Welcome to our natural health blog!
We not only sell high quality vitamins and supplements but work alongside Garstang Natural Health treatment rooms. This means that we have a wealth of knowledge from the team of therapists there to complement our highly trained and experienced staff in the shop. Keep an eye on our blog where we will cover all manner of natural health topics. Given the time of year and the fact we are all up to our eyeballs in tasks to do and not enough time to do do them in we thought we would start with a look at how to beat high blood pressure naturally.
Beat blood pressure problems naturally
If you speak to consultant geriatricians and cardiovascular experts the vast majority would admit that most problems involving high blood pressure can be rectified with simple lifestyle changes.
So if that is the case, why do we start popping pills instead? Because it is quicker, easier and requires precious little effort on our part…heaven forbid we actually make an effort to be healthier eh?
In my experience as an osteopath I meet countless patients who want to be better, who want to improve their health without medication but are not sure where to start.
So let us begin with our blood pressure problems. Firstly, get up from your sofa or desk and start moving. Walking is a profoundly good thing to do. Our body is a moving machine and thrives when we use it, so get up and walk. Thirty minutes every day! If it is raining outside then pace your room, get a step and step up and step down and repeat. Obviously being out in the fresh air brings more benefits but I cannot stress enough the importance in lots of slow movement every day….a rolling stone gathers no moss!
There have been some interesting experiments that have shown certain foods can influence our blood pressure. If you are a liquorice fan then beware, it can raise your blood pressure (so if you have blood pressure that is too low it may help you!)
Three particular foods have been shown to be beneficial:
Beetroot, watermelon and garlic. Each has a different chemical which helps our blood vessels to dilate, thus reducing our blood pressure.
Beetroot and watermelon influence levels of nitric oxide via nitrates which encourages this dilation. Interestingly many green vegetables do this too – celery, watercress, rocket, spinach, broccoli amongst others.
Nature’s Aid do an excellent Beetroot supplement for blood pressure problems that I have seen work wonders.
Garlic works by having an active ingredient called allicin which works in a different way but has a similar affect on our arteries. Unfortunately the allicin in garlic is unstable so must be consumed very quickly after it has been chopped. The finer it is chopped the more allicin is released. The alternative is to get a fabulous supplement called Allicin from a good health food shop. This has been made so that the crushed garlic is preserved within seconds of it being crushed thus making it very potent and effective. It is also very good for boosting your immune system. It has the added benefit of not making you reek of garlic.
To get the most from your vegetables eat them raw. Or make soup, the nitrate lost in the water will remain in the soup. Steam vegetables rather than boil them and use water from cooking vegetables in soups and stews.
