High blood pressure – forerunner of many other illnesses?

Did you know that if you don’t drink enough water it can affect your blood pressure in the long term and this can be the forerunner of many other illnesses? Illness is a repercussion of an imbalance in the acid/alkaline balance in the body. Illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis etc could have been prevented if this balance would have been maintained many years earlier in your life.

If you already have high blood pressure it’s too late to worry about the water intake for this reason but it is still good to drink a lot of water – up to 2 litres daily to keep your body flushing out toxins. The connection between high blood pressure and the water intake is via the kidneys and their input and output. Remember the whole body is connected and the kidneys are one of the main filtering systems of the body. If this is neglected when we are young after a number of years it catches up with us. Kidney chi (energy) has an effect on the whole body but there are also many other triggers for high blood pressure which build up over the years. These vary from eating too much salt to not getting enough exercise. It is therefore important to choose low-salt foods and exercise as a preventative for such illnesses as heart failure, osteoporosis, excess fluid in the body, asthma, kidney stones, stomach cancers and PMT, just to mention a few.

The recommendation is less than 2400mg (a teaspoon) of salt daily but to play it safe I would cut out salt completely as there is enough salt in many of our pre-packaged foods. It is important to read labels and to choose foods that have low salt content which is why fresh food such as fruit and vegetables are preferable to anything packaged.

To minimise salt use fresh, not canned vegetables, order dishes in restaurants that are low salt, don’t add salt to food but you can use spices and herbs, cut out takeaways and noodle packets which are full of salt, stop drinking fizzy drinks which are full of salt, buy low salt breads and stay away from processed meats such as ham and sausages.

Instead, to add flavour, you can use lemon or lime juices with fresh and dried herbs, unsalted cashews or almonds in stir fries or salads, lemon or herbs in olive oil, cumin, jalapenos and chilli powder to make food hot, mustard seeds and turmeric for Indian food, and in Asian cooking aniseed, basil, mint or coriander.

There are also many natural ways to lower blood pressure once you have it but if your doctor puts you on medication make sure you take it as well as the natural supplements. Never stop taking prescribed medication without contacting your medical practitioner and make sure you read the pamphlets in the tablet box to find out exactly what you are taking and the side effects. Remember all drugs do have side effects. Also never take a supplement for high blood pressure unless you have been assessed by a registered, natural practitioner who knows your body and medical history fully.

A natural ways to lower blood pressure are through meditation. Add to this some yoga, Pilates or tai chi, healthy food, enough sleep, more organisation and less rushing around, some Bach remedies especially white chestnut which will help with all those worries running around in your head, some lecithin if your cholesterol is high and time out for rest and relaxation and your blood pressure will begin to come down.