How I Lowered My Blood Pressure Naturally

Need to drop your blood pressure by 30 points?  Well, I hate to admit it, but I did.  About six months ago (in late 2010) I had my blood pressure taken and was appalled.  I remember that the systolic was a little over 140 and the diastolic a little over 90, 143/93 I believe.   

By the way, I think the PA that took it was shocked at my reaction, because I was so concerned.  She said the usual stuff you hear, "Don't worry about it. That's not that bad of a reading and our pressures vary significantly anyway."

That was no comfort, though, for me, because I know better.  Read my link on Erectile Dysfunction and Hypertension and you'll see why.  Hypertension puts your heart, brain and love life all at tremendous risk.  The primary problem is that the extra force hammering against your veins, capillaries and arteries causes damage over time, damage that leads to stroke and endothelial injury. Furthermore, it's not just high blood pressure (>140/90) that has been shown by the research to be a problem, but even pre-hypertensive blood pressures (>120/80 and < 140/90) show an increased risk of cardiovascular issues. So her words were no comfort to me.

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Over the next few months I measured it many times and found it was always at least 135/88. What I found really baffling was that I was doing so many things right.  For example, I was religiously exercising daily and ate a (dang near) Low Fat Diet.  My cholesterol has been in the 120's and 130's for several years.  Furthermore, my blood pressure had always been excellent and below 120 systolic and 80 diastolic, so none of this made any sense.  I even had a great page on How to Lower Your Blood Pressure and I followed just about everything on it.

A few possible culprits came to mind:

1.  Coffee. About the time my blood pressure went up, I had started drinking coffee and backed off of tea.  If you read my link on The Health Benefits of Coffee, you'll see that coffee has recently been exonerated from causing hypertension.  However, maybe I was sensitive?

2.  Zinc.  I had taken supplemental zinc for years but had recently found out that this could be a very bad idea, because it can deplete copper from tissues, leading to arterial inflammation and, potentially, arteriosclerosis.  See my link on Some Dangers of Zinc for details.

If I'm honest, I have to admit that I really do not know what pushed my blood pressure into early stages of hypertension.  What I can tell you is that I tried several changes and the combination of them dramatically lowered my blood pressure over several weeks. 

CAUTION:  Always consult with your doctor before making any lifestyle change, especially if you have high blood pressure or some other medical condition.

Here is what I did and it lowered my systolic by 30+ points and my diastolic by 20+ points. 

1.  Zinc. I quit taking supplemental zinc and instead concentrated on consuming zinc-rich foods.

2.  Coffee.  I quit coffee except for one cup in the early morning.

3.  Black Tea.  I began drinking again glasses of black ice tea per day.  You'll have to buy my book for details, but black tea is a proven blood-pressure lowering drink.

4. Raw, Unprocessed Cocoa.  I also drink 2-3 cups of raw, unprocessed cocoa per day. See my link on Loco for Cocoa for more details.

5.  Salt.  I watched my salt intake

Now I have to admit that I don't know which of these five actually lowered the blood pressure.  My opinion is that what really made the difference is #3 and #4.  When I began consuming tea and raw cocoa, I saw my blood pressure drop dramatically. In fact, I have had a couple of readings around 95/60 and so backed off on the cocoa, as I do not want to go too low!

Also, for those of you with hypertension or pre-hypertension, keep in mind that I already do a lot of things to hold down my blood pressure, including eating lot of grains, fruits and vegetables, especially those outlined in my book and daily exercise.  However, put it all together and perhaps you can achieve similar results.  (And work with your doctor first!)    

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