Hypertension (blood pressure higher than 140/90) is one of the most common health disorders, affecting 1 in 4 adults worldwide. It is known as one of the silent killers along with diabetes, sedentarity, and smoking.
Given the importance of the disorder, I am always surprised that it does not get addressed properly.
Too often, friends around me and clients with high blood pressure are put on antihypertensive medication only after their doctor has tried to cut on their salt intake for a few weeks. antihypertensive medication is not a good idea (many side effects), but neither is living with high blood pressure.
1) Salt is not the cause of blood pressure – bad salt is
There is a wide misconception that blood pressure = lower your salt intake. Salt is critical for health, and many studies show that we need around 3x the “dietary guidelines” to optimally function.
However, common refined table salt is an issue. This type of salt is essentially stripped down from most of its minerals, and mostly contains sodium.
Intake of refined salt creates an imbalance between potassium and sodium in the cells, and leads to water retention and higher blood pressure.
Replacing refined salt with real salt is a good first step into improving your blood pressure and cardiovascular disease
2) UV light benefits hypertension, and most people are deficient
The graph below shows a variation in systolic blood pressure over time. Blood pressure shows a clear annual rhythm – it goes down during summer, and up during winter. Cardiovascular deaths follow a similar pattern.
When you understand the impact of light on our health – specifically UV light, this does not come to you as a surprise.
UV light on the skin produces Nitric Oxide, which dilates our blood vessels and lowers blood pressure. The relaxing effect of sun radiation on the skin (including the production of opioids and the regulation of the autonomic system) adds to this effect.
Unfortunately – while civilizations have always looked at the sun for its healing and life sustaining power, our modern society fears the sun while at the same time spending 93% of our lives indoor away from these healing effects.
Conclusion
We’ve just seen two powerful yet simple ways to address high pressure. There are many other tactics and protocols I use with my clients to get them off medication and improve their health, but everyone can get started on these two.
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