In conversations with several patients recently it has come to my attention that most people do not really understand the nature of hypertension (high blood pressure). We have all heard that blood pressure is the “Silent Killer” and just sort of let our automatic brain file that as “high blood pressure = bad, avoid high blood pressure” without ever engaging our higher brain to ask why is our blood pressure high. If you do happen to ask what is up, the stock answer is you could stroke out or burst a blood vessel. While that could be a possible end point scenario and needs to be protected against, it misses the real why question – why does the blood pressure get high in the first place?
High blood pressure is a symptom that something else is going wrong in the body. The body is too intelligent to create a condition without good cause. Unfortunately in today’s rush-rush medicine no one looks for causes anymore. All we get is a pill and a push out the door. Just taking a pill for high blood pressure is like taking the battery out of the screaming fire alarm and assuming there is now no longer a problem. Modern medicine is filled with the “no alarm = no problem” mindset. Most medicines are drugs that suppress normal functions of the body… they take the batteries out of our internal fire alarms.
High blood pressure is your body trying to compensate for some other problem in your body. Yes, the compensation could compromise other systems – compromises usually do. But the body has priorities based on millions of years of trial and error to decide what is most important for survival in the now moment. The possibility of a stroke down the road is not as important as getting blood flow to tissues that need it right now. That is the basic reason we have blood pressure. It is just the product of how hard the heart has to work to get blood to all the tissues that need it. If the pressure goes up, it usually means the body is having trouble getting blood to all the places that need it.
95% of hypertension is a type called essential hypertension, which we are told essentially means they do not know what causes it. While your practicing MD may not know the cause (since no drug rep has told them the cause as part of the sales pitch as to why all his patients need their new blood pressure drug), zillions of dollars in research has been finding the causes for many years. The problem is, the answers don’t fit the “one problem – one solution” framework drug companies like to work within. At my latest count at least 23 different causes acting either together or alone produce high blood pressure. Let’s make a list – how many do you have?
1. High Electrolyte levels in the blood increasing oxidative damage to the blood vessels.
2. Excess insulin due to insulin resistance causing increased sodium levels and increased vascular resistance.
3. Low nitric oxide levels causing blood vessel constriction.
4. Dehydration causing increased angiotensin ll hormone levels.
5. Low Vitamin C and bioflavinoid levels causing blood vessel dysfunction.
6. Sympathetic Nervous System stress causing blood vessel constriction.
7. High Adrenaline levels causing blood vessel constriction and damage.
8. High Oxidative stress causing atherosclerosis and glutathione depletion.
9. Low digestive enzymes producing low Magnesium, Potassium, and Calcium levels (necessary for controlling blood pressure).
10. Low Hydrochloric acid levels in the stomach producing low Magnesium, Potassium, and Calcium levels (necessary for controlling blood pressure).
11. Low Magnesium and Potassium causing excess sympathetic nervous discharge and vasoconstriction.
12. Malabsorption causing inflammatory cytokines that damage blood vessel walls.
13. Leaky gut causing absorption of large proteins and lectins that cause the blood to clump together producing thick blood sludge (harder for the heart to push through the vessels).
14. Low exercise producing tight closed blood vessels and poor blood flow to peripheral tissues.
15. Poor diet with just not enough magnesium, potassium, and calcium and too many calories.
16. Toxic heavy metals (like cadmium, aluminum, lead, and mercury) that damage blood vessel walls and brain control centers.
17. Brain inflammation and degeneration unbalancing the autonomic control messages to the blood vessels and heart.
18. Xanthene oxidase formed when milk is homogenized that burns artery walls producing atherosclerosis.
19. Hormone imbalances due to liver toxicity preventing the liver from breaking down the excess hormones.
20. Gluten sensitivity creates autoimmune inflammation that drives up blood pressure.
Choose now to reverse the physical degeneration of your blood vessels that produces blood pressure problems. Embrace a new way of living that aligns with the natural functioning of your body and respects its needs for health. Our modern lifestyle is killing us – time for a better choice.