[bright_eyes]

I have a good friend that is quite obese and has a lot of issues/struggles with food/eating. She went to the doctor today and found out that she has very high blood pressure. She told me the food recommendations that her doctor recommended, which I think are awful! She said she needs to cut out fat, salt, carbs. I think that was the bulk of the recommendation. I was trying to tell my friend that fat is something that she absolutely should not cut out, she just needs to be eating good, nourishing fats, and salt is something she shouldn't worry too much about unless she is eating a lot of processed foods (maybe I'm wrong here, but I am just thinking about what I read in Real Food about salt). She said that she thinks the doctor just wants her to do this to get her blood pressure down really fast.

I don't know tons about traditional foods and health but I do think that those recommendations are not that great. So I wanted to know if anyone here has recommendations on healthy things to do to bring down blood pressure. Also what immediate changes do you think are best for someone that has a fairly poor diet and needs to loose a lot of weight as soon as possible?

 

[hummingmom]

I've just been reading "Applied Nutrition" by Harold Hawkins, DDS. He was a nutritionally oriented dentist, and was familiar with Dr. Price's work. His special interest was body chemistry, and he did a lot of blood, urine, and saliva tests on people who were on various types of diets: high/low fat, high/low grain, high/low calcium, high/low phosphorus, etc. He correlated these findings with the state of their teeth and gums, as well as other medical and behavioral problems. Very interesting stuff.

He says that people with high blood pressure tend to have weak liver function, consume a lot of salt, and eat many high-sodium foods (including grains) and few high-potassium foods.

His recommendations for hypertension are:

* cut out grains (replace with potatoes & bananas)
* supplement with bile salts if there's evidence of liver dysfunction
* eat a reasonably large amount of fruits and vegetables
* have some extra high-calcium foods, such as milk

If that doesn't work in a few days, he suggests supplementing with iodine. He doesn't explain the mechanism, just says that this has often been found helpful clinically. Kelp and dulse flakes are rich dietary sources of iodine.

Apart from the iodine and calcium, this all sort of fits what your friend's doctor is recommending. Bile salts help with fat digestion, and most people eat the bulk of their carbs in the form of grains. Hawkins doesn't seem to recommend cutting out salt, though -- just making sure to get enough high-potassium foods to balance it.

Hope that gives you some starting points to think about!

 

[katmann]

Did he mention exercise? That would probably really help. Not just for losing weight, but it's a great de-stresser (stress being associated with hypertension).

 

[eastkygal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hummingmom He says that people with high blood pressure tend to have weak liver function, consume a lot of salt, and eat many high-sodium foods (including grains) and few high-potassium foods. His recommendations for hypertension are: * cut out grains (replace with potatoes & bananas) * supplement with bile salts if there's evidence of liver dysfunction * eat a reasonably large amount of fruits and vegetables * have some extra high-calcium foods, such as milk If that doesn't work in a few days, he suggests supplementing with iodine. He doesn't explain the mechanism, just says that this has often been found helpful clinically. Kelp and dulse flakes are rich dietary sources of iodine. Apart from the iodine and calcium, this all sort of fits what your friend's doctor is recommending. Bile salts help with fat digestion, and most people eat the bulk of their carbs in the form of grains. Hawkins doesn't seem to recommend cutting out salt, though -- just making sure to get enough high-potassium foods to balance it. Hope that gives you some starting points to think about!

This makes a lot of sense. My mother has hypertension and I did while pregnant. I just tested my bp and it was 121/69, which according to the chart meant pre-hypertension. I was floored as I am an avid exerciser and eating TF. I crave salt - love it. I eat bananas and potatoes like crazy, but I still question my potassium intake as I am having muscle spasms of late. This is interesting though. I don't know if I'd consider my bp pre-hypertension it being just one point above, but it's something to think about.

 

[bright_eyes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hummingmom Apart from the iodine and calcium, this all sort of fits what your friend's doctor is recommending. Bile salts help with fat digestion, and most people eat the bulk of their carbs in the form of grains. Hawkins doesn't seem to recommend cutting out salt, though -- just making sure to get enough high-potassium foods to balance it.

That book sounds really interesting!

I'm not against the recommendation to cut out carbs. I mostly do not agree with the recommendation to cut out fat. And I am unsure about the salt thing, because I thought unrefined salt was good for you.

What would be the symptoms of liver dysfunction and where do you get bile salts from?

 

[tanyalynn]

I wouldn't recommend this if I hadn't seen it work for my husband, and it's not the totality of the solution for him, but consider homeopathy. How the heck does a homeopathic remedy lower blood pressure? I have no idea, but it lowered my husband's systolic BP about 20 pts (I always forget the diastolic), we watched it come down and it's stayed at that lower level for a couple months now (he's taking his homeopathic remedy daily).

My HCP (different one, not the homeopath) had recommended magnesium for high BP, and we're also experimenting with that to see if there are additional gains to be made.

Strangely, I can say that when I get enough salt (my adrenals are whacked out, so I need a lot more sodium than most people) my BP (systolic) drops about 5 points. Very repeatable depending on whether I've taken my extra salt (beyond salting food) that day. Strange, and maybe not the case for everyone.

We're going grain-free for my husband, and I don't want to sub in lots of potatoes and bananas for us, DH also has adrenal issues and I don't think the extra potassium wouldn't make him feel good. We may end up low-carb, not sure yet, at least lower carb than in the past, even if we don't meet the official low-carb levels.

So basically the complete opposite, nutrient-wise, of what hummingmom shared!

 

[BeagleMommy]

Magnesium also plays a role in high blood pressure. I know, at one time, at least that doctors used to treat HBP in pregnant women with IV mag sulfate.
So, I'd try more mag rich foods.

 

[newcastlemama]

I would try nettles infusions and magnesium citrate.

 

[JaneS]

This book might be an interesting read on the subject
http://www.westonaprice.org/bookrevi...nburdened.html

 

[cristeen]

The very first thing I would do is recommend she start getting her blood pressure taken regularly. And have her start taking it at the wrist instead of the upper arm. Many overweight people have found that their so-called hypertension/high BP goes away when their BP is taken properly... an incorrectly sized cuff returns an inaccurate reading, and many doctor's offices don't bother to use a XL cuff on us big people for whatever crazy reason. Many drug stores have DIY BP machines that you can drop in and use - keep a record of what the numbers are every time.

I completely disagree with his food recommendations though... rather than cutting out "carbs" - cut out grains. Fruits and veggies are still crucial (although if she removed starches and limited fruits to berries, she may also see a difference, particularly in her weight). Fat and salt are both crucial to proper body function, but the types of fat and salt are both important. The fat and salt that are contained in the SAD are not healthy. Basically if she took more of a grain-free TF/WF approach, she'd most likely see a improvement.

 

[TzippityDoulah]

yes it generally is a liver issue. and Sea salt has helped me a lot this pregnancy with it. I also eat a lot of magnesium foods (and a supplement just to get that extra bang). Potassium is important too.

I really think a lot of the time (not always) high BP stems from overly processed diets. we get loads of sodium (salt) but from none of the right places - or in processed forms. sean salts and salts/mag/potassiums form natural places can certainly lower BP.

I woudl also look into dandelion root for the liver. It has helped me with my liver problems (and therefore my BP) this pregnancy... maybe that would help with BP for him?