Lower Blood Pressure Naturally

Can red meat be part of a healthy diet for lower blood pressure?

Many people think they should avoid red meat for lower blood pressure. But the health myths of red meat have been thoroughly debunked.

You wouldn’t think so. Not if you listen to the usual bunch of self-appointed natural health promoters and “nutritionists” that flood the media with health myths and food hysteria…

Even the respected DASH plan (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension), promoted as a scientifically-sound and medically approved eating strategy to reduce blood pressure, falls prey to the anti-meat zealots. DASH guidelines contain stringent limits for meat consumption and recommend reduced consumption of red meats in favor of lean meats, fish and poultry.

But the DASH guidelines are actually rather modest. According to many health ”experts”, red meat is the devil’s spawn, responsible for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, cancer, bad skin and even bad body odors (not to mention those of body waste, a particular specialty of health guru, Gillian Keith).

Ms Keith goes so far as to boast that she would divorce her husband if he were to eat red meat. (NOTE: Use of the title “Ms” here instead of “Dr” is not an oversight; Ms Keith obtained her “doctorate” through correspondence courses with a non-accredited college. She has hence been banned from using the title “doctor”.)

It should come as no surprise that the “science” behind the demonization of red meat is as flimsy as Gillian Keith’s doctorate. Let’s look at some of these myths:

MYTH 1: Red meat contains unhealthy levels of saturated fat and “bad” cholesterol that clog arteries. leading to high blood pressure and heart disease…

Saturated fat in today's red meat has been reduced substantially. Moderate amounts of saturated fat in the diet provide important amino acids and other nutrients and red meat provides these.

The facts: Modern breeding and farming methods have substantially cut fat levels in red meat. Much of it now contains less fat than can be found in chicken. In fact, even cheese can contain up to ten times the amount of fat than red meat on a pound per pound basis.

Following the DASH diet has proved to reduce blood pressure and this success is often cited as proof that reducing or even eliminating red meat in your diet is healthy. But the DASH diet is a package deal and some of its details may easily be misguided. Since we’ve already seen that chicken (favored by the DASH diet) may be fattier than red meat it stands to reason that DASH dieters may achieve even lower blood pressure by replacing some of the chicken in their diets with red meat.

What’s more, red meat (more so than chicken) is an excellent source of protein, amino acids, vitamins and minerals including iron, potassium, magnesium and selenium. Fatty acids found in red meat (often found only in red meat) – far from being harmful - are actually very beneficial for the heart.

And as a final word, it may even be that medical science has taken a very wrong turn in trying to establish the causes and mechanisms behind heart disease. It’s early days yet but a new theory placing the origins of heart disease in blood acidity, not fat and cholesterol consumption, is rapidly gaining credibility…

After all, isn’t it odd that after three decades of reduced meat consumption combined with a low-fat food obsession obesity has mushroomed out of control and hypertension and heart disease are still raging?

MYTH 2: Eating red meat increases the risk of getting certain cancers…

The truth: Exhaustive studies show there is NO LINK between the consumption of reasonable amounts of red meat and getting any type of cancer. Even attempts to prove a link between cancer and consumption of extreme amounts of read meat are far from conclusive.

The fact is that our consumption of red meat has already fallen substantially over the last 30 years. Currently in the United Kingdom men consume an average of 96 grams of red meat per day while women consume 57 grams a day on average. This is well below the limit of 140 grams per day recommended by many medical experts.

As far as cancer risks go, the way you cook your meat has a greater impact than the type of meat you eat with overdone or charred meat posing the greatest risk.

MYTH 3: Rearing of cattle for red meat and dairy is a major contributor to global warming…

(This topic may not seem directly health-related but in the big picture it sure is!)

The facts:  Whatever your stance on global warming (and eating meat), you can rest assured that grazing cows are NOT contributing to the destruction of our planet. Not only has the amount of methane gas they emit been wildly exaggerated, but there is now evidence that grazing cows actually help the environment by reducing levels of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide.

The amount of methane gas released into the atmosphere by cows, often quoted as 18% of total greenhouse gases, is wildly overstated. The true figure is around 2%. In exchange, they reduce levels of harmful nitrous oxide... a very fair trade!

If cattle destroy the climate how did the earth ever survive the many thousands of years when million-strong herds of bison and buffalo roamed over the vast plains of North America and Asia?

Of course, the same caveats apply to this issue as to the more direct aspects of health; there is no justification for going to the steak house every night for a 16 oz T-bone (if anybody still does this!). The current recommended limit of 140 grams of red meat per day (about 4.5 oz) is more than enough. These sensible amounts of red meat pose no risk to either your health or that of the planet’s.

You may reject red meat because you genuinely dislike eating it and vegetarians may reject it on ethical grounds. But after looking at all the evidence there is not a single valid reason to shun moderate amounts of red meat on account of health.

In fact, you can enjoy the occassional burger or steak (but don’t overcook it!) as part of a healthy diet free of guilt over raising your blood pressure and endangering your heart and environment. Chances are it may even help to reduce your blood pressure and protect your heart!

High blood pressure is often called the "silent killer". However, if you listen carefully you may be able to "hear" some of its symptoms.

High blood pressure is often called the “silent killer” because it has no obvious symptoms…

As a result, people sometimes have no idea of their hypertension until they keel over dead from a heart attack or stroke.

But, in reality, blood pressure elevated high enough to cause serious damage usually displays a number of tell-tale signs that can alert anyone prepared to listen and pay attention to their body.

Any of these symptoms can be evidence of extreme levels of hypertension and they cry the alarm: “Lower your blood pressure now!”

How to “spot” high blood pressure with the eyes…

The silent killer is often revealed by the eyes and vision. It’s not surprising; the eyes are full of a viscous solution which supports a network of fine blood vessels. Highly elevated blood pressure can actually swell and distort the shape of the eyeball resulting in disturbed vision.

This high internal pressure can also make the eye tender to the touch. Even more worryingly, high pressure can cause capillaries in the eyes to burst, resulting in bright red spots or bloodshot eyes. Any of these unmistakeable symptoms - disturbed vision, tender eyes and blood spots - are tell-tale signs of dangerously high blood pressure. Your eyes are literally crying out for lower blood pressure.

Hypertension is all in your head…

Your head is another container holding not only fluid but mostly brain. Of course your head and brain require a network of blood vessels far greater than that of the eyes and like any enclosed system it must be maintained at the right pressure to work properly and avoid injury. We know that one of the most severe consequences of high blood pressure is stroke, a burst blood vessel or clot that affects the blood supply to the brain.

High blood pressure can increase intercranial pressure, a dangerous condition. Because most of us are unable to grow bigger heads we need to lower blood pressure instead.

But before such a dramatic event occurs there is most often a series of micro-events affecting the brain in less obvious ways. That mysterious headache that comes and goes could be a sign of hypertension, especially if it tends to go on for hours or even days.

Other symptoms of high blood pressure affecting the head or brain include dizziness, a flushed face, tinnitus and nosebleeds.

Hardening of the arteries…

Many people may know that chronic hypertension causes atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. Constant high pressure on the walls of blood vessels toughens them, making them hard and less flexible. A similar thing happens to the heart; like any overworked muscle, a heart working under high pressure becomes tough and grows in size. An enlarged heart, although extremely dangerous, responds well to lower blood pressure and is able to recover.

While it may be true that hardening of the arteries is hard to detect by an individual until the damage becomes advanced, there is one thing that’s nearly always a certain tip-off of the condition (most often as a consequence of hypertension). Ironically, this tell-tale sign is a softening (a most unwanted softening) of a different body part. Yes, you guessed it…

Erectile dysfunction is often a sign of atherosclerosis and high blood pressure…

Ancient physicians had a good understanding of at least one aspect of the human body when they declared that “circulation is the foundation of all health”. This clearly applies to sexual health as well for, like the brain, the sex organs depend on blood flow. In fact, the male organ won’t even function as designed without a strong and steady supply of blood.

Erectile dysfunction is often a sign of high blood pressure. Lower blood pressure is almost a sure way to turn it "on" again.

This is exactly how viagra and similar drugs work; they use various means to increase blood flow. In fact, they so it so well that some of these drugs are being used to reduce blood pressure, which further demonstrates the connection between blood pressure and erectile dysfunction.

It’s easy to imagine that high blood pressure would increase the ability to have an erection; just think of those long, tubular balloons and you’ll get the idea.

But this is a false analogy. What actually happens is that blood flow becomes restricted by tough, inflexible blood vessels caused by chronic high blood pressure. The only place where pressure is able to build is at the source – the heart.

Despite a popular belief among some women that a man’s blood flows to only one place (and it’s not the brain), high blood pressure and hardened arteries starve all organs of blood and nutrients (and it happens equally in women… but without such an obvious indicator).

Avoid high blood pressure: monitor your blood pressure regularly…

Of course, the most obvious and usually the most dependable sign of hypertension are the numbers on a blood pressure monitor. These days when  inexpensive and fairly accurate blood pressure monitors are available for the home and when you can get your blood pressure checked at many pharmacies there is no good excuse for walking around in ignorance of high blood pressure.

There’s no good reason to suffer a surprise heart attack, stroke or other dramatic consequence of chronic hypertension.

The visible signs of high blood pressure described here are intended more as a caution of the possible consequences of failing to monitor your blood pressure. All of the symptoms and conditions above are the result of chronic and seriously elevated blood pressure. You are very unlikely to experience tender eyes or ED as a result of temporary or moderate hypertension.

Having said this, it’s still a very good idea to know how to hear these tell-tales of the “silent killer”. Blood pressure monitors for the home can be faulty or inaccurate. Incorrect use of a monitor can cause serious deviations in readings. Even doctors and nurses who should know better often make serious errors measuring blood pressure. See my article “So You Think You Know Your Blood Pressure” for more details on this important topic.

And if you rely solely on medical checkups to track your blood pressure you should be aware that these are only infrequent moments in time. Blood pressure fluctuates throughout the day and in response to circumstances and a single reading every six months can be nearly meaningless.

So, even following good practice, it’s still possible to be caught out by the “silent killer”. If you’re ever baffled by sensitive or bloodshot eyes, blurred vision, unexplained headaches, tightness in the chest and flacidity where you don’t want it…

Play it safe; get to a doctor and start working on lower blood pressure now!

Are you one of the “worried well”? Do you need to get rid of that spare tire and lower your blood pressure?

The "Worried Well": Many people suffer anxiety over blood pressure levels that were once considered normal.

Of course, most people would love to be lean and fit. But which is worse for your health: carrying a few extra pounds or the worrying over high blood pressure and heart disease it provokes?

Many medical experts are beginning to see that the stress and anxiety many people are subjected to far outweigh the relatively low risk factors of being slightly to moderately overweight or borderline hypertensive. And to a large degree it’s doctors, the helping profession, along with the pharmaceutical industry, who are pushing the fear.

Now I’m not at all anti-medicine nor anti-drug. Even as a promoter of natural health methods I fully realize that not every health problem can be solved naturally. Stronger stuff is often called for. But in my own special interest of blood pressure control I’ve seen several medical developments that don’t just concern me; they worry and even scare me.

The first of these concerns has to do with the way increasing numbers of people are demonized with constant new “findings” about the health risks of certain conditions. The most obvious of these is obesity. Of course, any condition in the extreme can have health consequences. But the fact is that being extremely underweight is even more risky to your health than obesity… but which gets all the attention?

And it’s not just the exaggerated findings that pose a problem. The other side of the issue is the way increasing numbers of people are being squeezed into the definition of obesity. Men with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or above are now labeled overweight. BMI is said to be a better measure of obesity than earlier methods but it still leaves a lot to be desired. According to their BMI, many professional athletes we so admire are overweight or even obese.

According to BMI, many of these athletes are "obese", with all the corresponding health risks like high blood pressure

Then there was the endless publicity about the dangers of belly fat. A concentration of fat around the midsection (that notorious “spare tire”) was said to increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. But recently, the largest study in the field exposed the entire theory as nothing but a myth. Belly fat is, in fact, no better nor worse than any other type of fat.

Yet these important findings – findings that would relieve a lot of people - received almost no publicity, probably because it’s good news and good news just doesn’t sell! Search the Internet even today and you get back nothing but page after page on the (now disproved) dangers of belly fat.

So by changing standards of measure and constantly narrowing the scope of obesity to merely a few pounds of excess weight, medical authories have trapped millions of new people in the net of “high risk”. The damage done by the resulting stress and worry over these conditions (not to mention the countless unnecessary prescriptions for statins and drugs to reduce blood pressure) is incalculable.

In a similar but even more dramatic development, millions more “worried well” have been caught up in the hypertension trap. This was a relatively easy manoeuvre, achieved by simply moving the goal posts for “normal” blood pressure.

Over the course of many decades normal blood pressure was defined at up to 140 systolic over 90 diastolic. In most of the world these standards still apply. But in the United States doctors decided a few years ago to set the upper pressure limit at 130 over 80. In doing so they created tens of millions of new hypertension patients virtually overnight, most of them middle-aged or older as blood pressure naturally tends to rise somewhat as we age.

Some agressive doctors immediately prescribe medication to lower blood pressure at the new, lower threshold. Others have created a new syndrome by calling the region from 130/80 to 140/90 “prehypertension” and guess what? The drugs industry have created new medications specifically for the new condition of prehypertension!

There may indeed be genuine medical reasons for concern over prehypertension. But again, few if any would consider the condition high risk and in no case does it merit medications or undue fear and anxiety. It’s simply one more health “risk” to add to the burden of the worried well.