When it comes to blood pressure and understanding what the optimal level should be, it’s important to make the distinction between what normal/healthy level blood pressure is and what your doctor says it should be. Before I go into details about a healthy blood pressure range, the top number of a blood pressure reading is known as the systolic number and the bottom number is the diastolic number. The top value (systolic) of the blood pressure reading indicates the pressure of the blood in the arterial walls while the heart is beating. The bottom value (diastolic) measures the pressure against artery walls while the heart is at rest between heart beats.
Currently, the healthy blood pressure range promoted by the American Heart Association is 120/80. In the past the recommended range was 140/90. Not to sound conspiratorial, but wouldn’t making the “recommended” range much lower sell more hypertensive medications? Yes it would, but I digress.
High blood pressure is one of the health markers associated with the diagnosis of something called metabolic syndrome. The graphic below lists off the entirety of afflictions for those diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.
So what causes hypertension in the first place? Being obese is definitely associated with an increased risk of hypertension as well as hyperinsulinemia (high insulin) and dysglycemia (irregular blood sugar levels). If the levels of insulin influence blood pressure, then we can deduce the cause of unstable blood glucose and high insulin is caused by a dietary ingestion of something that causes blood glucose to spike (and also insulin). Carbohydrates have the most dramatic impact on raising blood sugar and the pancreas to secrete insulin to lower blood glucose as a countermeasure to protect the body.
The best method to lower blood pressure is to reduce carbohydrates and to balance sodium and potassium levels. It isn’t high salt that necessarily causes high blood pressure but the sodium to potassium ratio isn’t what it should be. The recommended daily allowance of potassium is 4,700 milligrams. If more sodium is consumed than potassium then the blood pressure values may reflect the imbalance. Potassium to sodium ratio should be around 4:1 to keeps blood pressure in a normal range. Something I implement into my electrolyte regimen is something called “no-salt”. It is a potassium chloride salt substitute. I don’t use it to avoid salt, but rather add more potassium to balance levels. You can get “no-salt” at your local grocery store and you’ll be surprised how well it works to regulate healthy blood pressure levels.
Speaking from anecdotal perspective, in the last year I’ve consumed copious amounts of sodium, but also have added potassium to keep my levels balanced. My blood pressure numbers are the best they’ve been in many years. I’ve also lost a good amount of weight since incorporating an animal based diet, so I’ll also attribute that to healthier blood pressure levels as well.
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