Since being diagnosed with high blood pressure a few years ago, I’ve had to cut out the salt (and watch the salty foods), get more exercise, and take medication. Of course, the Internet has no end of suggestions to manage blood pressure, from prune juice to garlic.
For those of you in a similar condition, do you take medication or manage your blood pressure with diet/exercise/other means?
Meds, mine seems to be genetic. After being on it a few years I took up jogging(in addition to hiking) and got on a borderline vegan diet from the encouragement of a 7th Day Adventist friend dropping to 165 at 5’10" and BP had zero change compared to weighing 180-190 and eating whatever I wanted.
I will say the vegan diet claim of reducing inflammation seemed to have some merit. Going the extra mile, doing some new repetitive movement, turned ankles, and even a hernia repair did not produce the level of soreness or recovery time every one of those did before with my normal diet.
DIET ! 
Are you in shape ? Overweight ? Your diet ?
I am going to guess you eat SAD (standard american diet) ?
the modern food pyramid is crap !!! Utter crap our modern food is crap !
Industrialized seed oils would be more to blame then salt ! And that is starting to be shown and proven and when you look at problems such as cancer rates and so on they all coincide with the industrialization of our foods !
Best would be cut out all industrialized oils like canola/safflower margarines etc… olive and avocado pressed are OK Cut out all sugars and modern processed foods so pastas and breads etc…
At least Start by cutting out all sugars and oils first !
then work on cutting down the breads and pastas by a huge amount realize they are not meant to live on as main courses if you like them just have them in small quantities in limited amounts as in not every day along with good real food sweet potato a green salad and steak breakfast eggs and bacon and maybe on the weekends if you really have to have your bread products make it with a english muffin sourdough would be better
Fill up on good whole solid food with animal protein and animal fat ! no more fast food crap no more throw it in the oven crap can ya tell I am on a mission here
That would be a start I am guessing UNLESS you eat that way already but salt does not cause the high blood pressure issue with any conclusive study ! Yes some can show it and their is one to debunk it but seed oils are a huge issue and most Americans get way to much of that petrol crap
https://time.com/3313332/salt-and-blood-pressure/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170425124909.htm and tons more
So so so many studies are debunking this juts like when the fat free craze came in the 70s 80s loaded things up with corn syrup and sugars and promoted as healthy cause its fat free and now we know fat is not the issue unless its crap fat like industrialized oils fake science and $$$ made them heart healthy kinda like when they used to prescribe smoking or the fat free or the …
Look at obesity and diabetes today at a insane level only something like %12 of Americans are metabolic healthy ! 1of2 are pre diabetic etc…
the modern diet and food systems is s scam and all about lobbyists and money
Change your diet to super healthy and avoid those things if your doc did not go over your diet and say quit those things IMHO get a new doc that is not about take these pills ! One that is about eat this healthy way
It might take a bit to get in shape but you can and then get off anything they are putting you on ! Long term health get in shape !!!
My doc told me a year ago (when he added a third BP med) “High blood pressure is like arthritis and eyesight…it doesn’t get better with age!”
40mg Lisinopril/25mg HCTZ, and 2.5mg Amlodipine each day. I was diagnosed with hypertension while still in the Army in 1987 before I even turned 22. So maybe 34 years or so. My dosages have gradually increased over the decades.
Probably hereditary. Could go vegan and never touch a drop of alcohol again but hey, why suffer? :jester: I work out six or seven days a week (either cardio or weights) so that schedule ain’t getting added to. Guess it’s my medical “cross to bear” so to speak.
Nursing student here. Take the salt restriction seriously. Too much salt will lead to too much fluid, which will increase your BP and could damage your kidneys.
Not sure what meds you’re on but take them seriously as well. I also work in an ICU and you wouldn’t believe the number of kidney failure patients we get with a history of high blood pressure. Kidneys are fragile and long term untreated hypertension will damage them. I also had a patient in clinical who sadly suffered a stroke due to not taking his BP meds and has a long road of recovery ahead of him.
Each case is individual, but in general take your prescribed meds, cut back on salt, and check your BP at least daily if not more often. Keeping a logbook of your vitals isn’t a bad idea either. And watch out for swelling in your legs; it could indicate kidney damage.
Stay safe!
Double
Vegan is woke crap !
Eat veggies with your meat sure but the whole vegan thing is crap and studies are showing this more and more do not buy into the modern woke idiocy of vegan eating !
Look up bone density and TOFI
They sugar coat the bone density and massive visceral fat issues they all have in common !
Yes you can feel better short term going vegan for cutting out some crap but still eat crap oils crap grains so never heal and never get rid of inflammation completely etc. so its better for cutting out some sugars but not better healthy you then loose other areas just bad news !
No athlete that is vegan ever seems to get away with it for very long before they quit or often benched with massive injuries that do not heal and have major issues OR they are doing so much supplementing and lying about being one just to be woke vegan bend a knee types !
Vegan is up there with common sense gun laws and carbon tax they will tell you its better this way
Free country but open your eyes before you go vegan
Fairly sure I saw that back in college where the vegan diet was French fries and similar. They did not look well.
7th Day Adventist buddy doesn’t look like death warmed over and doesn’t eat junk.
When my Grandfather was like 85 they wanted to put him on high blood pressure meds.
Instead my Dad had him drink two beers, one at lunch and one after dinner, brought his blood pressure right down.
Yup junk is what is bad for sure
To much of it these days with so called energy drinks or health bars or meal replacement or things that look like a meal but are not really hahahahahah
Get the right doctor. Mine told me hypertension and salt interaction was predominantly an African American thing, that due to black people dying on slave ships with a high salt diet, they are more susceptible to salt that white people. I like that explanation, along with puking blood after serious drinking wasn’t an ulcer but ruptured throat linings. Who wants to give up booze and salt? Freaking love this guy (no homo).
African American blacks are MORE sensitive to salt than other races, but everyone with high blood pressure should be mindful of sodium
Vegan just means no animal products but it’s only as healthy as you make it. French fries and many processed foods are vegan but terrible for you.
But a proper whole food plant based (WFPB) diet isn’t woke…you will find it referred in the Bible! Check Daniel 1:8-16
And many cultures have been largely plant based for many many years and had almost zero trace of cancers or heart disease until they were introduced to our western SAD way of life. Rural parts of Asia and the Middle East.
Look at the Blue Zones of the world. Their diets are very high in plants and very low in animals. They also eat some fish, which I think is okay except that our oceans are so high in mercury these days…be careful with fish.
Hundreds of verifiable success stories addressing a myriad of health issues if you really want the truth:
https://www.forksoverknives.com/success-stories/
OP, I was in my late 40’s and diagnosed with HBP, my cholesterol was above 200, and my A1C and triglycerides were spiking. Went WFPB for a few years and ALL lab work improved immediately and stayed good. In my late 50’s now and still mainly WFPB and eat very limited animal products. Cholesterol was under 130, all labs great. And I have 35 lbs to lose. Even my eye exam, where they look at the optic nerve and all the other stuff behind the eye. My eye doc said he’s rarely seen veins and arteries so healthy in anyone over 30, and the colors show excellent blood flow. I believe it’s all due to eating lots of plants and little animal stuff or processed foods full of chemicals and crap.
Cant wait to hear all the BS back…folks are so invested in meat. I used to be. I’m much better off with a lot less of it…and a lot less chemicals too.
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Vegan just means no animal products but it’s only as healthy as you make it. French fries and many processed foods are vegan but terrible for you.
But a proper whole food plant based (WFPB) diet isn’t woke…you will find it referred in the Bible! Check Daniel 1:8-16
And many cultures have been largely plant based for many many years and had almost zero trace of cancers or heart disease until they were introduced to our western SAD way of life. Rural parts of Asia and the Middle East.
Look at the Blue Zones of the world. Their diets are very high in plants and very low in animals. They also eat some fish, which I think is okay except that our oceans are so high in mercury these days…be careful with fish.
Hundreds of verifiable success stories addressing a myriad of health issues if you really want the truth:
https://www.forksoverknives.com/success-stories/
OP, I was in my late 40’s and diagnosed with HBP, my cholesterol was above 200, and my A1C and triglycerides were spiking. Went WFPB for a few years and ALL lab work improved immediately and stayed good. In my late 50’s now and still mainly WFPB and eat very limited animal products. Cholesterol was under 130, all labs great. And I have 35 lbs to lose. Even my eye exam, where they look at the optic nerve and all the other stuff behind the eye. My eye doc said he’s rarely seen veins and arteries so healthy in anyone over 30, and the colors show excellent blood flow. I believe it’s all due to eating lots of plants and little animal stuff or processed foods full of chemicals and crap.
Regarding the “athletes get hurt” stuff, maybe you should really look into the truth:
https://gamechangersmovie.com/
Cant wait to hear all the BS back…folks are so invested in meat. I used to be. I’m much better off with a lot less of it…and a lot less chemicals too.
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Be aware that most veggies and restaurants often have extremely high salt content as they are blanched/stored in saltwater for visual appeal and to make them last longer.
Extreme examples at some big name restaurant chains involve steamed broccoli and similar with the same salt content as french fries.
You really want to deal with any hypertension even if you have to take medication like Lisinopril, as hypertension creates stress cracks in your blood vessels that then enable cholesterol / fat / sugar to stick to the artery / vein walls. (They are normally very slick like Teflon)
Put more simply, hypertension is an enabler/accelerator for coronary artery disease along with excess blood sugar.
If you keep yourself well hydrated you will expel a good amount of sodium through out the day. Being active/exercising will expel quite a bit as well. It is not simply straight about sodium intake.
I’ve accomplished basically the same thing on a lower carb diet (definitely not keto) with plenty of meat consumption. Just getting rid of processed sugar and breads will accomplish 90% of what you do. I have the luxury of having a good level of available wild game meat to eat, but that doesn’t make up our entire meat consumption.
Cutting out sugar and breads with no regard to any other carb counting, my wife cut her A1C from 6.1 to 5.1 in 6 months just by eating decent meals consisting of meats and vegetables. She also got her blood pressure into a good range and the doctor allowed her off her BP meds.
As for me, while being technically obese, I have never had a BP or cholesterol issue and I’m 52. I’ve avoided processed food, breads and sugars for over a decade, yet I still consume too many calories, which keeps me fat.
Bottom line is that food choices have to be a lifetime thing. No way I’m surviving living in Alaska eating a fruit and veggie diet.
Hydration is really underrated. I try to drink at least a cup of filtered water before each meal and a cup or more while eating. It helps my digestion and I get full faster before I have the chance to overeat.
I feel better and have less muscle cramping and fatigue. A huge benefit for me is I sleep A LOT better.
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I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having meat in moderation. Everything should be in moderation anyway. I just stay away from cured meats when I can and try to get fairly lean, unprocessed cuts.
Been on the same BP meds since I was in my early 30’s. At that time I was in solid shape, working out and active. BP issue was discovered during a cardiac stress test for a job application.
In the 20+ years since and after bulged discs, broken facets, a replaced ACL, and torn rotator cuffs, my workouts are much more limited, but I get in a lot of cardio and I actively officiate high school sports so I’m running a lot.
On the same meds the whole time and differences in diet and exercise haven’t changed the numbers one way or another since the initial change when I started the meds. The dosages I’m on are on the low end of the scale and I have never noticed side effects.
None of us had high blood pressure till my sister married a Yankee…
cause and effect? Probably not but funny as hell when someone asks when it started.