whole, natural foods will provide all the minerals and other nutriets you need in the right balance to maintain healthy blood pressure. Avoid processed foods which, as previously mentioned, tend to contain high levels of sodium (not to mention sugar, preservatives and artificial additives) .

Whole, unprocessed foods contain nutrients in their natural form and balance…

Milk is a perfect example of the difference between processed and natural foods. Low and non-fat milk products are processed. (To be completely accurate, all Pasteurized milk is processed, even so-called whole milk! Raw milk is an ideal whole food… but that’s another debate.)

Coming back to low and non-fat milk; most of their minerals and other nutrients are removed during processing. These are then artificially replaced, a process that is promoted as a health benefit, i.e. as in “calcium-fortified”! Whole milk, by contrast, does retain much of its original nutrient profile, critically its mineral levels.

A healthy diet does not have to be complicated…

And you can forget about expensive “superfoods”. Every natural food is a superfood. Following a simple diet of whole, natural foods will almost always result in better health and lower blood pressure due to balanced blood chemistry.

Of course your body does need sodium and a diet like this will provide all you need in a natural balance. Some foods are naturally higher in sodium than others, which is why it’s important to have a varied diet. But whatever you eat, it’s never necessary to add extra salt… so get that shaker off your table!

Just say no…

I mentioned briefly above that salt is mildly addictive (another way, incidentally, that food producers are able to exploit it). When I first started rejecting extra salt in my food I could actually feel withdrawal symptoms. For a short time everything tasted bland… where did the pleasure go?

But it doesn’t take long to adjust and it’s definitely worth it. Now when I taste too much salt in a dish I recoil from a harsh, almost stinging, metallic sensation. And I wonder how I could ever have tolerated such extremes…

Extremes… that brings up the common-sense solution to the salt debate… just avoid extremes:

 - Salt shakers are usually extreme…

 - So are expensive, reduced-salt foods and freakish salt “substitutes”…

 - And so are overpriced, “healthy” alternatives like Himalayan Salt.

A final thought… don’t feel bad about a rare indulgence, be it in salt, sugar, fat or any other temptation because that’s part of a healthy balance too. Like Benjamin Franklin said: “Moderation in all things, including moderation.”

Top doctor claims most prescription drugs are useless and over-marketed

High-level medical expert claims that “5 out of 6 new prescription drugs don’t work”…

Professor Donald Light of the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey announced recently that drugs offer “few if any new benefits” in a presentation to the American Sociology Association.

Furthermore, he claimed that pharmaceutical companies spend vast amounts of money hyping and marketing new drugs to get doctors to prescribe them. At the same time they downplay side effects and health risks associated with these drugs.

Such accusations against the drug industry are not at all new… but here we have a top expert condemning others in his own field. Straight from the horses mouth, some would say.

How do the charges apply to common blood pressure medications?

You will surely wonder how much of this applies to hypertension drugs, especially ones you may be taking or fear you will have to take in future if you don’t get your blood pressure under control.

Well, blood pressure drugs are among the most frequently prescribed medications with several of them regularly in the top 10. The professor, in fact, specifically criticizes the dilemma with statins, America’s most frequently prescribed group of drugs after painkillers. And even though statins are already taken by millions of unsuspecting people, every man and woman from the age of forty would be taking them if some doctors had their way!

Professor Light says that the drugs industry has oversold statins as a wonder-pill to prevent heart disease, despite growing evidence that they do more harm than good. Recent findings published in medical journals confirm that serious side effects from statins are widely under-reported. What’s more, the “benefits” are achieved through complex manipulation of predictive statistics… in other words: they’re not real!

The medical/pharmaceutical industry has gone so far as to create an entire pseudo-science around cholesterol and heart disease to lend scientific support to the actions and benefits of the drugs they design. The true relationships between foods, fats, and the heart are in fact far more complex than their simplistic cholesterol models.

The potential dangers lying hidden in your blood pressure medications…

Statins are increasingly prescribed, both alone and in combination with other drugs, to lower blood pressure. As noted previously, many doctors have called for statins to be prescribed as prevention to perfectly healthy people! Yet the most frequent side effect of these drugs are extremely painful muscle cramps that can make life hell for the user.

The benefits of statins have been hyped while their risks are under-reported

Side effects are not the only issue; most drugs have long-term health risks which are often not evident until after many years of regular use… by which time it’s too late for many. In the case of statins we’re talking about liver and kidney disease, both of which, incidentally, cause severe and chronic high blood pressure!

Will statins follow in the footsteps of the previous generation’s blood pressure wonderdrug?

Beta-blockers were hailed as “miracle drugs” when they first started being used extensively in the 60s. In the decades since, they became the world’s front-line weapon in the fight against high blood pressure, prescribed in their countless millions.

But that’s how long it takes to acquire long-term, real-life data on a drug or medical treatment and slowly but surely a different picture of beta-blockers gradually emerged. Researchers discovered that using beta-blockers actually increases the risk of diabetes, stroke and heart attack by up to 50% (when compared with other blood pressure meds).

They also learned that the side effects of using these drugs were under-reported. What’s more, decades of use by millions of patients revealed that beta-blockers were simply not as effective at lowering blood pressure as once believed.

Since these findings, many countries such as the United Kingdom have withdrawn beta-blockers for high blood pressure treatment (although the drugs are still useful for treating other heart conditions). Doctors in some countries, namely the United States, carry on prescribing beta-blockers as if they were still in the 60s.

The picture of statins that is emerging is just too similar to that of beta-blockers to neglect.

Whatever happened to “do no harm”?

The Hippocratic Oath of “do no harm” is a mantra of medicine. So why do so many doctors work in league with the devil by prescribing these dangerous drugs?

The answer is, largely, that the pharmaceutical industry has hoodwinked them as well. As mentioned above, they spend huge amounts of money on marketing, specifically to the medical profession. And since their “hired guns” are often scientists or even medical doctors themselves they have enormous credibility among their peers in healthcare.

Too bad their credibility is used to such poor ends! Professor Light explains:

They spend two to three times more on marketing than on research to persuade doctors to prescribe these new drugs. Doctors may get misleading information and then misinform patients about the risks of a new drug. It’s really a two-tier market for lemons.

When do the benefits outweigh the risks?

There will always be a point where the potential risks of high blood pressure justify the side effects/risks of a medication to treat it. I’m only here to discuss the general theme; that actual point is an issue for each individual and his/her doctor.

But to identify that point requires accurate knowledge of both the condition and the treatment. When doctors are given excessively favorable or optimistic outcomes of a medication the result is over-prescribing and subjecting patients to unnecessary pain and sufferering.

The evidence against over-medication is mounting and it’s become clear that prescribing drugs to treat high blood pressure should be a last resort only, not the routine treatment that is so frequently is. Professor Light claims that the drugs market is the “most dangerous market for lemons in modern society”. He concludes by saying that the toxic side effects and misuse of prescription drugs is a significant cause of death in the United States… “neither wars nor car injuries come close”.

In a similar vein, Dr. John Lee, in a column for the Virginia Hopkins Health Watch writes:

I believe—and there is plenty of research to support me—that these drugs have just as good a chance of killing you as the high blood pressure does, especially if you don’t really need them.

Does your blood pressure problem justify the use of powerful drugs? Is even your doctor fully informed about the side effects and risks of these medications? Are there any safer alternatives you could try?

If these are questions that disturb you why not consult your doctor about it? (But never stop or modify your blood pressure medication without medical supervision. Sudden changes in medication can be dangerous.)

Chinese food is loved in every corner of the world. But is it as healthy as many people claim?

Glorious Chinese cooking… it’s hard to imagine anyone not liking it. I could easily live off Chinese food for lunch every day (provided that I could alternate with Indian food for dinner)!

Usually cheap and always cheerful, Chinese restaurants have proliferated to every street corner of the world. Of course it’s always a treat to eat but concerns for a healthy diet have certainly helped its massive expansion.

We often hear how healthy Chinese cuisine is: low in meat and saturated fat and rich in fresh, crunchy vegetables and healthier types of oil such as sesame and peanut oil.

But does Chinese food really deserve its healthy reputation?

In particular, does it contribute to lower blood pressure and a healthy heart?

Leaving aside the issue of enjoyment for the moment (as hard as that is to do!) let’s look at the facts both for and against Chinese as a health food…

First, there are definitely some important elements in its favor; let’s look at some common Chinese ingredients:

Ginger: This fragrant tuber/herb is ubiquitous in Chinese food, one of the 3 or 4 cornerstones of this style of cooking. Ginger has long been known as a general tonic and stimulant. It offers a long list of medicinal benefits including acting as a digestive aid and anti-inflammatory.

Ginger, the "horned root", has been used for its medicinal benefits as well as its wonderful flavor for centuries.

More importantly, recent research reveals that ginger contains  powerful compounds called “gingerols” that act to relax the walls of blood vessels. This in turn allows blood vessels to dilate and the improved blood flow lowers blood pressure. In this way, ginger acts directly to influence our blood pressure.

Garlic: Another cornerstone ingredient of Chinese cooking with many effects that are similar to ginger. Volatile garlic compounds also act to relax and open blood vessels. In fact, garlic has such a positive effect on circulation that it has long been offered in supplements to improve cardiovascular health.

Like most foods, however, garlic is most effective in its natural and whole state in cooking. And eating Chinese food is often a great way to consume garlic in abundance.

Chilli Peppers: Growing numbers of people are learning to enjoy peppers… the hotter the better! Now we know that spicy food is not just a sensual delight but also extremely good for the health.

Chilli peppers are not just stimulating to eat; they also provide important health benefits such as lower blood pressure.

Despite the sensation of tensing up that some people experience eating peppers, their internal effect is just the opposite. Capsicum, the active ingredient that makes peppers hot, is able to relax blood vessels and thus lower blood pressure. Other compounds in peppers are known to thin the blood and reduce its “stickiness”, further contributing to improved blood flow.

Chilli peppers pack a double-barreled punch in both taste and sensation as well as in health effects; the hotter, the healthier! Regional Chinese dishes such as those from Szhechuan and Hunan styles are rich in chilli peppers, not to mention garlic and ginger.

Chinese cooking often contains other healthy ingredients that are often missing from the rest of our diet including fresh vegetables and unusual spices. What’s more, the fast and furious style of Chinese cooking can be healthier as it tends to lock in flavors and nutrients.

So Chinese food really does score many top marks for healthy eating… but it also has a lot of pitfalls that its promoters tend to minimize or outright ignore…

In fact, too much of certain types of Chinese food can easily become a recipe for high blood pressure or worse!

That’s because those healthy herbs, spices and vegetables are often accompanied by heaps of sugar, salt and, surprisingly, fat. Some people also react badly to the MSG used as a flavor enhancer in many Chinese restaurants, although the effects tend to be only temporary.

Many people are not aware of the huge differences between an “everyday” Chinese diet and the dishes served in most Chinese restaurants. If you go to an establishment where “real” Chinese people eat you will typically see them eating large bowls of soup, often with noodles. These soups tend to be loaded with vegetables and are in most respects a very healthy way to eat. You rarely see overweight people on this type of Chinese diet.

High blood pressure Hong Kong Style

The dishes served in a typical Chinese restaurant, however, are a totally different kettle of fish. These tend to be what the Chinese consider “banquet” food, which is only served for special occasions. These are your sweet and sour dishes, lemon and orange, kung pao… all our favorites!

All of these wonderfully sweet, sticky, sour or pungent sauces are made that way through loads of sugar, salt and fat… the three major fast-food groups. And many of them, including all those scrumptious starters, are deep-fried. It’s enough to give you a heart attack (but what a way to go!).

With the new prosperity in Asia this type of eating – as well as its health consequences – is becoming more common. Obesity, high blood pressure and heart disease, once rare, are becoming much more frequent. In particular, the Chinese health authorities are becoming increasingly concerned about the amount of salt in the Chinese diet.

Now I want to return to the issue of enjoyment I had to leave aside earlier. This is an artificial distinction because you can’t separate enjoyment from food (or if you do you end up with something like the current healthy food hysteria!). Chinese food would surely lose its appeal if you tried to neuter it by removing the sugar, fat and salt.

Most would say “enjoy it in moderation”. But if that means shunning the “sinful” dishes in favor of vegetable soups I’m not for it. That’s not moderation but punishment!

If you’re going to indulge in Chinese food (or any other, for that matter) do it with gusto and enjoy it. Most of us just can’t tolerate it every day without our blood pressure going through the roof…

So as usual, it’s a case of caveat emptor. Chinese food is about as healthy as a piece of organic, wholewheat bread layered with half an inch of goose fat and strawberry marmalade.