Hypertension Health Topic

Learn More About Hypertension and High Blood Pressure

1. Diet and Hypertension

   Blood pressure is the force exerted on your artery walls by the blood flowing through your body. A blood pressure reading provides two measures, systolic pressure and diastolic pressure. High blood pressure is often called the “silent killer” because it has no symtoms and can go undetected for years. It is important to have your blood pressure checked regularly. Research has shown that modest lifestyle and dietary changes can help treat and often delay or prevent high blood pressure. Potassium has an important role in blood pressure treatment. Potassium works with sodium to regulate the body’s water balance. Research has shown that the more potassium and less sodium a person has in his/her diet, the greater the likelihood that the person will maintain normal blood pressure. Low calcium intake may increase risk of hypertension. People with a low calcium intake seem to be at increased risk for hypertension. Excessive sodium intake is linked with high blood pressure or hypertension in some people. For people who are overweight, even a small weight loss can dramatically reduce or even prevent high blood pressure. Untreated hypertension causes damage to the blood vessels over time.

2. Study Suggests Sugar Is Worse Than Salt for Blood Pressure

   The DASH diet, which is claimed to be among the most effective for controlling hypertension, consists largely of fresh vegetables, fruits, lean protein, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and very low sodium content. But it's ALSO low in sugar/fructose.Excess sugar in your diet increases blood pressure and heart rate and contributes to inflammation, insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction. Includes a list of strategies to prevent and treat hypertension,

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3. Dietary Calcium and Hypertension

   Numerous population studies since that time confirm an inverse relationship between dietary calcium intake and blood pressure, a lower intake of calcium being associated with higher blood pressure. At least nine different research groups have now reported that oral calcium supplementation can lower blood pressure in human hypertensive and normotensive populations. Yet these now widespread findings remain controversial. Just as increased dietary salt intake does not exacerbate blood pressure in all hypertensive subjects, so increased dietary calcium intake may not consistently ameliorate hypertension.

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4. Magnesium Deficiency and Hypertension

   Rats maintained for 12 weeks on diets moderately or more severely deficient in magnesium showed significant elevations in arterial blood pressure compared to control animals.

   SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

5. Magnesium: The Mineral That Could Have Saved 4 Million Women

   Women may develop high blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia) and during or prior to birth may experience life-threatening seizures (eclampsia). In one study, intravenous magnesium reduced the risks of eclampsia among women with pre-eclampsia. Calcium and magnesium must be maintained in a proper ratio to maintain proper muscle tone and prevent convulsive muscle spasms. Furthermore, estrogen and progesterone levels, which increase as a pregnancy advances, elevate the body's demand for magnesium.

6. Preeclampsia and High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy

   Blood pressure is a measure of how hard your blood pushes against the walls of your arteries. If the force is too hard, you have high blood pressure (also called hypertension). High blood pressure usually doesn't cause symptoms. But very high blood pressure sometimes causes headaches and shortness of breath or changes in vision. When high blood pressure starts after 20 weeks of pregnancy, it may be a sign of a very serious problem called preeclampsia. High blood pressure and preeclampsia are related, but they have some differences.

7. Hypertension is a Risk Factor for Heart Disease / Heart Attack

   Online risk assessment tool from the American Heart Association.

8. At-Home Test for Coronary Heart Disease

   Coronary Heart Disease can be detected early with a C-Reactive Protein Test. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a substance produced by the liver and its levels increase during periods of inflammation. Though not condition specific, inflammation is a significant indicator of health problems such as coronary heart disease. In the absence of any specific disease, an increased CRP level poses a significant risk of coronary heart disease. Elevated levels of CRP is the first indicator of heart disease recommended by the American Heart Association in over 20 years and can be detected with a high sensitivity C-Reactive Protein Test (hs-CRP).

9. Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Hypertension

   Population studies and clinical trials provide compelling evidence that omega-3 (omega3) fatty acids have cardioprotective effects. The cardioprotective effects of omega3 fatty acids relate to improvements in blood pressure, cardiac function, arterial compliance and vascular function, as well as improved lipid metabolism, antiplatelet and anti-inflammatory effects.

   SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

10. The Control of Hypertension by Use of Coconut Water and Mauby: Two Tropical Food Drinks

    In this study, the authors investigated the effect of regular consumption of two tropical food drinks, coconut (Cocos nucifera) water and mauby (Colubrina arborescens), on the control of hypertension. Significant decreases in the mean systolic blood pressure were observed for 71%, 40% and 43% respectively of the groups receiving the coconut water, mauby and the mixture.

    SCIENTIFIC STUDY

11. Drinking Beetroot Juice Dramatically Lowers Risk of Heart Disease and Strokes

    The bright-red juice contains the chemical nitrate, which dramatically reduces blood pressure, cutting the risk of heart disease and strokes. Researchers at William Harvey Research Institute at Queen Mary University in London compared patients who were given a 250ml glass of beetroot juice a day with those who took nitrate tablets. They found that the two methods were equally successful in reducing blood pressure.

12. Sugary Drinks Might Raise Hypertension Risk: Study

    Drinking sugar-sweetened sodas and fruit drinks appears to be associated with a greater risk for high blood pressure among adults. Men and women who consumed one or more sugar-sweetened beverages a day tended to be heavier, consume more calories, and have less healthy diets than those who consumed none.

13. Salt and Blood Pressure: Conventional Wisdom Reconsidered (PDF file)

    It is widely believed that dietary salt leads to increased blood pressure, and higher risks of heart attack or stroke. This is the "salt hypothesis." The corollary is that salt intake should be drastically reduced. We find that the data do not support the salt hypothesis.

    SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

14. Your Diet Will Raise or Lower Your Blood Pressure

    Following a healthy nutrition plan, along with exercising and implementing effective stress reduction techniques will normalize blood pressure in most people. The first thing you need to do is remove all grains and sugars, particularly fructose, from your diet until both your weight and your blood pressure have normalized. Eating sugars and grains will cause your insulin levels, and your blood pressure, to remain elevated.

15. The "Heart Attack Proof" Diet

    Certain cultures around the world do not suffer from heart disease. "It's a foodborne illness, and we're never going to end the epidemic with stents, with bypasses, with the drugs, because none of it is treating causation of the illness," Esselstyn says. Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn Jr.'s diet has no meat, eggs, dairy or added oils. Esselstyn says his diet works because it keeps the lining of the blood vessels free of plaque Follow his dietary prescription, the 77-year-old Esselstyn says, and you will be "heart attack proof" -- regardless of your family history.

16. Foundational Lifestyle Strategies to Maintain Healthy Blood Pressure

    Chances are that if you have hypertension, you also have poorly controlled blood sugar levels, and most likely eat a diet high in grains and sugars, and low in healthful fats. Why does insulin resistance promote hypertension? Insulin stores magnesium, which relaxes your muscles, but if your insulin receptors are blunted and your cells grow resistant to insulin, you can't store magnesium. If your magnesium level is too low, your blood vessels will constrict, which will raise your blood pressure.

17. Hypertension 2016 Scientific Sessions Abstracts (PDF file)

    Over 300 pages of hypertension research abstsracts.

    SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

18. Hypertension Subsides with Coconut Oil and Exercise

    A new study...has found in rat models that regular exercise combined with coconut oil consumption can help hypertension return to a state of healthy blood pressure.

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