Q: I’m a male who eats a healthy diet, workouts regularly, lost over 50 lbs since being diagnosed with high bp and am not stressed. No one in my family is in shape or eats right, yet they have good bp. Why can’t I come off of my meds? (lisinopril hctz 20/12.5)
A: You did not mention your current blood pressure. If you are in excellent control since
your 50 pound weight loss, it is possible you may be able to get off your medicine. You
should discuss this with your doctor. It sounds like your family members are lucky or
perhaps just younger. Being overweight and out of shape takes a toll on the body. It is
just a matter of time. To learn more about the consequences of being overweight go to this page on the Obesity in America website.
(3 votes, average: 3.33 out of 5)
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I struggled with this same issue. Ate very healthy compared to everyone around me. It was not until i gave up animal products completely that my bp went down to NORMAL without meds. All animal products have cholesterol. They deposit the cholesterol in the veins and make the heart have to pump harder. Genetics plays only a small percentage in this. Hippocrates said “Let food be thy medicine.”
I am glad you lowered your blood pressure through diet, but I’m not convinced its for the reasons you think. Cholesterol is in and of itself not a bad thing. Every cell in your body needs it and if it your blood cholesterol gets too low you get very sick. Cholesterol from food constitutes only about 20%of your blood cholesterol, the other80% of which is manufactured by your liver. Now there is definitely a dietary component that affects the cholesterol your body makes. If you cut down on foods that cause inflammation in the body such as sugar and quickly metabolized carbs such as potatoes and processed flours etc, your liver wont need to make as much cholesterol. The fact that your body has less inflammation protects you from all sorts of diseases such as heart disease and yes, hardening of the arteries, not to mention cancer.. Some doctors and scientists now believe statin drugs work by lowering inflammation in the body as opposed to simpy lowering cholesterol. Certainly inflammation is the enemy, not cholesterol. One of the many functions of cholesterol is too combat damage from inflammation. It is a much more complex issue that “good” and “bad” cholesterol, as your so called bad cholesterol, or LDL can be either dense or light. If it is light, it goes back to the liver for recycling. If it is dense or sticky, it may adhere to the arteries which is why high cholesterol can be dangerous. You can find out whether yours is dense or “fluffy” by getting the vap cholesterol test. It offers a lot of other interesting info that reflects on your overall health. Getting back to you post: it is incorrect to think that having high blood cholesterol makes the heart work harder. If in fact there is inflammation in the body, there is more liklihood of getting arteriosclerosis which does increase blood pressure. The way to avoid it is not so much eliminating animal products ( there are many
people on the so called paleo diet who eat lean meat and veggies and have lowered thir cholesterol,) but by lowering intake of acid forming foods such as sugar, bad carbs, alcohol, coffee etc. taking fish oil is another important factor as well as plenty of rest and exercise.
is it ok to eat the high glycemic load carbs (white potatoes, rice, sugar, etc.) after high intensity weight training? at all other times, i opt for low glycemic carbs or green veggies.
Resperate machine is the way to go
Brian thanks for your thorough comment. I had the same reaction that the drop in blood pressure was probably not for the reason Janet thinks. Another effect of eliminating meat is probably a much higher ratio of potassium to sodium in Janet’s diet since vegetables are great sources of potassium and a low source of sodium. More and more research is pointing to the potassium/sodium ratio in our diets as having a major impact on blood pressure with higher ratios producing lower blood pressure. I reduced my blood pressure from just high (140/90) back to normal (120/75) by consciously increasing the amount of food I eat that is high in potassium. I more than doubled my average potassium intake, which required significantly increasing my vegetable and fruit intake, drastically reducing grains, but still eating a serving or two of meat each day.