What is High Blood Pressure?

Also known as: Hypertension

According to the American Heart Association, nearly one in three adults in the United States has high blood pressure. But nearly one-third of those people don’t even know they have high blood pressure, because it’s a silent disease. People can have high blood pressure for years without experiencing symptoms or knowing they even have it.

* Normal blood pressure is below 120/80 mmHg.
* Prehypertension is systolic pressure that’s between 120 to 139 or diastolic pressure between 80 and 89.
* Stage 1 hypertension is systolic pressure between 140 to 159 or diastolic pressure between 90 and 99.
* Stage 2 hypertension is systolic pressure higher than 160 or diastolic pressure of 100 or higher.

High Blood Pressure Symptoms

High blood pressure usually doesn’t cause any symptoms in the early stages. Symptoms associated with high blood pressure can include the following:

* Dizziness or dizzy spells
* Headache
* Nosebleeds

Causes of High Blood Pressure

In most cases of high blood pressure, the American Heart Association says there is no one identifiable cause. It is usually a combination of factors, such as:

* Stress. Stress can raise blood pressure.
* Weight. The greater your body mass, the more pressure there is on your artery walls. That’s because more blood is produced to supply oxygen and nutrients to tissues in your body.
* Age. The risk of high blood pressure increases as you get older.

* Activity level. Lack of physical activity tends to increase heart rate, which forces your heart to work harder.
* Tobacco use. Chemicals in cigarettes and tobacco can damage your artery walls.
* Sodium intake. Excessive sodium in the diet can result in fluid retention and high blood pressure.
* Potassium intake. Low potassium can result in elevated sodium in cells, because the two balance one another.
* Alcohol consumption. Excessive alcohol intake can, over time, increase the risk of heart disease.
* Family history. High blood pressure often runs in families.

High blood pressure can also be caused by an underlying condition, such as kidney disease, thyroid disease, hormonal disorders, adrenal gland disease, and the use of certain drugs, such as oral contraceptives, or herbs such as licorice.

Natural Remedies for High Blood Pressure

Lifestyle changes and natural remedies may help to control high blood pressure, but your doctor may also recommend medication to lower high blood pressure. It is important to work with your doctor, because untreated high blood pressure may damage organs in the body and increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, brain hemorrhage, kidney disease, and possible vision loss.

· Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10)

There is some evidence that the supplement CoQ10 may help to reduce high blood pressure.

· Garlic

Garlic supplement may be of clinical use in patients with mild high blood pressure.
Garlic supplements should only be used under the supervision of a qualified health practitioner. Garlic can thin the blood (reduce the ability of blood to clot) similar to aspirin. Garlic may interact with many drugs and supplements such as the prescription of “blood-thinners” drugs such as Coumadin (warfarin) or Trental (pentoxifylline), aspirin, vitamin E, gingko. It is usually recommended that people taking garlic stop in the weeks before and after any type of surgery.

· Hawthorn

Hawthorn is often used by traditional herbal practitioners for high blood pressure.

· Fish oil

Fish oil may have a modest effect on high blood pressure. Although fish oil supplements often contain both DHA (docohexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), there is some evidence that DHA is the ingredient that lowers high blood pressure.

· Folic acid

Folate is a B vitamin necessary for formation of red blood cells. It may help to lower high blood pressure in some people, possibly by reducing elevated homocysteine levels.

· Diet

Changing your diet is an important part of lowering high blood pressure. The Dash diet has shown to help many people.

The DASH diet includes fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy foods, beans and nuts. Sodium is limited to 2,400 mg per day.

Studies have found that the DASH diet can reduce high blood pressure within two weeks. These are the daily guidelines of the DASH diet:

* 2 to 3 servings of fats and oil
* 2 or less servings of meat, fish, or poultry
* 2 to 3 servings of low-fat or non-fat dairy
* 4 to 5 servings of vegetables
* 4 to 5 servings of fruit
* 4 to 5 servings per week of nuts, seeds, and dry beans
* 7 to 8 servings of grains
* Less than 5 servings a week of sweets

Serving Sizes
1/2 cup cooked rice or pasta
1 slice bread (100% whole grain, whole wheat)
1 cup raw vegetables or fruit
1/2 cup cooked vegetables or fruit
8 oz. of milk
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 ounces cooked meat
3 ounces tofu

A related diet called the DASH-Sodium reduces sodium to 1,500 mg a day, which is approximately equal to 2/3 teaspoon from all sources. Patients following the DASH-Sodium diet had a significant reduction in high blood pressure.

· Calcium, Magnesium, and Potassium

Calcium. Calcium supplementation appears to have a modest but statistically significant reduction in systolic blood pressure, however better quality studies are needed.

Potassium. A meta-analysis of five trials indicated that potassium supplementation compared to a control resulted in a large but statistically non-significant reduction in systolic blood pressure.

Magnesium. In 12 randomized controlled trials, participants receiving magnesium supplements did not have a significantly reduction in systolic blood pressure, but they did have a statistically significant reduction in diastolic blood pressure.

· Mind-Body Interventions

Mind-body interventions, particularly autogenic training, biofeedback, and yoga, have been found to modestly reduce high blood pressure.

Autogenic Training
Autogenic training is a technique used for stress reduction and relaxation. It involves a series of sessions in which people learn how to control breathing, blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature. It requires regular practice.

Biofeedback
Biofeedback is a technique in which people learn how to gain control over internal body processes that normally occur involuntarily, such as blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and skin temperature.

Biofeedback is primarily used for high blood pressure, migraine, tension headache, chronic pain, and urinary incontinence.

Thermal feedback (which measures skin temperature) and electro dermal activity feedback (which uses a probe that responds to your sweat) may be more effective than direct blood pressure feedback or electromyography (EMG), which measures muscle tension.

Yoga
Preliminary studies have found that yoga may lower blood pressure.

· Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic exercise is an important part of the natural approach to lower high blood pressure..

People with high blood pressure should speak with their doctor first before embarking on a new exercise program.

· Ayurvedic Medicine

Ayurveda, is a traditional medicine of India, high blood pressure is treated according to each person’s dosha, or constitutional type.

The pitta type may have a flushed face, red eyes, headaches, light sensitivity, irritability, and nosebleeds.

The kapha type may have excess weight, water retention, high cholesterol, sluggishness.

The vata type may feel cold, has gas, bloating, or constipation, insomnia, or nervousness, worry, or anxiety.

· Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine finds that high blood pressure is often attributed to a problem with the circulation of vital energy (qi) in the body. Chinese medicine practitioners believe that depression, anger, obesity, and high intake of fatty foods are some of the causative factors.

A combination of acupuncture and herbs is often recommended. Foods thought to have medicinal properties that may help high blood pressure include but not limited to; water chestnut, turnip, honey, Chinese celery, hawthorn berries, and mung beans.

Your emotions also play a role in our health.

· Herbs and Supplements to Avoid

Herbs that have been found or suspected to cause high blood pressure include the following:
Licorice
Ephedra
Asian Ginseng
Rosemary essential oil

Taking care of you naturally, the way life was meant to be!

Posted: November 6th, 2008 under Alternative Medicine, Home Remedies, Natural Health, Weight Loss, natural cures.
Comments: 1

1.) Listen to your body. Stop eating when you feel satisfied.

2.) Eat smaller portions. You will in time become full eating less food. This will help you to become smaller. Remember, eating large portions will make you larger.

3.) Drink plenty of water.

4.) Avoid high calorie drinks!

5.) Avoid foods with a high fat content.

6.) Eat a slice of 100% Whole Grain Whole Wheat Bread with Extra Virgin Olive Oil before your meal. The bread will help fill you up and the oil will brake down the food for quicker processing of the body.

7.) Take your time.

8.) Include green vegetables and fruit into every meal. Fruits and vegetables help the body to heal, as well as become healthy and thin.

9.) Exercise every day. Choose an activity that you enjoy and make it your daily routine. Exercise does not have to be hard; it can be easy and gentle to your body. Exercise helps your metabolism to work properly in the process of burning fat during and after. It also improves mental health and well being.

10.) Set mental goals to lose weight. Pick easy goals, baby steps that will help you to feel good and positive about weight loss.

11.) Visualize yourself thin. This can be very powerful and motivating. Remind yourself daily with positive affirmations that you will lose the weight, day by day, step by step. The mind believes what you teach it.

WAYS TO LOSE WEIGHT WITHOUT LOSING MONEY

Chemical energy is stored in chemical bonds, and there are a lot of chemical bonds in fat. So, if you are overweight, you contain a lot of stored energy.

1.) The only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you take in. This means either eat fewer calories, or exercise more. Do both!

2.) It is not how much you eat that puts on the pounds, but what you eat a lot of. You cannot get fat on a mostly raw food diet. This means you can eat all of the raw veggies, sprouts, salads and fruits that you want. You don’t need to be hungry while losing weight.

3.) An easy way to lose weight even if you don’t want to become a raw food vegetarian is to become a regular vegetarian. Meat contains fat, and even lean meat is over 10% saturated fat. Drop meat, and you drop weight or try eating more fish and or skinless chicken, but not fried!

4.) Another easy way to slim down: skip desserts. Doing so could result in a one-pound-a-week weight loss. Remember that it means 10 pounds off in 2 1/2 months; over 50 pounds in a year. End your meal with fruit. Yes, they do contain sugar, but no fat. Just try eating two handfuls of raisins or dates.

5.) Sweeten with honey or molasses. Again, these are sugar sources but healthier for you.

6.) Want to control your appetite without even giving up dessert? Eat dessert first. If you eat a bit of sweet food about 15 minutes before your meal you will eat less at the meal. This is at least partly because appetite is linked to blood sugar levels. Do you remember what your mother said? “Don’t eat that candy now; it will spoil your appetite.” Very true!

7.) Yoga stretches are one of the best forms of exercise to do. Learn some basic yoga.

8.) Did you know that a mile of walking burns just as many calories as a mile of running? And the walking is easier on your knees and ankles. Get out and walk daily.

9.) Good weight loss need only be one, perhaps two, pounds per week. Crash diets often crash right back, with weight gained back almost as quickly as it was shed. Take your time.

10.) The ultimate weight loss plan is vegetable juice fasting. It is nourishing, safe, and feels great. As with any weight loss diet, vegetable juice fasting results in permanent weight reduction only when combined with regular exercise. Exercise seems to reset the appetite at a lower point.

11.) Remember that if you walk away from all of this at some point, you have not failed. You only fail by not coming back. We’re in no hurry. Nature has been patient with us for years.

There is no trick to losing weight. It is simply a matter of deciding to, knowing how, and following through. The side benefits are tremendous: more energy, better self-image, and a longer, healthier life.

Taking care of you naturally, the way life was meant to be.

Posted: October 21st, 2008 under Alternative Medicine, Home Remedies, Natural Health, Vitamin D, Weight Loss, natural cures.
Comments: none

Acne is caused by over-production of sebum. Sebum blocks pores. A variety of factors can lead to production of excess sebum including: fluctuating hormones, stress, medications, tight fitting clothing and genetics. Over the counter and prescription products can treat acne, But, those products may also come with a list of warnings and side effects. You can treat acne naturally with significant results. Natural remedies are much safer for your health and the environment.

Step1
Zinc. People with acne tend to be zinc deficient. Eating foods naturally rich in zinc, such as beef, chicken, yogurt, many nuts and beans will boost your zinc level. Zinc supplements also works well.

Step2
Omega-3. Omega-3 fatty acids give the skin healing power. Omega-3 helps to clear up acne by thinning the sebum that clogs the pores. Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids include fish and fish oils and vegetable oils. Salmon and flaxseed oils are known for boosting Omega-3. Flaxseed oil is highly recommended.

Step3
Tea Tree Oil. Apply tea tree oil to the area several times each day. Some research indicates that tea tree oil is just as effective as benzoyl peroxide, the number one over-the-counter acne treatment. This works well.

Step4
Chasteberry Tea. Women who have acne flares up during their menstrual cycle, chasteberry tea is the recommended treatment. It has been shown, in studies, that chasteberry tea helps regulate female hormones. One cup per day is plenty. It is important that you don’t over-do this remedy. Drinking excessive amounts of the tea may worsen your acne.

Step5
Sugar. Cut the sugar out of your diet. Replaced the sugar in your diet with honey or molasses. Believe it or not, refined sugar is processed to remove the nutrients. The bi-product is molasses, which retains all the nutrition lost in the processing. If you must eat sugar, eat brown unrefined sugar and cut back when your acne flares up. Artificial sweeteners come with a variety of warnings and health risks. Splenda does not currently contain warning labels, but it is highly processed and refined and simply not what nature intended. You may also try stevia.

Step6
Vinegar, Lemon Juice and Aloe. Each of these may be used with positive results on acne. The vinegar and lemon juice work to clean your pours. The aloe works to heal skin damage. Studies have shown that treating the sores with aloe will reduce scars and speed healing. Aloe is very beneficial.

These are only a few natural remedies for treating Acne.

Basic Facial Aspirin Recipe

* 5 to 10 of plain aspirin- (cheap generic is fine)
* Crush aspirin tablets into a fine powder- (a coffee grinder works well if you are making a large batch)
* Mix in your favorite fruit acid, squeezing the juice from a lemon, lime, or orange.
* To use as an aspirin scrub make a thick paste using only a few teaspoons of the fruit juice.
* To make an aspirin toner use a least 1/3 cup of fruit juice an make a thin solution that you can saturate a cotton ball with an apply.

Experiment by adding 3 to 5 crushed aspirin tablets to their favorite skin care recipe for the added rejuvenation potential.

Different skin types should tailor the aspirin recipe to meet their particular

skin care needs. It is beneficial for dry and sensitive skin types to add a teaspoon of honey or Aloe Vera pulp to the basic aspirin facial recipe.

A dairy product such as yogurt, cream, or milk can be substituted for the fruit acid or used in combination with the basic aspirin facial recipe for oilier skin types.

This is truly some of the best recipes for facial rejuvenation.

Posted: September 9th, 2008 under Alternative Medicine, Home Remedies, Natural Health, Vitamin D, Weight Loss, natural cures.
Comments: 2