Food Instead Of Medication! - High Blood Pressu...

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Food Instead Of Medication!

MaminaElsie profile image
13 Replies

I am new and this is my first Post. I am a 71yrs old lady, very active volunteering, being a Nana and an active Community Person.

I eat or drink beetroot daily and have resisted taking medications as beetroot is recognised as being good for lowering HIGH BP. However, in the last few weeks I have had to take medication plus beetroot. Still my BP is high. Hummmmmm what next. I am about to have the 24hrs BP monitoring. If BP is high, I assume it will mean being given a second drug. I wish I could sort this matter out with my healthy eating and active lifestyle.

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MaminaElsie profile image
MaminaElsie
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13 Replies

Hi, When I started on my pills they didn't really reduce my BP so they put me on another one. It worked for a while, but as I have recently lost weight and have reduced the amount of refined sugar I eat my blood pressure dropped really low so my tablets have had to be adjusted again.

I was being monitored for high blood pressure since I was 30 and managed to stay off tablets for 16 years. I am going through a stressful time right now and know that's led me to having to go on the tablets. As issues with high blood pressure and strokes run in my family I know that the best I can probably hope for is it get my medication reduced to the minimum dose.

Great to heart you are still active and looking after yourself. :-D

Take care.

ThyroidThora profile image
ThyroidThora

Hiya,

Grapefruit is good for reducing blood pressure and quite quickly but, I'm no sure if you can eat it when you're on medication.

Polaris profile image
Polaris

Celery, garlic, hawthorn, olive leaf, and Q10 is good for BP, as well as magnesium (most BP medication depletes magnesium). I have managed to vastly reduce BP and medication on this

MaminaElsie profile image
MaminaElsie

Bless you Polaris. Yes I now take more Magnisium than I used to take, plus garlic etc. I will tak medication if I must but I am on a mission to use food, as that is healthier, more fun to eat than swallow tablets, so I am wishing myself good luck in my mission.

ntyler37 profile image
ntyler37

I'm on my way now to buy some beetroot. Strange that I've had high blood pressure for so long and a craving for beetroot. Until I read your post I had no idea that beetroot could help. My body fights the blood pressure meds and I have a bad reaction to them. i'm also going to try reflexology, it worked for a digestive disorder I'd had for a year so worth trying. I'm 70yrs now and taking responsibility for my health is a priority. Thanks for this post pointing me towards the benefits of beetroot. All natural remedies are worth trying.

Polaris profile image
Polaris in reply tontyler37

Like you, I had bad reactions to BP medication, resulting in anxiety and panic attacks on Amiodipine. I was recommended Losartan (apparently pharmacists report less side effects with patients on this than any other BP medication) but, when I asked GP for this, I was told to take both !

I'm now down to half tablet of Losartan and, with extra magnesium citrate, Biona Garlic, Olive Leaf, Hawthorn, as well as Q10 and these BP reducing foods, feel back to my normal self. I carefully monitor my own BP as it seems to soar as soon as I step into the surgery......

777kaby profile image
777kaby in reply tontyler37

exercise, maintaining a healthy diet, magnesium and most importantly CoQ10 (ubiquinone) all help BP. q10facts.com/high-blood-pre...

exDancer profile image
exDancer

Oh so do I! I am 77, retired, volunteer, active (as far as arthritis will allow) and have high BP. I had the 24hr moniter and the results showed that on average I was 'within normal boundaries' - so the medics concluded I had white coat syndrome.

I try to eat healthily but my diet is a little restricted by coeliac disease, and now further complicated by conflicting advice re butter and fats. I am 5ft tall and weigh 8.5 stone so am at the top end of normal weight.

Since having this hypertension problem and taking many different medications, I have developed an irritating cough - irritating enough for my husband to move into the spare room because I keep him awake all night. I've got to the point that as long as I get rid of this cough I don't care what by BP is - all I want is some rest.

The temptation to discontinue all the meds and rely on a healthy diet and lifestyle is huge.

But now - what IS a healthy diet? We'd assumed so called 'bad' fats were the culprit - now we're told they're fine - along with full fat milk, cheese etc - the big bad wolf seems to be sugar. So if you google a healthy diet, you get advice on how to cut fats.

MaminaElsie profile image
MaminaElsie in reply toexDancer

Gosh you left me laughing as I continued reading your post. I am in my 70s also but sadly a widow. Even though I eat healthily and I am eating all that is supposedly good for lowering high BP, it is especially higher later in the day. I am very active, live a happy, relaxed life, try not to stress myself and just get on with matters, but the BP remains high. Still I am being monitored and keeping my chin up. Lots of veggies, garlic, beetroot, magnesium & potassium rich foods, lots of water, I don't smoke, a glass of wine socially and fingers tightly crossed!!!😆

exDancer profile image
exDancer

How do you make beetroot juice? Do I need a juicer? I really love beetroot, and often have to stop myself just eating it on its own if I have some to hand - in fact (I'm told) when I was about 4 I ate so much I was wee-ing red urine and my parents rushed me off to the docs because I'd leaked into my knickers and they thought I was starting puberty! Anyway I'd really like to know how to make the juice.

Seriously, I can't find a suitable lifestyle diet to suit, most start with 'half your plate should be wholegrain cereals' which is a non-starter for me with the coeliac disease, then go on to ban fats and cheeses, and the advice on eggs is sooo conflicting. Red meat is bad - but chickens give you salmonella ....... fish have high mercury levels ...... milk is restricted to half a pint of skimmed (yuk) , and organic is a waste of time and money ....... so a veggie diet looks like the way to go. I really can't make up my mind.

Are you taking any meds at all?

MaminaElsie profile image
MaminaElsie

I eat beetroot on its own, I drink the juice, I use it in smoothies, in salads etc. I love beetroot😄. I blend it with Apple, carrot, cucumber, kale, spinach or whatever I have handy. I juice it also with whatever is handy but best of all I just eat it. After sometime your body adjusts and your wee is no longer red/pink. I buy the vacuum packed ones or the fresh ones. The fresh ones I juice with other veggies and/or fruits and the vacuum ones I use in smoothies. I have both the juicer and the blender depending on what I choose to do. The vacuum ones are already cooked. You can only cook the fresh ones before using them. It's up to you. Good luck.👍

Zazzel profile image
Zazzel in reply toMaminaElsie

It's bee a year. Any further news on your BP? Were you able to stay of meds?

Mine has just started rising and because I have Kidney disease I suspect I will be put on meds. I also eat really healthy, excersice, yoga, just started meditating, no diabetes and on the petite side.

I take hibiscus tea on holistic doctor recommendation, but it still is rising. It goes up about 10-20 point (not sure of the term) when I'm sick or in pain.

I am already highly anxious, so the fact that the meds can make you anxious, well,quite frankly, makes me more anxious. Lol! Ahhhh! If it were only easier.

exDancer profile image
exDancer

Thank you. As I said, I don't have a juicer and I'm afraid the liquidised smoothie type drinks make me gag (my DIL is especially fond of them) - so I'll just have to eat the stuff. I'm not at all bothered about the colour of my wee - thats between myself and the loo.

Anyway, thank you for your advice.

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