How to Lower High Blood Pressure Naturally
High blood pressure may not be due to what you think. Many times it can be managed by lifestyle changes and medication can be avoided. Just like a diagnoses of Type II Diabetes that can be managed by avoiding sugar, high blood pressure can be managed naturally as well. You first need to learn why someone would start having high blood pressure. What goes wrong in the body to start reacting with high blood pressure? It can be four things: toxic blood, a need for heart support, need to drink more water or better stress management or a combination of those four things. The cause of toxic blood is toxins. We assess the body for toxins by muscle testing for heavy metals, heavy chemicals, immune challenges and food intolerances. The major toxins we deal with include but are not limited to aluminum, mercury, lead, plastic, chlorine, asbestos, fungi, mold, parasites, viruses, bad bacteria and food you are eating that the body is having trouble breaking down and digesting.
BPAs are chemicals that are used to create a lot of plastic products and more. These have recently come under fire due to a large number of unwanted side effects that have been exposed in studies. Among the most intense of these is the fact that they may lead to higher blood pressure! While society catches up and moves over to BPA-free products, you can do your part by making the switch early. Avoid plastic bottles and not only will you be helping your heart – you’ll also be helping the planet! If you want to know if plastic or BPA toxicity is part of your high blood pressure or circulatory concerns get muscle tested.
Toxins including plastic, heavy metals, chlorine and bad gut flora can irritate your intestines so much that the intestinal lining becomes porous and leaky gut can form allowing undigested food and toxins to leave the intestines and enter the bloodstream, causing the blood to become toxic. Besides causing high blood pressure leaky gut can also cause bloating, thyroid conditions, fatigue, joint pain, headaches, skin issues like rosacea and acne, digestive problems and weight gain.
If left un-repaired, leaky gut can lead to more severe health issues like inflammatory bowel disease, IBS, arthritis, eczema, psoriasis, depression, anxiety, migraine headaches, muscle pain and chronic fatigue. According to the Journal of Diabetes, there is a strong body of evidence pointing to leaky gut syndrome as a major cause of autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes. Besides causing high blood pressure, another problem with leaky gut is that it can cause malabsorption of vital minerals and nutrients, including zinc, iron and vitamin B12.
To heal leaky gut there are 4 steps:
REMOVE foods and factors that damage the gut
REPLACE with healing foods
REPAIR with specific supplements
REBALANCE with probiotics
We use Nutrition Response Testing at Healing Arts to get biofeedback from the body to know exactly what needs to be done for you in each of the 4 steps. No 4-Step plan to heal leaky gut is the same. Everyone needs different supplements and to remove different foods from their diet while they are healing the gut. The same goes for circulation support. If your blood pressure is not due to toxins but due to lack of vitamins or minerals we can figure that out as well using the muscle testing. Common whole food supplements that are used include omega-3s, hawthorn, vitamin E, and minerals to calm the nervous system down.
We also use water to help high blood pressure. It’s so simple to drink water yet Did you know that over a third of the population is in a state of chronic dehydration? To overcome the issue, make sure that you drink water regularly. A person should drink at least 2 to 3 liters (64 to 96 ounces) of water each day. This improves blood pressure by helping to dilute the blood .Water is also a natural detoxifying agent and one of the most common and simplest blood purifiers. It flushes out toxins from our body and helps our organs to function properly.
Water aids the flow of minerals and vitamins and also helps in purification of blood by flushing toxins out through urination. To give your water an extra purifying boost try alkaline water. Alkaline water is water with a high pH. pH is a scale 0-14 to show how acidic (low ph) or alkaline (high pH) something is. Water generally has a pH of 7. Your saliva should also have the same pH of 7, like water. There are pH strips you can buy to test your saliva but to test correctly it has to be at least 2 hours after eating.
Acidic substances have a pH of below 7.0, down to zero. The pH of vinegar is around pH 3, lemon juice around pH 2, and battery acid around pH 1.
Alkaline substances have a pH up to 14. Baking soda’s pH is between pH 8 and 9, and green leafy vegetables are alkaline, ranging pH 8-12.
Lymph fluid should be more than 7.0 pH so it is alkaline. The more acidic your body is the slower the lymph will flow through the body. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2603912/) and unfortunately our bodies tend to run acidic. That’s why we need to make sure we add more greens to our diet or start each morning with Healing Arts Apple Cider Vinegar Tonic with baking soda in it in order to become more alkaline despite the vinegar that is in the tonic.
The pH of blood is an indication of acidity or alkalinity in the body. It is an important indicator of good health. The normal pH is essential for the optimal activity of the body so it is balanced by different physiological processes. The normal blood pH of a healthy person ranges from 7.35 to 7.45. It is a very narrow range and the body does everything it can to try to keep it in that range. There are various factors that regulate blood pH. The pH of blood depends on CO2, and electrolyte balances. The two main organs that regulate blood pH are:
Lungs- They are in the gaseous exchange and remove CO2. The brain regulates breathing process so the brain and the lungs maintain blood pH by regulating the speed and intensity of breathing.
Kidney- They maintain pH balance through excretion. They remove the excess acid or bases present in the blood.
So, our body maintains pH balance through respiration, excretion and other metabolic activities. Any change in blood pH, i.e acidosis or alkalosis is due to impaired function of these organs.
Too high or too low pH is an indication of some organ dysfunction. Acidosis or alkalosis is mostly due to impaired functioning of lungs or kidneys. Any change in the blood pH may be due to various diseases such as diabetes, poisoning, infection, heart, lung or kidney diseases.
Hence, normal pH of blood is vital for normal body functioning. High or low pH is not a disease in itself but a sign something else in the body is off. With the right nutrition and lifestyle the body can reach a homeostasis pH level.
The average person is too acidic either due to their diet, lifestyle or stress or a combination of all three. So an easy way to balance your pH is to drink alkaline water. There are wonderful machines that make your water alkaline. Essentia is a bottled water that is alkaline but comes in plastic. The most cost effective way to drink alkaline water without buying a machine is Alkaline drops called Alkalife. Even if you have the machine this is the best way to travel and still have alkaline water.
Because electrolytes help balance pH levels you may want to add electrolyte packets to your daily regiment or a homeopathic remedy we use in the office called Rehydration. Even better is to get muscle tested to see which one your body likes best. We also use trace mineral drops and cell salts to help with balancing pH.
High blood pressure is because of too much pressure on the circulation system. If the high blood pressure is due to stress then it is literally too much pressure on yourself and on your circulation system. Stress plays a huge part in high blood pressure. Cortisol is the primary stress hormone that when it is released not only increases blood pressure but also increases your heart rate, blood sugar, enhances your brain’s use of glucose and increases the availability of cells to repair tissue. If stress continues for too long and the body can’t keep up with making the cortisol that the stressed body is asking for inflammation will occur and high blood pressure will continue. Studies have shown that Increases in long-term cortisol levels create a breakdown of lymphatic vessels which you don’t want because lymphatic vessels carry lymph fluid that if not pumping well can increase the body’s water retention which can lead to even more pressure on the circulatory system. So one way to help with high blood pressure is to do lymphatic drainage therapy by a licensed massage therapist at our wellness center. The amount of sessions recommended depends on how high the blood pressure is and whether you are already on medication or not.
Stress management is needed to help with and prevent high blood pressure. Even if you are already on medication and your blood pressure is managed I highly suggest better stress management to help lower your medication or get off medication all together. Managing stress is very often overlooked on a person’s healing journey. There are so many ways to lower stress that usually I just ask a patient to pick one and incorporate it in daily. A little bit every day is important to manage the body’s stress response. To do it before you have a stress response is important so that when stress does hit the response is not as intense. Stress management can include exercise, journaling, talking to a good friend or therapist, mindfulness, visualizations or meditation. Research has shown that meditation reduces inflammation and Mindfulness modulates cortisol response in stressful situations. Mindfulness skills are observing, describing, acting with awareness, and accepting without judgment.
Mindfulness changes gene expression which takes me to a topic written by Bruce Lipton called Biology of Belief where are thoughts do have an affect on what genes our cells produce. One of the things that works for me the moment I start feeling stress and to actually change the physiological reaction is take three deep breaths. In the moment, that is enough to stop the stress hormones from flying through your body and wreaking havoc. The stress response in your body will be weakens because breath turns on the parasympathetic nervous system which is the part of the nervous system that is in charge of rest and digest. When you turn on the parasympathetic nervous system you turn down the sympathetic nervous system which is the fight or flight mode. So with breathing you can get the body out of the fight or flight mode.
I have also developed a circulation drink that can help your high blood pressure. The circulation drink has cayenne in it. Adding cayenne to your diet will help promote blood circulation due to its active ingredient called capsaicin. Capsaicin has been found to balance blood flow as well as strengthen arteries and capillaries. You can try consuming it in various dishes or this medicinal drink:
Circulation Drink
One-1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper powder
Two tablespoons of organic apple cider vinegar
One tablespoon of blackstrap molasses in one cup of water or more.
Drinking this mixture twice a day will help your high blood pressure. Pregnant women, however, should avoid cayenne. ACV helps circulation by preventing vein stagnation and leg cramps due to its anti-inflammatory effect. Blackstrap molasses is used for it’s mineral content to lower blood pressure. The potassium in it lessens the effects of sodium – a huge contributor to hypertension, thus blackstrap molasses is beneficial for people suffering from high blood pressure. Also, the magnesium and calcium in it help reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. If you are on high blood pressure medication and your blood pressure still isn’t regulated then definitely try this circulation drink.
Teas that can help with high blood pressure are believe it or not black tea, and one of my favorites, butterfly pea tea. Cat’s claw, fennel, hibiscus, raspberry leaf and rooibos can also help lower high blood pressure.
If you are already on high blood pressure medication you can try these lifestyle changes to lower your high blood pressure naturally and also lower your medication. I have seen many people no longer need their high blood pressure medication after implementing lifestyle changes and are on a good nutrition program for 3 months or more.
Healing Art's Apple Cider Vinegar Tonic
Years ago I started suggesting the use of drinking apple cider vinegar to help with candida problems but when I found out that Hippocrates (the father of modern medicine) knew about apple cider vinegar’s antibiotic properties and recommended it to his patients for its healing properties centuries ago I started doing more research.
Apple cider vinegar has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties. Among the ailments it’s said to help with allergies, acne, high cholesterol, joint pain, weight loss, rheumatism, arthritis, gout, dandruff, chronic fatigue, candida, sore throat, gum infection, sinus infection, flu, acid reflux, leg cramps and ear infections. It’s also used to help dissolve kidney stones, lower high blood pressure, and it’s also been shown to help with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes by improving insulin sensitivity.
Even though vinegar is acidic, when we drink apple cider vinegar it has an alkaline effect in our bodies. The fact that apple cider vinegar causes our pH levels to become more alkaline could play a large part in it's healing abilities. It also reacts to some toxins in our bodies, converting them into less toxic substances. Our bodies need a slightly alkaline pH balance to be healthy. The typical Western diet creates an acidic pH in our bodies, and many health problems are attributed to this. Taking a tonic containing apple cider vinegar can help restore alkalinity, and therefore assist the body in getting rid of some of the health problems listed above.
You’ll get the greatest health benefits from apple cider vinegar that is made from organic apples, fermented using traditional methods, raw (unpasteurized) and unfiltered. Be sure to drink apple cider vinegar diluted or it eats away at tooth enamel and can cause burns to the sensitive tissues in your mouth and throat. There have also been reports of apple cider vinegar supplements (in capsule form) causing permanent tissue damage of the esophagus. So use apple cider vinegar in liquid form, diluted with water.
I have been experimenting with a few tinctures and so far I found this one to be the best. It has the diluted apple cider vinegar but also has the baking soda and lime juice which are alkaline and help raise the pH. pH is important in decreasing inflammation. Inflammation is the foundational problem to all the above listed symptoms. The only difference in symptoms is how the body decides to manifest the inflammation. Acne is inflammation of the skin, acid reflux is inflammation of the stomach, allergies is inflammation of the sinuses. arthritis is inflammation of the joints. etc. The spices are added to the tincture because cayenne will increase circulation which is beneficial in healing and turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties.
1Tbsp. organic apple cider vinegar
1/2 organic lime squeezed
1/4 tsp. baking soda
the baking soda will fizz, so wait for it to fizz out
a pinch of cayenne
a pinch of turmeric
a pinch of black pepper
1/2 cup warm water
Drink 20 minutes or more before breakfast every day.
Make sure the water is warm not hot, for hot water will change the properties of the vinegar and lime juice.
To read other benefits of apple cider vinegar, read my blog.