Q: I have heard that occasional fasting can help lower and control your
blood pressure. Is it true? How and why?
A: Because scientific studies with large groups of people comparing fasting with not fasting have not been done, I am unable to recommend fasting to treat high blood pressure. However, fasting as a cure for disease has been used since the beginning of time. Fasting allows parts of the body to rest while burning calories. Anti-aging groups believe the stress fasting causes on cells in the body promotes health. For discussion of possible health benefits of fasting, go to this article on NPR.org.
Further Reading:
Telling the Truth About High Blood Pressure
Loading ...
Loading ...
some of those calories burned while fasting, yet staying normally active, will come from fat tissues including suspended fat in the blood fostering potential reduction of arterial fatty deposits.. Way back ‘when’, when occasional fasting was a more involuntary situation, humans fasted like it or not, so fasting is manifest in our ancient history, as a specie….undoubtedly functioning as a ‘seasonal’ cleanse of sorts…cant be all that bad…and the various religions of the world, seem to think its good for the soul as well.
There is documentation of the benefits of fasting throughout history. As just one example of the chronicled benefits of fasting, see “How to Keep Slim, Healthy, and Young” by Dr. Paavo Airola. Fasting can be highly beneficial for promoting good health, as fasting cleanses the body of toxins which build up especially in the adipose tissues. References to fasting go back for centuries to such great minds as Socrates and many others. During fasting, the body utilizes its own stores for energy and has a unique ability to prioritize and eat up damaged and diseased tissues, a process called “autolysis”. Blood pressure can be reduced long term through fasting, and other maladies can be cured or improved if a person does not go back to poor health habits after the fast. Having experienced both water fasting and raw juice fasting, both for as long as 21 days, my experience is that blood pressure as well as pulse go down considerably, healing crises are experienced, and the completion of the fast leaves a person with a renewed and improved spiritual sense and physical existence. These phenomena are almost universally reported by those who have fasted properly. Fasting requires rest at the same time, and ending the fast must be done properly, also. Water fasting is quite rigorous because our modern environmnet is heavily laden with toxins, as are our bodies, and water fasting flushes them very quickly from the body……at times, perhaps, too quickly which can lead to difficult healing crises. A beginning faster may want to experience filtered, raw juice fasting as his or her first fasting experience. Lots of really good information is available on fasting just by Googling it!
Agree with above, but would recommend to fast under the supervision of a qualified health professional in a clinic. Extreme fasting is not a remedy to attempt at home. People with high blood pressure are handicapped as it is and extreme fasting may unleash undesired and unexpected side-effects. Also, as mentioned above, it is important that the faster does not go back to the previous unhealthy lifestyle. There is no such thing as a quick fix and healthy lifestyle choices must be maintained for the rest of your life.