Q: I am 5′-8″ and 168 lbs. I had lost about 17 lbs since last October, when I started exercising more and eating healthier. I currently exercise 4 times a week (mostly cardio, some weights). Why has my blood pressure gone up instead of down. Last October I was 138/87. Now I am about 147/95. I feel my body is trimmer and more fit, but why is my blood pressure deteriorating? I have been on Crestor 10 mg for several years now and that has not changed.
A: Weight is not the only risk factor for high blood pressure. Genetics and age play a role. It is possible your blood pressure would be even worse if you had not made the life style changes. Make sure you are really are eating healthier. Just because a processed food is labeled heart healthy, natural, or organic doesn’t mean it is good for you. For tips on healthy eating and on the DASH diet which has been proven to lower blood pressure, check out these online resources:
USDA – Healthy Eating on a Budget
Mayo Clinic -DASH diet: Healthy eating to lower your blood pressure
Mayo Clinic – DASH Diet Recipes
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Does your healthier eating include eating more fish? If you are eating more than 6 oz a week of albacore tuna,or other large ocean fish, you could be accumulating toxic levels of mercury in your body. Recent studies have linked high levels of methylmercury to cardiovascular problems.
I had the same problem described here so I conducted a 10 month experiment. I was already exercising and that wasn’t the whole answer. I then started on a DASH diet and my BP went down a few points but nothing dramatic. Then I started using RESPERATE and saw no change whatsoever and I was still on 20mg Lisinopril and 5mg Amlodipine. Now the fun started. I dropped all meat, dairy and oil. In a few weeks, down to 10mg of Lisinopril. A few months later the was Lisinopril discontinued. I was taking a daily Fish oil supplement, CoQ10 and Magnesium and my BP was perfect. The meat, dairy and oil injure the arteries and this limits nitric oxide productions which dilates the blood vessels.
Agree with Jason. I had a similar experience. I started taking magnesium but if I take it daily it causes diarrhea. I follow the McDougall ‘diet’, but do have unfortunate ‘vices’, coffee and chocolate! I don’t miss meat at all and I felt a lot better after I stopped drinking cow’s milk. For those women approaching menopause going vegan may make the whole experience much easier too! I did not suffer anywhere near the menopause symptoms my friends suffered from and attribute this to a fat-free, dairy and meat-free diet. It is worth a try, believe me!
Yep, fish oil – 2-3 caps day – very good quality – 200 mg coQ10 daily and magnesiam 450 mg daily/
Thanks Jason, have tried all the things you have , plus no salt, meditation , beetroot juice etc and the resperate did nowt !
Will try your idea as I cant lose anymore weight or spend any more time slowing my breathing, it actually got down to three a minute, comfortably but no help at all.
Oli
I have found that significantly increasing the potassium (by about 2 grams per day) in my diet lowered my blood pressure from around 140/90 to around 115/75. I found increasing potassium to be much more effective than lowering sodium in lowering blood pressure. There are many foods that are high in potassium, but it can be hard to raise your potassium intake because when you add a high potassium food you often substitute it for another food that also had some potassium. I increased my potassium intake by drinking coconut water (about 680mg in 11 oz.) I substituted coconut water for diet sodas or water that I drank with meals. My husband and brother tried the same thing with the same type of results. Talk to your doctor before increasing your potassium intake if you are using a potassium sparing blood pressure medication. Magnesium supplements are something else that can reduce you blood pressure by making arteries more supple.
Adding the exercise while taking a statin might be a cause. Recent studies found that statins and exercise do NOT mix well. Statins deplete CoQ10 and tend to prevent muscle repairs. And more is worse.
Niacin and sterol supplements also lower LDL. But they lower death rates more than statins and are OK with exercise.
If, instead of the statin, you also eat a DASH II diet or a vegetable heavy Mediterranean diet and take 200 mg a day of the ubiquinol form of CoQ10 and take niacin and sterol supplements, you might reverse the gain you got. (Niacin taken after meals produces less flush. And taking 300 mg after two meals a day produces far less flush than taking more and is enough to lower LDL significantly.)
Lastly, if you have added ANY sweet treats or not cut them out mostly, cutting out 95% of those will lower your heart dangerous triglycerides and help your fat loss efforts. And, it likely will lower your blood pressure some also.
Yes, I ‘fear’ you are very right with the sugar! Sugar in the form of chocolate is my down-fall, although my triglyceride level, despite generous chocolate consumption, is a low 0.8. But I would not be surprised that my BP could be lower if I only managed to cut out that delicious chocolate. Fortunately for me I don’t gain weight despite all the chocolate that I eat.
There is not much detail regarding the specifics of the diet other than eating “healthier”. Eating truly healthy means plant based and eliminating atherosclerotic building blocks such as meat, dairy and oils. This is probably why the blood pressure did not decrease. Exercise will not help either unless the diet component is intact. Diet trumps exercise without a doubt. I exercised for years and my BP never dropped until I started a plant based diet
I am your height, male. In my opinion you are
about 20 lbs. overweight. Crestor reduces
cholesterol, as far as I know, nothing else.
JUST GET ON L-ARGININE PLUS LOOK IT UP ON THE INTERNET. I WAS 210 X 110 I TAKE ONE SCOOP ADAY PLUS A STRICK DIET. NO SUGAR NO SALT. IM 111 X 68 NO MEDS AT ALL I DO NOT EXERCISE AN I DO RESPERATE 3X A WEEK. ITS ALSO WORKED FOR 10 OF MY FRIENS. GREAT PROSUCT. HAS 50000 MG OF L ARGININE AN 1000 MG OF CITRULINE TOOK 3 MONTHS TO WORK BEEN ON IT FOR 10 MONTHS