One in four Americans deal with hypertension. It is a condition that plagues the African-American community, but there are things we can all do for prevention and natural care for this problem. Hypertension is linked to various reasons, such as sedentary lifestyle, smoking, alcohol abuse, stress and poor diet. Studies find vegetarians tend to have lower blood pressure. Doctors find people dealing insulin resistance can lead to high blood pressure. So people with diabetes need to take note of this. Hypertension is a serious condition that can lead to kidney problems, heart attacks and strokes. It is referred to as “the silent killer.” Sometimes people have no signs that their pressure is elevated. It is important to go to your doctor for regular check-ups to monitor your blood pressure. The normal blood pressure reading for adults should be 120 (systolic) / 80 (diastolic). Readings above this level becomes a risk factor for heart diseases. The job of the heart is to pump blood throughout the body, to reach every part of the body, including toes, fingers, etc. When the heart beats harder it raises the blood pressure. This is a signal that something is restricting the flow of blood to the extremities of the body. This is when the blood pressure increases. What can cause this? Stress, clogged arteries (you have 60,000 miles of blood vessels and arteries running through your body), water retention, kidney issues and for the ladies high blood pressure can be linked to hormonal imbalance with menopause.
Doctors who observe their patients with elevated blood pressures will try to manage the pressure by prescribing medications to help lower the pressure. The use of medications does not remove the obstruction interfering the blood flow, but it does bring on the risk of other problems such as kidney failure, amputation, blood clots and more. It is important to get to the root of the problem and make healthy lifestyle changes to lower pressure.
Lifestyle:
Eat a wholesome diet with plenty of green vegetables, fruits and foods low in saturated fat, total fat and cholesterol. Add whole grains, poultry, fish, nuts to diet and reduce the amounts of fats, red meats, sweets and sugary drinks. Some people get good results from juicing certain fruits and vegetables. If you juice plenty of fruits and vegetables you can’t go wrong.
Here is a list of a few vegetables to juice:
- Celery (alone or mixed with carrot juice)
- Beet root
You can juice two or three ribs of celery with a small carrot can regularly. Limit your intake of beet root juice, only add to your celery-carrot juice occasionally.
Noni juice is good for lowering blood pressure. This is a tropical fruit from the tropics, but you can order this juice online. Nature Sunshine carries a delicious noni juice called Nature’s Noni.
Monitor your salt intake. Make sure you are getting your proper intake of calcium, magnesium and/or potassium. Remember to include your health foods such as fish, omega-3 oils, greens and fiber.
Exercise and weight management is important. If you have ever watched The Biggest Loser reality show you will hear testimonies where men and women dropped the extra weight and their blood pressure normalizes and they were able to come off all medications. Include at least 20-30 minutes of exercise daily in your routine. Simple walks in the park can also reduce stress too.
Herbs and supplements:
Vitamins and supplements can soothe your nerves, helping to feed the nervous system like Vitamin B. B-Complex is one great blend of B vitamins to take regularly. Also, we need to keep our arteries clean and healthy with herbs that help to clean the arteries such as High Potency Garlic, Butchers Broom or other natural Chelation programs to clean the arteries. This is a natural, healthy way to prevent strokes and heart attacks. We change the filters on our cars, but we don’t work on filtering our own bodies. Vitamin E with Selenium is a natural blood thinner, helping to keep the artery walls healthy. This is better than taking an aspirin daily. This can also help with men dealing with erectile dysfunction because it results in better circulation. Men depending on prescription drugs to help ED end up depending on the meds for any kind of erection in the long run, so natural supplements to improve circulation is safer and better. Capsicum is another natural supplement that helps this. You should caution taking natural blood thinners if you are already taking Coumadin or other blood thinner medications. Hypertension can be linked to kidney problems too. Herbalists have worked with people with natural supplements to strengthen the kidneys. Have you noticed more and more kidney dialysis centers popping up in every neighborhood? Nutrition and preventative measures need to be taken so people don’t have to depend on kidney dialysis. So, remember prevention is the key. Don’t depend on prescription drugs to resolve your health issues, but get to the root of the problem and change over to a healthier life style.
Contact Certified Herbalist Marguerite Wright for a personalized program and receive a simple health assessment test with the Compass Scanner. This test will tell you which supplement your body prefers by touching a hand cradle connected to the computer and reads you through biofeedback. Start your natural program today for:
- Hypertension
- Erectile dysfunction
- Hormonal imbalance
- Kidney problems and more.
Learn more by contacting Marguerite at: momsherbs@gmail.com or call 708-575-3968.
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