NUTRITION: HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE CAUSES & SOLUTIONS
What is happening in America? So many people walking around with high blood pressure (hypertension) and not getting any better. Obviously, this ailment is not understood except to treat the symptoms rather than the underlying problem. Below here are some pervasive stats from the American Heart Association that indicates just how this condition is not improving:
High blood pressure (hypertension) killed 57,356 people in the United States in 2005.
- About 73.6 million people in the United States age 20 and older have high blood pressure.
- One in three adults has high blood pressure.
- Of those people with high blood pressure, 78.7 percent were aware of their condition.
- Of all people with high blood pressure, 69.1 percent were under current treatment, 45.4 percent had it under control, and 54.6 percent did not have it controlled.
- The cause of 90-95 percent of the cases of high blood pressure isn’t known; however, high blood pressure is easily detected and usually controllable.
- From 1995 to 2005 the death rate from high blood pressure increased 25.2 percent, and the actual number of deaths rose 56.4 percent.
- Non-Hispanic blacks are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure than are non-Hispanic whites.
- Within the African-American community, those with the highest rates of hypertension, are more likely to be middle aged or older, less educated, overweight or obese, physically inactive, and to have diabetes.
- In 2005 the death rates per 100,000 population from high blood pressure were 15.8 for white males, 52.1 for black males, 15.1 for white females and 40.3 for black females
As you can see this is a serious epidemic in the U.S. and it seems we are not taking a deserving all out attack on this enemy. This is a more extreme threat than any terrorist attack. This is where the money and research needs to be focussed. Wouldn’t you agree?
It is very clear to see that one contributing cause of the condition is not knowing the origin which is essential to finding its solution.
The UNDERLYING CAUSE
DO YOU HAVE TOXIC BLOOD? HOW DOES THE BLOOD BECOME TOXIC?
When the blood becomes saturated with unfiltered blood then its ability to maintain body systems and organs is compromised. Blood quality determines every cell’s capability to carry out its function. The blood has the potential to nourish or pollute the entire body. As we age, over-stress, ingest a poor diet, etc. blood components can build up unless detoxification is employed or the primary blood filters in the body are supported to do their function.
The liver, spleen, and every circulatory system organ can be involved in an obstructive process that impedes natural blood flow. This results in the body lowering in energy or Qi (Traditional Chinese medicine), high blood pressure, with every body function suffering from poor nutrition and de-oxygenation. No amount of vitamins or minerals can overcome the level of toxicity that develops except through gradual elimination of toxins in the blood. If detoxification happens too quickly, then a crisis can occur where nausea, exhaustion, and further setbacks in the cleansing process. If elimination is allowed to proceed on a gradual improving pace then expulsion is optimized. This requires working with the body as opposed to making physiology conform to a standardized strategy.
If the blood remains toxic for too long then an acidic environment is created. The result is a breakdown of vascular walls. This involves a scarring effect with blood components filling in the damged areas. This build-up complicates the process of cleansing. If the circulatory plumbing is not cleared out then all organs suffer while the aging process speeds up. Its important at this stage that balance is re-established before established damage occurs.
There are different conditions that are involved with causation of toxic build-up. From a Chinese medicine perspective, the body can involve singular or multiple constitutional conditions. The primary (6) body types are:
cold<—————>hot
damp<————->dry
deficient<——–>excess
When the body becomes or specific organ become extreme in one of the constitutional conditions above then toxicity occurs. In order to move the imbalance or over toxicity to a balanced or neutral status, the body or its organ(s) need help to move in the other direction of the continuum.
Additionally, Its very important to discern which constitution is primary so treatment priority can be arrived at before tackling obvious symptoms. Again, the goal of the correction process is to achieve balance or neutral status. That is the mid-point between cold and hot, damp and dry, and deficient and excess. Establishing the center of these continuums brings about optimal health where the symptoms subside, health anchors.
Summary: Excess constitution with heat and dampness characteristics stemming from over-ingestion of rich, greasy, spicy, refined, intoxicating foods. Foods: excess red meat, eggs, cheese, fried foods, salt, excess sweet, refined & stale flour and oil products, chemicals, drugs and acoholic drinks.
When the body becomes overwhelmed by the above foods then the blood, organs and body becomes toxic and malfuctioning. The excess wears the body down into deficiency resulting in conditions of arthritis, tumor, diabetes, etc. The blockages in vasularity produces heat and pressure resulting in the following conditions – high blood pressure, constipation, excess weight, stroke and circulation ailments. The remedy is purging and cleansing.with bitter herbs and foods. Bitter cools and reduces dampness in the body. There may be exceptions which require a seasoned Master herbalist’s (traditional chinese herbs) input.
“Sweet makes you bitter while bitter makes you sweeter” Nei jing
FOOD THERAPY FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
FOODS THAT BALANCE BLOOD PRESSURE
Legumes: mung bean sprouts, soy bean sprouts, tofu, tempeh, peas, Adzuki Beans, Black Beans, Black-eyed peas, Broad Beans (Fava Beans), Butter Beans, Calico Beans, Cannellini Beans, Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans), Edamame
Great Northern Beans, Italian Beans, Kidney Beans, Lentils, Lima Beans, Mung Beans, Navy Beans, Pinto Beans, Soy Beans, including black soy beans, Split Peas, White Beans
Grains: (whole grains, ½ cup for all grains) sprouted wheat – hard red winter wheat, Amaranth, Barley, pearled, Buckwheat (kasha), Bulgar, Oats, whole kernel, Rice, brown, Rice, wild, Rye, whole kernel, Quinoa, Wheat, whole kernel, All Bran with Extra Fiber, Bran Buds, Fiber One, Kashi, Go Lean, Shredded Wheat, Shredded Wheat and Bran, Buckwheat Groats, Oat Bran, Old Fashioned Oatmeal, Steel-Cut Oats
Vegetables: (Pungent) radish, horseradish, hot peppers, onion family (garlic, onion, leek, scallion, shallot, chive), Leafy greens (cabbage, spinach, carrot greens, mint leaf, nasturtium leaf, dandelion greens, kale, wheat greens, barley greens, broccoli, parsley), asparagus, bell peper, rose hip, tomato, celery
Green seaweeds: Green rope, Green tuft, Dead man’s fingers, Encrusting codium, Bird guano alga, Sea lettuce, Stringy, hairy, ribbon Ulva, Green barrels, Brown seaweeds: Winged kelp, Bottlebrush seaweed, Seersucker, Three-ribbed kelp, Northern bladder chain, Flattened acid kelp, Witch’s hair, Green acid kelp, Geather Boa, Rockweed, Spiraling rockweed, Sea cauliflower, Perennial kelp, Twisted sea tubes, Bull kelp, Dwarf rockweed, Woody-stemmed kelp, Sea fungus, Sugar kelp, Stiff-stiped kelp, Sea cabbage, Split kelp, Wireweed, Soda straws, Studded sea balloons), Red Seaweeds (Turkish towel, Bleached burnett, Winged rib, Sea moss, Sea sac, Rusty rock, Sea tangle, Turkish washcloth, Tar spot, Iridescent seaweed, Coarse sea lace, Black pine, Flattened sea brush, Sea brush, Sea laural, Red ribbon, Sea comb, Bleachweed, Sea noodles, Red eyelet silk), chlorella, cucumber
Mushrooms: Honey Mushroom, Brown Stew Fungus, The Miller, Shaggy Ink Cap, Green Russula, Russula integra, Weeping Milk-Cap, Saffron Milk-Cap, Hedgehog Fungus, Man on Horseback, Wood Blewit, Chantarelle, Funnel Chantarelle, Horn of Plenty, Yellow-Crack Bolete, Slippery Jack, Brown Birch Bolete, King Bolete, Sheep Polypore, Pestle Puffball
Fruit: (citrus) Clementine, Kumquat, Minneola, Mandarin, Orange, Satsuma, Tangarine, Tangelo, Lemon, Rough Lemon, Lime, Leech Lime, Grapefruit, Pummelo, Sweety, Ugli, banana, persimmon
Nuts & Seeds: Almonds, hazlenuts (filbert), flax seed, chia seed, pumpkin seed (lightly roasted to remove surface E coli), poppy seed, walnut, sunflower sprouts
Animal products: fish: sardine, salmon, mackerel, Cold water fish (LAKE TROUT, RAINBOW TROUT, BROOK TROUT, BROWN TROUT, ARCTIC GRAYLING, ARCTIC CHAR, SPLAKE, etc.) raw honey, bee pollen
Herbs: hawthorn berry, dandelion root, burdock root, chaparral, peppermint (palpitations), cayenne pepper, ginger, rhubarb root (constipation), yarrow, chamomile, motherwort, valerian (Traditional Chinese herbs & American herbs)
FOODS TO AVOID (worsens high blood pressure)
Sugar, or foods with added sugars, Processed grains, or foods containing them (except as listed on the Grains List e.g. packaged cereals, even whole grain cereals, are usually processed, verify), Refined grains (which don’t say “whole” in front of each grain on the label) or foods containing them, “Wheat” or “wheat flour” without the word “whole” is usually a code word for “white” (includes white rice, “Flour” listed alone is always white flour), Potatoes, Cakes, cookies, muffins, etc. Crackers, unless whole grain, Cereals, unless whole grain and at least 8 grams of fiber per serving, Chips, Ice cream, Jams and Jellies, Maple Syrup, Regular Soda and other sweetened beverages, Juices, Oils except for extra virgin olive oil, nut oils, and canola oil, Mayonnaise, Creamy salad dressings, Butter, Magarine, Dairy products that are not fat-free, including cheese, cream cheese, milk, etc., Fatty meats such as bacon or sausage, Anything with hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats in it.
“The sages follow the laws of Nature and therefore their bodies are free from strange diseases. They do not lose any of their natural functions and their spirit of life is never exhausted.” — Inner Classic
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