High blood pressure is a major risk factor for development of heart disease. In societies where we do not see high rates of heart disease and strokes, we do not see blood pressure increase with age. In rural China the healthy elderly had the same low blood pressure readings as they did when they were kids. (1) Almost all Americans have blood pressure that is unhealthfully high. At a minimum, we should consider blood pressure higher than 125/80 abnormal.

Scientific investigations have shown that the blood pressure can be lowered without drugs. For example the following interventions have some degree of effectiveness in lowering blood pressure:

Weight loss
Sodium Restriction
Increased Potassium intake
Increased Calcium and magnesium intake
Alcohol restriction
Caffeine restriction
Increased fiber intake
Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables
Increased physical activity or exercise

These studies have shown that weight loss and control of sodium intake are the most effective means of reducing blood pressure, even in the elderly. Even moderate decreases in salt have been shown to decrease blood pressure. My book, Eat to Live emphasizes unprocessed foods and a large consumption of fruit, vegetables and legumes and it advises you to significantly reduce dietary sodium intake. It is the healthiest and most effective diet to facilitate weight loss, but it also has shown marked effects at dropping people’s blood pressure.

If you have high blood pressure, with the help of Eat To Live and this website you can be gradually weaned off your blood pressure medication and learn to eat in a manner that lowers your blood pressure, without drugs and naturally protects you against heart disease and stroke. When you take medications to resolve symptoms caused by a poor lifestyle and diet-style, it allows the underlying disease process to advance because the dietary factors that created the problem to begin with are not corrected. You get sicker, not healthier over time. It is not aging that causes high blood pressure, rather it is the American diet style that takes its toll day after day, month after month, causing our vessels to get stiff and coated with atherosclerotic plaque. If you eat like other Americans eat, you will get what other Americans get—high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes and dementia as you age. Don’t let our drug-oriented medical system lead you to an untimely death, Eat To Live.

1. Chen, J., T.C. Campbell, J. Li, and R. Peto. 1990. Diet, life-style and mortality in China: a study of the characteristics of 65 Chinese counties. Oxford: Oxford University Press; Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press