Hypertension is another name for high blood pressure.
It is a condition that occurs when the pressure inside of your arteries is too high. Because it is a silent disorder the only way to detect hypertension is to have your blood pressure measured.
Hypertension is a very common problem that affects about 50 million people in the United States alone.
That’s about 1 out of every 4 adults. It is more common as people grow older and is more common and more serious in African Americans.
What do the numbers mean?
Blood pressure measures the natural pressure created by blood pumping through your veins and arteries. It is read as two numbers, one over the other.
The top number, or systolic blood pressure, measures the blood pressure when the heart pumps. The bottom number, or diastolic blood pressure, measures the blood pressure between heartbeats when the heart rests.
Hypertension is blood pressure that is over 140/90
Optimal blood pressure is under 120/80
Risk factors YOU can control
Nine out of every ten people who have hypertension don’t have a known cause for their condition.
A family history of hypertension is a risk factor for developing high blood pressure. But with or without a family history, you have a good chance of avoiding or controlling hypertension without drugs by:
- Keeping your weight under control
- Keeping physically fit
- Eating a healthy diet low in added sodium and rich in nutrients potassium, magnesium and calcium
- Limiting alcohol intake (no more than 2 mixed drinks or two 12 oz. cans of beer or two 6 oz. glasses of wine daily)
- Never smoking or quitting immediately
- Avoiding medications that might increase your blood pressure including decongestant nasal sprays and pain medications like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS)
Therapeutic foods to bring your blood pressure down
- Eat more vitamin C-rich foods: citrus fruits, strawberries, red peppers, dark green leafy vegetables
- Eat more vitamin E-rich foods: almonds, hazelnuts, wheat germ, peanut butter
- Eat more magnesium-rich foods: tomatoes, beans, nuts & seeds, squash, broccoli, dark green leafy vegetables, tofu, wheat germ, halibut, swiss chard
- Eat more potassium-rich foods: grapefruit, grapes, tomatoes, beans, apricots, asparagus, beets, broccoli, corn, cucumbers, dates, salt-water fish, lamb
- Eat more calcium-rich foods: yogurt, sardines, salmon (canned with bones), milk, cheese, dark green leafy vegetables, broccoli
- Cook with less salt. Experiment with spices such as, parsley, basil, oregano, ginger, sesame, dill, cilantro, curry, pepper, and thyme to reduce the amount of salt used in cooking
- Cut back on common table salt including that in processed foods and in many drugs (check labels for soda, sodium, or salt). Avoid commercial sauces like soy or Worcestershire and commercial salad dressings (check labels for sodium content)
- When eating out, ask for your food cooked without added salt since you can’t control what kind and how much is used.
Physical activity can help reverse hypertension
Start slowly and build up gradually. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends 20 to 60 minutes of aerobic activity 3 to 5 days per week.
Aerobic activity will strengthen your heart and reduce your risk of developing heart disease. It will also help to control your weight. Try brisk walking, jogging, biking, hiking, group exercise classes (water aerobics, kick-boxing, judo), running stairs, rowing, and team sports (football, soccer).
Hypertension can lead to other serious health problems
Routinely monitoring your blood pressure is important.
Hypertension has been called a “silent killer” because it has no specific symptoms and it can lead to death.
People who have hypertension that is not treated with lifestyle modifications and medications (if necessary) are likely to experience one or several of the following conditions:
- Coronary artery disease, heart attack, heart failure, or abnormal heart beat.
- Kidney failure
- Peripheral vascular disease, hardening and narrowing of the arteries (atherosclerosis) that supply blood to the arms, legs, and other parts of the body
- Retinopathy, or damage to the tiny blood vessels that supply blood to the light-sensitive lining of the back of the eye
- And finally, stroke
Dr. Nicole Sundene is a Naturopathic Physician and a graduate of Western Washington University for her undergraduate degree, and Bastyr University for her Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine.
She believes we should utilize natural medicines to treat the root cause of disease rather than just treating symptoms, as symptoms are a message of imbalance sent from the body and will persist until they are properly addressed.
Dr. Sundene’s goal with Kitchen Table Medicine is to provide readers with the missing link in their health care experience. She works hard to share with everyone her latest health-promoting finds, tips, and tircks so that they can get the most out of life. Her mottos are “No hype...only help” and “Progress not perfection right?”
Latest posts by Dr. Nicole Sundene (see all)
- The Drug Free Way to Tackle Your High Blood Pressure - August 6, 2011
- Relieve Incontinence and Enhance Your Love Life with Kegels - July 27, 2011
- Self Help for Eczema and Itchy Skin - July 21, 2011
Boomer12k says
August 6, 2011 at 9:59 pmEat Garlic, nuff said.
If stress is getting to you and causing your blood pressure to go up try the work, “Happiness is no Charge”, the technique it teaches takes care of stress in a few minutes!!!!
http://www.feelbetter.co.nr
Be well and happy.
Steve
lexicop says
August 6, 2011 at 8:51 pmHow can one trust someone who’s still pushing the discredited “salt hypothesis”? It’s been clearly established that consumption of salt (sodium) has no significant effect on blood pressure. But the Dr. dutifully recites all the usual mantras against salt. Read the studies, doctor. (Several of them have probably been posted to this very site; look for Dr. William Campbell Douglass, II. He and Dr. Ed Martin both wrote essays on the matter just this week.)
Wondering Woman says
August 6, 2011 at 10:41 pmJust wondering why you are touting soy products when most soybeans grown these days are GMO and GMO’s were not created to increast our longevity – just the opposite.
J Gib! says
August 7, 2011 at 2:14 amDr. Sundene,
You forgot the potassium-rich bananas.
A woman ate 2 medium-sized bananas a day,
and reduced her bl. pressure in a matter of months.
JGib~~
Karola says
August 7, 2011 at 2:44 pmTo Boomer12K
How did this help your thyroid trouble?
SoaringCanary says
August 7, 2011 at 8:07 pmFor the most part, I agree with the doctor’s recommendations on how to naturally lower BP…*except* for her caution on salt and with suggestion to use Soy. I mean, especially on the latter, Yikes! Soy crops in the US are THE most prevalently sprayed with chemicals [pesticides, etc.] plus, as soy is now a manipulated GMO product, it also has strong potential to biologically perform as a phyto-estrogen and often disruptive hormone in the human body so WHY are medical professionals still recommending this dangerous ‘food’…a term I use loosely? The Asian cultures have used fermented soy for safe health reasons for centuries, but again, this is not the same soy that is in so many foods in the US these days, to the point that I, as a hypothyroid female, could never recommend such ‘franken’ agent to either gender. Long ago, while erroneously thinking this soy drink would be supportive during menopause [enhance estrogen imbalance] I tried Silk’s Chocolate Soy Milk and by the second day, I felt decidedly worse [more physiological fatigue, brain fog, despair, etc.]…since there was enough estrogenic-like activity that competed with the already-deficient thyroid hormone. In other words, via the research I have learned that as the estrogen and thyroid hormones compete for the ‘same’ uptake receptors in the brain, it is the mighty estrogen that ‘wins over thyroid’…and for one who is already deficient this equates to less metabolism. Therefore, be most cautious with any US-derived soy –and– do your research on ‘iodized’ salt to know that it is absolutely necessary at adequate levels for best experience of health and yet, by now…most Americans [due to conventional medicine’s years of BP-related warnings]…are seriously deficient in this essential nutrient. David Brownstein, MD has focused on this topic for years and has written an excellent book, “Iodine, Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It” which I highly recommend. May we all be health savvy, and stay more well. Take care, everyone.
Duffiana says
August 8, 2011 at 11:39 amI have high blood pressure, mainly due to anxiety about my son’s serious illness. Interestingly, I also have a slight salt deficiency, despite never giving it up and eating only Celtic salt for the past 10 years. I’ve read that potassium is good, but am warned against taking it with my BP medication. I’m in a quandary. I consume soy milk occasionally, but only non-GM organic stuff. I eat all the right things as suggested above. I walk seriously every day and do tai chi. My doctor has suggested increasing my BP medication, which I am not happy to do. I’ve also heard BP can be lowered with mind power. Vitamin C is often suggested, but my partner has too much iron, so he is not able to control his BP this way. Suggesting Vitamin C intake without the necessary warnings about haemochromatosis is not wise.
Anonymous says
August 8, 2011 at 4:44 pmI believe she is referring to refined table salt, not sea salt which is good, but when it comes to soy beans and tofu no thanks especially if these are GM. JAM