There Is A Cure For High Blood Pressure!

High Blood Pressure

High levels of sodium in the inner lining of the blood vessels is believed to be the main cause of hypertension (high blood pressure). Sodium (salt), and the water retained by it, brings about a swelling of the vascular lining, requiring "higher pressure " to pump blood through the system. This in turn, puts more pressure on the heart which has to work much harder. If left untreated, high blood pressure leads to a host of problems such as kidney damage, vision problems, arteriosclerosis, heart attack and stroke.

One of the problems with conventional treatments for high blood pressure is that they treat only the symptoms. None of the regularly prescribed drugs actually treats the cause - too much salt in the system. These drugs can cause fatigue, depression and impotency. Yes, diuretics will remove excess salt and water resulting in lower blood pressure, but these water pills also remove valuable minerals such as potassium. This process could lead to higher rates of heart disease, regardless of the blood pressure levels.

Water Fast

There is a unconventional treatment for high blood pressure that doesn’t involve drugs of any kind and it appears to get to the root cause. And it works! Patients with high blood pressure are first placed on a two day diet of raw fruits and vegetables and some steamed vegetables. Then, for the next 4-28 days, the patients take nothing but 40oz minimum of distilled water. This water fast has proved to be one of the most effective treatments for hypertension available today.

During a 12 year period between 1985-1997, Dr. Alan Goldhammer, of True North Health in California, took in 174 participants for in-care treatment of high blood pressure. In order to qualify to be a part of the study, the self referred patients had to have a systolic blood pressure of at least 140 and a diastolic reading of at least 90. The average blood pressure for the group was 159/89 they had an average weight of 210 lbs.

After individuals completed their treatment period, their stats were added to the group statistics. The final results were amazing! The average blood pressure for the group dropped to 127/77. When food was reintroduced to their diets the groups average blood pressure stabilized at 122/76. The group lost an average of 12 pounds. All the patients who were on prescriptions drugs for high blood pressure at the start of the study were now off them. And, curiously, the patients who started with the highest blood pressure readings were the ones who saw the greatest reductions. Researchers doing follow-up on 42 of the participants, found the blood pressure remained low for at least 27 weeks after the conclusion of the study.

http://www.healthpromoting.com/article/medically-supervised-water-only-fasting-treatment-hypertension 　

Cautions

If you are considering a water fast as a way to lower your blood pressure, it may not be necessary to enter a clinic like the participants of the above study. You will, though, want to always fast under the supervision of your doctor. Going for extended periods of time on just water can lower your electrolytes and deplete your body of vitamins and minerals. As an option to only taking water, you might try a fresh fruit juice fast, which can help maintain your vitamins and minerals.

Vegan Diet

Dr. Goldhammer advocates a vegan diet as a follow-up for people who have reduced their blood pressure with a water fast. It is very rare that those who adhere to a Vegans diet have high blood pressure. At the completion of Dr. Goldhammer’s study, those who continued with a vegan diet maintained normal blood pressure levels for as long as he followed them.

A vegan (pronounced VEE gun) is a vegetarian in the extreme. For ethical reasons, they do not eat meat of any kind. Furthermore, they don’t use any animal products, including eggs, dairy, or any foods containing byproducts of these ingredients. They also do not use any non-food animal byproducts, such as leather, silk or wool.

While the ethical standards of vegans is admirable, for our purposes it is not necessary to become vegan in the full sense of the word. Yes, it is beneficial for our blood pressure to remove the meat and dairy from our diets. As an example, cholesterol is produced in the liver and as such it is only found in animal products. Foods from plants can not contribute to high cholesterol!

Just the same, Dr. GoldHammer feels that a little fresh fish or fowl, up to three ounces, twice a week, would have no detrimental effects on our blood pressure once, of course, it has been normalized. Fish, such as sardines and salmon, are in fact heart healthy foods that, when eaten in moderation, can only benefit the heart and blood pressure.

What Vegans Do Eat

Once meat has been removed from the dinner plate, a whole new world of culinary delights appear. There are, quite literally, hundreds of different kinds of fruits, vegetables, grains, grain products, legumes (beans and peas), nuts and seeds - and a million different recipes to prepare them. As long as meat is considered the "main " dish, all these other options are relegated to the sides. With the vegan diet, these other foods now become the main dishes and the diet has a multitude of options. Furthermore, these vegetarian foods listed above are rich in fiber, antioxidant vitamins and minerals, and phyto-chemicals, which help protect against cancer and coronary disease.

Consider some of these vegetarian meals, many of them you are probably already familiar with: Bean burrito and tacos, baked potato topped with broccoli and onions, vegetable stir-fry over rice, pasta primavera, vegetarian lasagna, lentil soup and spaghetti with tomato sauce.

Many of your favorite meals can be modified to make them vegetarian. For instance, baked beans can be made without any meat and they are still delicious. Meatless chili can be made with beans, temph(bean curd), or textured vegetable protein. Veggie burgers can be used on the barbeque instead of meat. Veggie versions of sausage, bacon, hotdogs and luncheon meats are available in health food stores and most supermarkets. One of the more versatile foods for replacing meat is pasta sauce. You can add peppers, mushrooms, pimentos, olives, onions, garlic and a variety of other foods and herbs to add flavor. It can be used on everything from pasta to roasted vegetables. Other favorite foods have vegetarian alternatives as well. Milk can be replaced with soya-milk and butter can be replaced with soy or olive oil margarine.

The vegan diet is rich in almost all the nutrition that you need to maintain good health. One exception is B12. It is only found in animal products, so it may be necessary to use supplements, such as a good multivitamin. It is found in a lot of breakfast cereals, as well as meat and milk substitutes.

Personal Experiences with Fasting to Lower Blood Pressure

The following chart shows 9 days of blood pressure readings while I was on the water fast. I find it seemed to help by adding a little mint flavored liquid chlorophyll to the water for the taste and the many benefits that product offers.

Start...........................................................................162/118

After 1 day..................................................................154/106

After 2 days.................................................................149/108

After 3 days.................................................................153/105

After 4 days.................................................................154/98

After 5 days.................................................................142/96

After 6 days.................................................................140/93

After 7 days.................................................................142/92

After 8 days.................................................................122/91

Final day......................................................................122/84

The fasting itself wasn’t all that difficult. I did crave food at first, but after a couple of days it became much easier. I think sticking to a vegan diet over the long haul might prove a bit more challenging, but I am looking forward to new foods and tastes.