Has your medical professional told you … you are a candidate for hypertension? Have you been told to cut out salt?
Over the past few decades, the medical industry put sodium on the bad list and got people to restrict or even cut out the salt in their diet. As humans, we have a salt history. Our body is an amazing balance of over 50 trillion cells. In addition to our cells, we have over 100 trillion bacteria in our gut. This creates a balance of both biochemistry and bio-electricity. For thousands of years, sodium has been looked at as one of the fundamental components of health.
When we cut good salt but still eat processed foods, a problem arises. What happens next is our systems can go into emergency mode, holding on to every drop of water it can find. Thus swelling!
There’s a difference in salts
Most toxic salts in our diet are found in fast food restaurants, pastry shops, roasted nuts, chips, dips, salsa, cereals, crackers, bread, canned foods, and more. These salts may contain chlorine. The side-effects from these alone can retain fluid in the body and create a puffy look all over. Unfortunately, these can also cause unwanted weight gain, digestive issues and can leach magnesium from our body. Toxic salts disrupt our hormones, blood sugar levels, blood pressure, circadian rhythms, kidney function, and gut microbiome.
When circadian rhythms are disrupted, the end result is insomnia. Insomnia can mean there’s a disruption in Melatonin and Serotonin levels. The pineal gland secretes Melatonin and can play a significant role in hypertension. Things that can disrupt Melatonin and Serotonin levels are junk foods, stimulants, not enough sunlight exposure (Vitamin D) and an abundance of artificial light exposure from computers to televisions. If one has hypertension then insomnia is not too far behind.
What’s Needed
In the morning when our body needs quick mental energy, we need to reach for good proteins and fats. Most use caffeine to increase blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing. Caffeine is the drug of choice, an endocrine disruptor and stresses our adrenal glands. Caffeine increases insulin resistance and cravings for sugar. As adrenal fatigue progresses, blood glucose levels may fall too low. This reaction will cause the person to crave anything that will rapidly raise blood sugar levels, such as soda, candy bars or boxed orange
juice. Sugars disrupt blood pressure and hormone levels and increase our chances for poor gut microbiome and insomnia.
Cells in our skin with the help of sun exposure produce Vitamin D. There are benefits to sunlight before 10am. Sunlight can help prevent autoimmune disorders and improve serotonin and melatonin production. Vitamin D can decrease our risk for insomnia and can improve stress levels.
Ask what you can do when your doctor gives you a diagnosis of insulin resistance. Research published in the DMS Journal reported that nearly two- thirds of the test subjects who were insulin resistant also had high blood pressure.
Without sounding redundant, the most common underlying cause of hypertension is typically related to our body producing too much insulin. This can be a direct result of the obesity epidemic we face today. Making lifestyle changes is so much healthier than taking diet pills.
Live Healthy & Feel Better
One can’t be healthy and take 4 or more medications a day. Some medications can actually increase our risk for high blood pressure. These include Avastin, amphetamines, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, aspirin, and acetaminophen, decongestants, corticosteroids such as prednisone, oral contraceptives, and immunosuppressants.
Let’s take a closer look at aspirin. For people who use various forms of aspirin, they may be risking their health. “Trials do not show that Aspirin saves lives.” Researchers from the University of Western Sydney in Australia stated, “Aspirin causes the body to go into stress mode.”
Aspirin breaks down or converts into acetic acid inside the body and eats up red blood cells. Aspirin may increase the risk of a bleed stroke. Therefore, aspirin use pollutes the blood depleting oxygen flow to the brain.
The body may be low in magnesium, not aspirin
Magnesium deficiency contributes to high blood pressure along with oxidative stress. According to the International Journal of Hypertension, lifestyle changes with the inclusion of regular physical activity and healthy eating habits are what we need. Observational studies have shown that a diet rich in potassium, magnesium, and calcium is associated with lower incidence and mortality from CVD.
Eat for health!
Foods rich in Potassium include organic avocados and grapefruits, and magnesium-rich foods are found in organic greens and other nutrient rich foods.
Find ways to sneak greens into 3 meals a day. Drink organic beet juice and use cinnamon sticks in your herbal tea. Cold winter weather is a great time to enjoy organic lentil soup with garlic and turmeric.
Improve gut microbiome by using probiotics. You can add in a tablespoon of fermented sauerkraut to any salad.
Avoid the fast and easy canned soup trap. These can contain large amounts of toxic salts.
Drink more fresh, clean water daily. Water gives the body energy, not caffeinated drinks.
Add exercise to your day! Exercise improves hypertension, circulation, and insulin resistance.
Connie Rogers is a Certified Health Coach & Brain Health Coach.
She is the author of Memory Stealers on Amazon and video.
Connie believes health and wellness are established with proper nutrition, fitness, and mindfulness. Connie takes a natural and holistic, common sense approach to rebuilding wellbeing from the ground up.
