I just ordered Dr. Crandall's book, FIX IT. I know, it sounds like I'm studying to be a car mechanic. No, I want to feel healthier, more energetic, lose 10 pounds and avoid major health issues. This looks like a great place to start. Wish me luck and let me know what you think! - Robin
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Dr.
Crandall's 8 Steps To Lowering Blood Pressure
1. Put down the salt shaker & learn to
season your food with herbs & spices.
Try curry, fennel, and garlic, for instance. Eat fresh
food —real food— as often as possible, not prepackaged food that can sit
on a shelf for months or even years and still be “edible.” Salt intake
can be balanced, in part, by making sure you have enough
magnesium, potassium, and calcium in your diet. These reduce the
ill effects of salt. Magnesium dilates, or widens, blood vessels and
is used on pregnant women who have high blood pressure. The dosages
of these substances, however, are hard to calibrate. Magnesium
can be taken until it causes diarrhea, then lower the dose. Calcium
and magnesium are best when taken together. Be careful,
though, because too much potassium — that is, excessive amounts —
can be lethal to your kidneys. All of these substances should be taken
in consultation with your doctor.
2. If you want to avoid taking drugs
for hypertension or stop taking them, the most significant thing
you can do is get down to your ideal body weight.
A
loss of 10 pounds usually equates to the normal dosage of one
medication. Many who suffer from hypertension see this condition
completely vanish when they reach their ideal body weight, what you
weighed, or close to it, in high school or college. Exercise is
crucial. Your cardiovascular system is alive
and constantly changing. Exercise builds up the heart in the right way
and helps restore elasticity to the arteries. The sequence of
putting the cardiovascular system under exercise stress and then
taking that stress away brings down blood pressure to what it would be
if the person merely rested.
3. Stress reduction is often the key to eliminating
hypertension.
Exercise is one means of stress reduction.
Talking over life’s challenges with one’s family and friends is
tremendously helpful and will greatly lower ones stress levels.
4. Stay away from stimulants
like coffee, tea, sodas, alcohol, and cigarettes.
You simply cannot smoke. Your doctor can advise
you as to whether your hypertension warrants cutting out all
stimulants, or if you can still enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning.
Many people sip diet sodas throughout the day. These have caffeine and
can raise blood pressure significantly.
5. Make sure you are getting
enough sleep, at least 8 to 10 hours daily.
Sleep deprivation is
a leading cause of hypertension because it puts the body under stress. If your loved ones complain about snoring or especially
snorting and snuffling during the night, you may be suffering from
sleep apnea — a rapid cycle of waking up many times at night,
periods during which the heart may stop. Sleep apnea puts the body
under tremendous stress and causes secondary hypertension.
6. Live below your means don’t be constantly
stressed out about finances.
You
will find that living below your means translates into lower stress.
7.
Don’t forget to have fun!
Enjoying
social times, particularly with people you know well, helps you
cope with stress. Keeping a quiet time each day is also very
important, whether that means time alone or, much better, in prayer.
8.
Diagnosed
with hypertension? MD prescribes medication? Take it!
Take your medication at least until you can
change your diet and exercise patterns to achieve an ideal body
weight. That will obviate the need, in many cases, for
continuing such medication. Many people feel energetic when their
blood pressure is high and listless or fatigued when it returns
to normal. I try to prescribe medication so that the person’s blood
pressure returns to normal not all at once but over a short span of
time. This allows the person to adjust to what a normal blood
pressure feels like. Most people whose hypertension is
treated adequately and with a gentle hand feel much better as a
result. Employ every weapon available to win the blood pressure
battle!
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In his new
book FIX IT! Dr. Crandall’s 90-Day Program to Stop and Reverse Heart Disease,
you’ll find this top doc’s groundbreaking three-pronged approach to preventing
and reversing heart disease — an approach honed by his study of foreign
cultures free of heart disease and decades of experience helping patients
achieve a healthier heart at any age.
Dr. Crandall
is living proof of his program’s success. At the age of 48, and with no major
risk factors, he found himself in the ER with a “widow-maker” blockage of his
main coronary artery. After emergency heart surgery, he recovered from heart
disease using the same course of treatment he recommends to his thousands of
patients — and details for your benefit in FIX IT!
His unique
perspective as both doctor and patient helps him empathize with the
difficulties in making a transition from years of bad habits to a heart-healthy
way of life. Plus, Dr. Crandall believes in using every weapon in his medical
arsenal to help his patients recover — conventional medicine, emerging
treatments, lifestyle changes, even alternative therapies.
Order Dr. Crandall’s book through the
link below:
