How changing your nutrition and lifestyle can be the keys to success.

Elevated blood pressure, or hypertension, is a condition that occurs when the blood vessels have persistently raised pressure within them. This consistent intense force and friction will damage the delicate arterial walls of your cardiovascular system over time, which in turn allows for plaque buildup to occur along the tiny tears on the arterial wall.
Conditions that will increase your risk of hypertension:
Overweight or obese
Diabetes
Kidney problems
Stress
Toxins
Nitric oxide depletion
Mineral imbalances
Diet high in inflammatory elements
It is important to understand that hypertension is a multifactorial condition, but you must also understand that it can largely be controlled and even reversed through improvements to your lifestyle and diet!
Changes you can make:
Following a paleo diet. A paleo diet avoids the highest inflammatory-causing foods such as grains, gluten, soy, and dairy. It includes plentiful amounts of whole/unprocessed foods that pack the highest nutrient density possible. For example, wild-caught seafood and grass-fed/grass-finished meats are extremely high in omega-3 fatty acids which is imperative to reduce cardiovascular-related inflammation and reduce blood pressure. Avocados are one of the best foods for packing a mineral punch, with high amounts of both magnesium and potassium which can reduce blood pressure.
Lowering your stress levels. Stress causes your sympathetic nervous system branch to dominate, and this is your body’s “fight or flight” mechanism. This branch tells your body to prepare for a perceived threat by accelerating the heart rate, increasing adrenaline output, increasing blood pressure, widening the airways, and raising blood sugar levels. So you can see how this chronic state of stress we all live in at times can become so problematic for our health! Which is why we must retrain our parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system, also nicknamed the “rest and digest” branch. This can be done through mindfulness practices like meditation, deep breathing, yoga, or tai chi to name a few.
Exercising for 30-60 minutes every day. Regular physical activity can improve your heart muscle’s strength to effectively pump blood throughout the body. Not only that, but physical activity helps your body to produce more nitric oxide, which is released from the arterial wall as a natural vasodilator of the cardiovascular system. This improves blood oxygenation and circulation to keep blood pressure under control.
Getting 10-15 minutes of direct sunlight exposure each day. UV-A rays from the sun have been shown to increase nitric oxide production by acting on nitrogen oxide stores on the skin. Since most of us lose our ability to produce adequate amounts of nitric oxide as we age, we need all the support we can get! Sunlight exposure and time spent outdoors is also important to lower stress and improve feelings of well-being. For a double-whammy, try taking your shoes off and spending some time “grounding” with the earth’s natural electromagnetic frequency! This recharges and balances every system of our body.
Drinking half your body weight in ounces of water daily WITH added minerals. Most Americans are deficient in minerals like potassium and magnesium, which play imperative roles in blood pressure control. Magnesium can improve nitric oxide production and prevents blood vessels from constricting. Potassium can ease tension in the blood vessel walls and helps to balance sodium levels in the body. It is worth noting here that sodium itself is not the problem, rather the inflammatory processed foods it is typically added in large amounts to. In fact, most people are not sensitive to sodium (meaning it does not raise their blood pressure). If you are eating an unprocessed, whole foods diet, you actually NEED to replace sodium! So ideally use a natural Himalayan sea salt which contains over 84 trace elements and minerals to keep you adequately hydrated and mineral balanced.
Logging your blood pressure everyday if you have high blood pressure in order to monitor changes/improvements. As with any significant symptoms, it is important to track trends over time, and especially if you are implementing lifestyle and nutrition changes, to be sure you are headed in the right direction! If you are working hard to get off a blood pressure medication, this is also your proof to show to your prescribing doctor once you have it sufficiently controlled (and your blood pressure may even be going TOO low if you are taking the medication and diligently making these lifestyle changes together).
Sleeping at least 8 hours every single night. Without sleep, our body cannot repair itself. Without regular repairing and restoring, our body becomes stressed and inflamed. It has been found that individuals who sleep 6 hours or less have much steeper increases in their blood pressure. Without deep sleep, when your blood pressure naturally goes down, your blood pressure is more chronically elevated all day and night. Prioritize your sleep and be sure you are unplugging from any stressful triggers at least a few hours before bed! This way you are not going to bed in a sympathetic nervous system state.
Controlling high blood pressure can be a challenge, but do not let anyone tell you it’s not possible. Having the right support in healthcare providers will certainly ensure your success. Seek out a knowledgeable team including a nutritionist/health coach and a physical therapist to keep you on track and accountable!
By Dr. Jamie Flint (PT, DPT) and Christina Flint (M.S. IFN, CHC)
*Our articles are intended to be educational on general guidelines for each disease process, not an individualized treatment plan. Please consult with your healthcare provider regarding changes to your current lifestyle, fitness, nutrition, medications or if you have any further questions.
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