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Regulating
Blood Pressure Naturally With Vitamins
Author: Darrell Miller
High
blood pressure, which is also called hypertension, affects about
one in three adults. Although there are many causes of hypertension,
there are not necessarily any symptoms, with 30% of people having
high blood pressure not knowing it. Therefore, just because you
don't have symptoms doesn't mean you don't have high blood pressure,
which is why it is called "the silent killer." High
blood pressure is very dangerous, being the number one cause of
stroke, as well as the cause for heart attack and heart failure.
Changing blood pressure numbers depends a great deal on the choices
we make every day, such has how much we exercise, the foods we
ear, and our overall lifestyle. However, for those times when
extra help is needed, there is a new scientifically-studied supplement
that will help us lower our blood pressure and give us better
overall health.
Blood
pressure is divided into two parts, systolic and diastolic. Systolic
is the pressure of the heart beating; while diastolic is the pressure
of the heart vessels when they are filling. Although a persons'
blood pressure can vary naturally throughout the day, if numbers
are consistently high after many visits to the doctor, it is possible
that you have pre-hypertension or high blood pressure. Healthy
blood pressure numbers are about 115/75 mm/Hg. Arteries that are
kept young through healthy diet and exercise are usually more
elastic and unclogged compared to those that have plaque buildup
from diets high in saturated fat and sedentary lifestyles. These
unclogged arteries are able to transport blood through them easily
and without much effort. However, clogged arteries result in faster
blood flow, all of the time, which can cause damages to heart
tissue, arteries, kidney, and other major organs in the long run.
High
blood pressure can be caused by a variety of lifestyle factors
being: body type, sedentary lifestyle. Sodium intake, low potassium
intake, heavy alcohol intake, unhealthy eating, and smoking. Although
weight isn't always a reliable indicator of whether or not you'll
have high blood pressure, the type of weight is. Lean body mass
(muscle) doesn't increase blood pressure levels, but fat does,
especially when it is around your mid-section. Many of our jobs
require us to sit all day at work and then we continue to sit
more when we get home. With time, this leads to weight gain, which
makes your heart work harder to pump blood through the body. Inactivity
usually leads to higher heart rates. Even though salt intake itself
isn't necessarily bad, it leads to more water retention, which
increases blood pressure. A moderate intake of salt, especially
sea salt or Celtic salt, for healthy individuals is fine. Most
Americans do not get enough potassium. It helps to regulate the
amount of sodium in our cells and expels the rest to our kidneys.
Low levels of potassium can lead to a build up of sodium in the
body. Because having three or more alcoholic drinks a day doubles
and individuals' chance of developing high blood pressure, it
is important to limit the amount of alcohol intake. Drinking a
large amount will eventually put a lot of stress on the heart,
liver, pancreas, and brain. Eating a lot of processed and fatty
foods can lead to high blood pressure as well. By adapting a diet
rich in fruits and vegetables as well as whole grain products,
fish, nuts, magnesium, and potassium, blood pressure can be brought
back down. Smoking damages the heart and arteries, while the nicotine
constricts blood vessels, increases heart rate, and raises blood
pressure. The carbon monoxide in smoke replaces oxygen in the
blood, which makes the heart work even harder to make up for the
difference. It is important if you have high blood pressure that
you do not smoke.
Along
with the above diet and lifestyle changes, there are other natural
ways to lower blood pressure. These supplements include: fish
oil, CoQ10, and garlic. Although these are very effective, they
usually lower systolic pressure much more than diastolic pressure.
There is a blend of natural ingredients that lower systolic and
diastolic blood pressure separately and work even better combined,
dandelion leaf extract, lycopene, stevia extract, olive leaf extract,
and hawthorn extract. Dandelion leaf extract provides a healthy
supply of vitamins, including vitamins A, B, C, D, iron, silicon,
magnesium, zinc, potassium, and manganese. This extract produces
a diuretic effect in the body relieving hypertension in the body
by drawing excess water and sodium from the body and releasing
it through the kidneys as urine, which allows the blood vessels
to relax and in turn lowers blood pressure. Lycopene, which is
mostly found in tomatoes and processed tomato products, has great
antioxidant abilities as well as free-radical scavenging properties.
It also lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol, lowers homocysteine levels,
and reduces blood platelet stickiness which leads to clogged arteries.
Higher intakes of lycopene mean less thickening of arteries and
a reduced risk of heart attack. Stevia extract, which is often
used as a sweetener, relaxes arteries and helps to prevent the
buildup of calcium on artery walls, which keeps them healthy and
reduces blood pressure. Many scientific studies have proven that
stevia controls blood sugar levels as well as has great potential
in treating type 2 diabetes along with hypertension. Olive leaf
extract relaxes blood vessels and prevents buildup of plaque in
the arteries, which in turn lowers blood pressure. It also acts
as an antioxidant. Hawthorn extract has been used to support heart
health for many centuries. It improves blood pressure levels by
increasing blood vessel elasticity, as well as improves coronary
artery blood flow and contractions of the heart muscle. This supplement
also has antioxidant properties, as well as the anti-anxiety abilities
and blood sugar regulation properties.
After
taking a combination of these herbs, you should notice both systolic
and diastolic numbers lowering within two weeks. When you are
taking herbs that support your blood pressure, it is important
to keep it monitored so that you have an adequate reading of your
numbers. To do so, you can purchase a home blood pressure monitoring
device for thirty to two-hundred dollars. However, buying one
in the thirty to fifty dollar range is sufficient and will be
money well-spent. Although there are no side effects noted in
the study, you may notice an increase in the number of trips you
take to the bathroom do to the diuretic effect of the dandelion
leaf extract. The vitamins mentioned above can be found at your
friendly internet health food store.
| About
the Author: Visit VitaNet Health Foods at http://vitanetonline.com/
VitaNet sells high quality vitamins and herbs at discount
prices and name brands like Source Naturals and Natures Plus.
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