It was not until recently that I knew so little about the hypertension condition, aka high blood pressure. My knowledge was basic, and my home remedy solution was simple. Eat garlic if you have high blood pressure, or, eat onion if you have low blood pressure. Your body will do the rest, balance and heal itself. Until recently. I was urged to enhance my know-how about this silent invader, overnight.
Curious why? Keep reading.
My dad turned 70 this year. For his birthday, he wished to have a blood pressure checker, with big numbers, if possible. So, we bought him one, an Upper Arm Blood Pressure Monitor with Cuff
Dad was not the only one to be super excited about his new health gadget. All of his guests, at the party, including myself, were lining up, we all wanted to try the blood pressure monitor. As you can imagine, like kids (and let me assure you, we are not), we all laughed and joked about the numbers, until, someone very dear to me, a healthy and happy person, measured his blood pressure – the measurement showed 180/113. Both lights were red. This person was (is) my husband.
Isn’t this stage two, malignant hypertension, we wondered?
We both froze for a moment but quickly decided to blame the new device. Perhaps it was the software error. Or, it could be just a temporary “anxiety based spike” (according to a doctor). So, we decided to get back and enjoy the happy birthday atmosphere.
After one month, my 40-year old husband was still feeling fine and with no indications that something is wrong. So being curious he decided to buy a similar monitor (Omnor). He kept measuring his blood pressure every day, twice a day. It turned out; it was not the software error, nor the anxiety spike. Every time he checked his pulse rate, the checker would show alarmingly high numbers, which indicated that he did have a high blood pressure.
So, what he did?
Before we get into what he did, to lower and balance his blood pressure, here are some essentials we both learned along the way.
Symptoms of High Blood Pressure
In most cases, there are no high blood pressure symptoms whatsoever. Unfortunately. But, this is not the case with everyone. While my husband did not feel different (he had no clue that something isn’t right with his health), some people do have symptoms. Here are the most common:
- Headache
- Anxiety
- Shortness of breath
- Nosebleeds
- Vision problems
- Irregular heartbeat
What is Blood Pressure?
Blood pressure is the measure of the force of blood pushing against blood vessel walls. The heart pumps blood into the arteries, which carry the blood throughout the body.
What is High Blood Pressure?
When the pressure in the arteries becomes too high, your heart and your arteries have a much heavier workload. It will make the heart work harder, thus causing extra stress on the heart to pump blood out to the body, and the arteries are under greater strain as they carry blood. This, on a long-run contributes to health problems, hardening of the arteries, to stroke, loss of vision, the development of heart failure…
What is Hypertension
Hypertension is high blood pressure, defined as a repeatedly elevated blood pressure exceeding 140 over 90 mmHg — a systolic pressure above 140 or a diastolic pressure above 90.
Blood Pressure Chart
- Normal blood pressure: Less than 120/80.
- Prehypertension: 120–139/80–89.
- Stage 1 (hypertension) high blood pressure: 140–159/90–99.
- Stage 2 high blood pressure: 160 and above/100 and above.
LATEST UPDATES (July 2017): My husband decided to take control of his health and make small but radical life changes. Hi did not want to visit a doctor this time. Although, I highly recommend to anyone who is smoking, is over 40 years, overweight/obese, going through stressful moments, have a family history of high blood pressure, to see a doctor ASAP and or buy a blood pressure monitor. Checking your blood pressure at home is simple, painless and quick and it can save your loved one’s life.
Instead of taking medications, his (my husband) approach to stopping hypertension was based on making small dietary and physical changes. He began to eat foods that lower blood pressure and he introduced daily, after-work walks. Was it easy? Well, it is a decision for a healthier tomorrow and it did pay off. After only two weeks, we noticed positive improvements, not only with my husband’s blood pressure but with everyone’s health in our family.
When it comes to my husband, from a consistently high blood pressure, the monitor started to show significantly lower numbers and more often green lights than red. Is he healed yet? No. This is a journey and it’s just the beginning, it’s a process, and it’s a complete lifestyle changer, towards a heart-healthier and longer life.
As far as the rest of the family, we wanted to support my husband, so we all adjusted our diet a bit. While some family members feel lighter, others have more energy and some even manage to drop a few extra pounds. :)
Foods to Lower Blood Pressure
Garlic – It is not just an old myth, according to research, garlic indeed reduces blood pressure. To get enough allicin, which is found in garlic, eat 1 to 4 cloves of fresh garlic a day.
Other good foods are high fibre foods, low in sodium and high in potassium as well as the following vegetables: spinach, kale, cucumber, cabbage, avocado, broccoli, brussels sprouts, beetroot, carrots and tomatoes. As far as fruits, only lemons, bananas (two a day, max), sometimes plumbs.
The food preparation for my husband has been mainly raw based, with lots of salads, olive oil, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and local greens. As far as fresh herbs, we are using daily (when available): basil, coriander, ginger, lavender, parsley, celery, and valerian (as a tea), cardamom and cinnamon.
STAY AWAY FOOD/DRINKS
- NO SALT!
- NO CHIPS!
- No coffee. Sorry guys.
- No tea either.
- No soda drinks, nothing at all – including sparkling water.
- A BIG NO to alcohol of any kind.
- No sugar.
- No starch, bread, pasta, potato, rice…NO carbohydrates at ALL.
In addition to introducing healthy foods to our diet, we also added a few supplements, for a daily intake.
Magnesium Citrate – Magnesium helps in reducing stress levels, it is linked to improvements in blood flow and relaxes blood vessels. The other two supplements we started to take are Calcium and Vitamin C.
When it comes to healthy drinks, the entire family is now drinking one liter (one liter per person, per day) of the following mixture: cinnamon, cardamom and a juice of one freshly squeezed lemon.
Our aim is to lower blood pressure naturally in six months and keep it at ‘normal’ levels. Our first month is behind us. To be continued…
P.S. If you happen to wonder how is my dad doing, well, he is just fine and his blood pressure is great. The monitor keeps showing two green lights every time he measures his blood pressure. Cheers to dad.
Do you have your remedy for lowering blood pressure? Care to share? Drop us an email at info@herbsnatura.com and will share your remedies and or recipes, here on this page. You might help a person or two.
Please note. This information is not to heal or treat any disease. Always consult your doctor, or use your judgment when it comes to your health.
