The small post from Sunday morning referenced recent articles that highlighted studies (mostly in mice and rats) that focused on hypertension and inflammation.

The inflammation in the hypertensive rats and mice was all over the board.  Renal, arterial, hepatic, pleural and arthroscopic inflammation was studied as it affected the blood pressure for the little critters, and eventually they looked at the effects of using antioxidants to reduce the inflammation.

The general results were that if inflammation can be reduced, then hypertension would improve.

This isn’t necessarily new science, but it does highlight the point that a lot of what doctors try to do for people to get their blood pressure down doesn’t address the key issue of stress on the body.

Think about it…what would cause renal inflammation? Kidneys under some kind of stress are going to become inflamed.

Same for hepatic inflammation. A stressor-whether as an infection or simply chemical stress such as that which would be induced by too much drinking- will cause inflammation.

The inflammation is the effect of the stress. Follow those dominoes as they fall and you inevitably wind up in the land of chronic hypertension.

Simply asking someone to give up table salt isn’t going to necessarily help someone who doesn’t have a sodium problem but does have high blood pressure.

The point of publishing the smaller article that highlighted inflammation as a problem for hypertension was basically to reinforce that throwing pills at a problem or taking away the salt shaker isn’t always the most effective way to correct the problem.

Adding powerful antioxidants into the diets of most people who suffer chronic pain, hypertension, and other complications from disease processes has proven for many decades to be one component in a comprehensive approach to treating or even curing those diseases.

Studies abound with extolling the virtues of healthy living, but a lot of times people can miss the real take-aways from that research because the technical jibber-jabber is so hard to decipher.

That’s why when we post smaller articles like the one from Monday, and the longer blogs like today’s, we like to highlight the basic study findings and see what catches fire.  From there, if we need to look at something in more detail we can certainly do that based upon reader questions.

As I read some of the studies, I sometimes need the medical dictionary and a chemistry book nearby.  We generally don’t use phrases like “immunosuppression attenuates hypertension” in general conversation, nor do we sit around and have online chats about the “immune response in T cell hybridomas.”

However, we do like to at least look over the findings of the different research, whether we seek these studies out or they pop up in the news.

Then, a general summary or key piece of the study can be highlighted, which helps to reinforce our position on what we like to tell our readers.

In the case of the inflammation article, it basically reinforces that hypertension isn’t always going to improve if salt is removed from the diet.  Other causes must first be looked at and sometimes doctors just don’t do that.

It would be hard for them to when they spend less than 5 minutes in a room with you, anyway.  Got high blood pressure? Here’s a pill.  Next patient, please…

But for those of us who are always seeking answers and look to proven methods and natural alternatives, that just isn’t going to cut it for very long.

For a natural alternative to eliminating high blood pressure that works and addresses the stress factor naturally, see my Hypertension No More program today.

Warm regards,

Christian Goodman

El331005

In this research study, a group of 200 men at risk for heart disease were asked to perform Transcendental Meditation everyday for twenty minutes. After a few weeks, important heart disease risk factors –including high blood pressure—fell dramatically. The results of the study were so dramatic that a spokesman from the National Institute of Mental Health in the UK remarked, “If Transcendental Meditation were a drug conferring so many benefits, it would be a billion-dollar blockbuster.”

Our all-natural blood pressure program uses mind/body exercises that are even more powerful than meditation. You can check them out here…

Warm regards,

Christian Goodman

Their conclusions? Inflammation is the cause of the vast majority of high blood pressure cases and that cutting down on salt isn’t as effective as many believe. They note that reducing inflammation will inevitably also reduce hypertension is most people and should therefore form the first line of attack against high blood pressure.

How to reduce high blood pressure naturally here…

Warm regards,

Christian Goodman

Many times it is both, but one complaint that we hear a lot rests solely in side effects: The medicine makes my ankles swell.

This is not an uncommon side effect. In fact, a quick review of the warning labels of ten of the most commonly prescribed blood pressure medications reveals that all carry a warning on the label of swollen feet or ankles and to alert the doctor when it occurs.

Calcium channel blockers are the most common culprits when ankle swelling is a problem.

Swollen ankles are no picnic. Any pregnant woman will tell you that.  It’s not that it is terribly painful, but it is definitely uncomfortable and really unsightly.

One reader described her and her husband’s experiences with edema, which is the medical term for fluid retention in the extremities.  She said just looking at her feet and ankles reminded her of a water balloon with lines drawn on for toes.

His ankles looked like tubs of gelatin as he walked. The skin would stretch and get itchy, and they were both embarrassed to wear sandals but socks were too uncomfortable.

His problem was his blood pressure medicine and hers was hormonal. Neither cause is something that should be ignored.

This reader explained that her husband knows just enough about an internet search ‘to be dangerous.” He looks up a variety of issues, lands on a page that describes what he is looking for, and stops there.  In the case of his ankles, he searched for a possible cause and hit pay dirt when he saw the name of his medicine listed as an offender.

What she describes after that was kind of scary.  He decided that he would stop taking his medicine to see if his swollen ankles would improve. He didn’t tell her he was going to do this, he just launched into this experiment on his own.

His ankles quit swelling, but predictably his blood pressure shot through the roof.

The problems with this are staggering. When you stop taking a maintenance medication, your body cries out from the withdrawal. Whatever condition you were taking it to treat will flare back and you are left with the consequences that, in the case of blood pressure medications, can include dizziness, fainting, stroke, or other very dangerous effect.

She called the doctor to “tattle on him,” and he was seen immediately.  Their situation was a lucky one because he was able to be treated before the assault of stopping his medications did any mortal harm.

The problem with edema in the feet and lower leg is that it may indicate a bigger problem that is developing elsewhere.  Only a doctor or trained healthcare provider can diagnose what is really causing edema in your specific case, and experimenting with medications isn’t recommended.

For instance, swollen ankles can be caused by more than just a medication problem. As mentioned earlier, her swelling ankle problem was a treatable hormone issue.

Medications like steroids and anti-depressants can cause edema, and treatments for erectile dysfunction are typically also problematic.

However, other causes can be more serious. Failing kidneys or heart, blood clots in the lower leg, and liver problems are potentially deadly, but sometimes treatable conditions that should be checked by a medical professional. Sometimes it is just a simple blood test that can rule these things in or out.

Be ready for a ton of other questions, and maybe keep a little journal of when you notice the swelling. Your provider is going to know that what, when, where, why and how of all of that, and might ask you questions like, do you also have a fever, is it one leg or both, what makes it worse, and does elevating it help…those kind of things.

But don’t be like our reader’s husband and experiment with medications. His situation could have easily turned out badly. If different medication is what you are after, or better yet, none altogether, then let your doctor know. Have the serious conversation, take your notes, and go from there.

For an effective, natural way to drop your high blood pressure, try my Hypertension No More program and get started on a natural path to wellness today.

Warm regards,

Christian Goodman

el331005

A business associate emailed me this week because he was completely exhausted. His wife had decided that the month of August would be clean-up time, since the kids would be headed back to school , routines and crazy schedules would be starting, and frankly, they were falling over their junk.

Three kids, a dog and two parents have a lot of ‘stuff.’  Cram this into a house with even 4 bedrooms and it’s a recipe for elevated blood pressure and illness if not carefully managed.

We’ve all seen the shows- the hoarding episodes that show what happens when even just a few years of holding on to books, toys, clothes, papers, documents, trinkets and heaven knows what else starts to pile up.

But what about those of us who aren’t hoarders- we just have a lot of stuff and not a lot of free space in our homes?  You don’t have to be a clinically diagnosed hoarder to suffer from the effects of lack of ‘spring cleaning.’

A few months back, I wrote a piece on how a clean home is a healthy home. It’s true. The focus of that piece was tidying up clutter and disinfecting surfaces, among other things.

However, my business friend made a good point when he was talking about the clean-up process. He was totally worn out after only three days, and they had 4 more to go on their week long cleaning spree. He said they got two kid rooms completed and had 1 more to go, plus the master bedroom.

He counted 6 large tubs for recycling, 3 trash bags and 5 lawn-size bags for Goodwill of clothes, toys, and other belongings that were in great shape, but no one was using any of it.  Outgrown clothing piles up quickly with growing children, and toys are the same way.

He commented how his son’s room had kind of a gooey, cheese odor before and now is like a brand new room.  I am sure some of you can identify with that. Imagine how much better his son will be sleeping in a tidy, peaceful space now as opposed to feeling like his walls were closing in on him.

Garage or tag sales are good ways to empty out the closets, basement closets and toy boxes as well.  This solves a financial issue, too, since getting rid of clothing, especially kids’ clothing is pretty lucrative.

What are some other reasons you will want to put your closets, nooks and crannies on a diet?

- prevents us from being hoarders

- ensures that we will be able to find belongings that we wish to keep

- discourages pest activity

- reinforces a life of simple abundance

- frees up items that can be donated or sold

- provides a strenuous and healthy workout

- eases anxiety by imparting a feeling of weight being lifted and more freedom

- improved chances of more restful sleep since the environment around us is cleaner, tidier, and probably smells better

I don’t recommend launching into a project like this without a plan, though. It can be overwhelming and actually make more anxiety if you don’t pace yourself and try to be realistic.

Think about some of the real goals you would like to achieve with freeing up space. Maybe the kids are moving out and need that extra set of dishes you’ve had stuck in the back of a cupboard for 20 years.

Maybe you need to replace the carpet and you have no where to put the stuff you are moving out of that room…because all your rooms are too full.

Or maybe you are just paring back to enjoy the simple abundance that is living without the constraints of worldly treasures, which are actually more like chains.

Whatever your reason, the results will be the same.  You’ll feel better, freer, cleaner, and more in control of your surroundings instead of your surroundings controlling you.

For some easy steps to control blood pressure and improve sleep, explore the benefits of my natural programs today.

Warm regards,

Christian Goodman

El331005

They found that many blood pressure readings, when taken only once, were wildly inaccurate –meaning that many healthy people are currently receiving high blood pressure treatment they don’t need. They advise doctors and other health care professionals to take blood pressure readings at least 5 times to be sure of an accurate reading.

All natural method to lower blood pressure…

Warm Regards,

Christian Goodman

Most of the time our authors like to pull comments from the emails and comment boxes when readers have questions or comments about certain tips or products, and we always like to look at what’s trending in studies conducted by different research labs.

Sometimes we will try to run down info on late-breaking discoveries, but frequently we will have a good look at decades-old information but only with a fresh set of eyes.

It might be tried-and-true home remedies like the benefits of increasing garlic in the diet or getting more vitamin D.  Sometimes, we look at ‘old wives’ tales” too to see if there is any merit to that as well.

And so it is that we are having a look at a supplement called theanine. This compound was identified decades ago as a natural boost to mood, relaxation, and focus.

Found in green tea, it apparently works alongside caffeine to do a number of miracles in the brain.

Most notably, it is said to increase GABA levels. Gamma Amino Butyric Acid is a neurotransmitter that is essential for brain function. It regulates the proliferation of neural stem cells as well as new synapse development.

Many dozens of studies throughout the last century have shown that giving theanine to rats- whether in injected form or ingested- not only resulted in positive effects on the spontaneously hypertensive ones (they weren’t induced by the scientists to have high blood pressure-they just have it), but also posed no negative side effects.

This is key for two reasons: 1) even at high doses, much higher than any human would ever take, there were no negative effects that could be seen. This makes it a very safe product if a reputable producer is making it; and 2) it’s wonderful when a natural compound is actually very effective.

It is so effective, in fact, even on dopamine levels that it is frequently added to the treatment plans of many schizophrenic patients.  Apparently it has been shown to make other medications more effective. Obviously it’s not intended to be a cure or even to be used alone in that example, but for sufferers, every little bit of safety married to effectiveness counts.

The only problem with this and other effective supplements, is that people tend to use them as a crutch instead of driving right to the heart of their anxiety and stress with complimentary approaches to eliminating them.

Instead of working in lifestyle changes that incorporate more focus on diet, exercise, sleep, and relaxation, a capsule of product is swallowed, thereby giving one the sense of “this is all I need to do to beat back my anxiety.”

In fact, it is not all that is needed. But that doesn’t mean that it can’t be added to the aforementioned changes.

The most effective plans to attack a health problem are the ones that address all the sources that contribute to it.

For high blood pressure, as an example, the key source is stress. But this stress takes many forms:

- Nutritional insults that starve the body of needed vitamins and minerals and also bombard it with all the wrong kinds of foods
- Biological stress that is a result of a disease process or injury
- Psychological stress that may be emotional, environmental, or clinical

You may have a combination of these stressors.  But the bottom line is that stress and anxiety are pouring over you like a cold shower, and the only way to turn that shower off for good is to attack it from a variety of fronts.

The easiest and most effective place to start is the blood pressure program. But adding the proper supplements, making needed diet changes, and getting a disease process or injury healed or at least controlled will do a world of good as well.

The verdict on this supplement? If you are not allergic to any of the compounds in it and you have visited with your doctor about possibly adding it (you never want to add anything that might interact with something you are already taking), then it might be a great addition for you.

If you are already taking this supplement and would like to weigh in, let us know in the comment box. Like I said before, I love to get your feedback.

For more information on my natural program to eliminate high blood pressure, I encourage you to give the Hypertension No More program a good try today.

Warm regards,

Christian Goodman

El331005

For a lot of people, their doctor does a good job of putting into ‘lay speak’ what he or she is seeing during that visit and can give a patient a good idea of diagnosis and treatment.

For many others, though, going to the doctor, clinic, or hospital is really intimidating…and not for the normal reasons you might think.

We all know that “white coat syndrome” causes a spike in blood pressure for people who don’t like seeing their health care provider. We also know that there are some of us who don’t like going to the doctor or hospital because of the secondary illnesses we may pick up.

These are well-founded fears and I do tend to see many health care providers trying to improve their patients’ experiences by overcoming some of those clinical fears, and taking germ-fighting precautions helps with the other problem.

But what about the intimidating alphabet soup and doctor-speak that tends to bubble over when providers get around each other?

A friend of mine who is a new hospital employee confided in me once that she felt really stupid in a lot of inter-departmental meetings because she didn’t understand some of the conversations that would go on around her. Her corner of the world was fundraising, as she worked for the hospital’s Foundation Board.

She wasn’t trained in healthcare…her talent was being extremely good at grant-writing. But in an effort to get more familiar with the departments that needed funding for equipment or other needs, she was blown away at how little she knew, and also how little she FELT around all that medical talk.

“I didn’t know what syncope was,” she said. Worrying that it is a bad disease, she said “So is there medicine for that? How do you test for it?” Apparently they just looked at her like, “poor little stupid new girl.”

She quickly found out from another non-clinician that syncope is loss of consciousness, or fainting, that occurs because of a drop in blood pressure or lack of blood flow to the brain. It is a symptom, not a disease.

Interactions like that were common, and she pointed out that many of the benefactors she was courting shared similar experiences, and being in the emergency room was one of the worst places to experience this.

If you have been in this situation, you likely will get a chuckle. Imagine this: you are in the emergency room because you were a little dizzy and apparently passed out. You feel better, and you are lucid, but still dizzy so they have to check you out.

Just for kicks, let’s say you are a wealthy shareholder in the hospital as well. This will add another layer of fun.

Here is a bit of the conversation that is going on around you:

EMS to RN: “We have a VIP with COPD having possible AMI, elevated BP and history of A-FIB, CAD, DVT and PH.”

MD to RN: “We need XRay stat and alert CCU that VIP is in RAD. We’ll need OR.”

Patient: “I’m right here. And I don’t know what the heck any of you are talking about. Does all that alphabet soup mean I am going to die or something?” And the patient’s blood pressure goes up MORE.

Obviously, in the Emergency Room, or ER, time is of the essence. And you would want your medical team to be able to communicate with one another quickly, efficiently, and correctly.

All of them know that the Emergency Medical Service provider really said “We have a very important person with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease having a possible Acute Myocardial Infarction (heart attack), elevated blood pressure, and a history of Atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary hypertension.”

That was even more of a mouthful. But from the patient’s point of view all he may have heard was “DOA” and “RIP.”

The point to all this, and it’s a point that my friend was making, is that we shouldn’t let our embarrassment over not understanding the jargon intimidate us into not being able to participate in a conversation about our health.

Her fix for whenever that happens now is, “wow…those are great acronyms that probably took a lot of time to learn and memorize. But I am in the business office and not a clinician, so can you say it the long way?”

She said her clinical co-workers (those in the laboratory, radiology, nursing departments, etc.) are really nice about slowing down and trying to be more aware of those around them when it’s a ‘mixed’ group (office workers and clinical employees). They are even making it a point in her facility to have more ‘sensitivity training’ so the medical jargon and alphabet soup don’t dominate patient conversations.

This will work for you as well, if you find that the source of your White Coat Syndrome is from feeling intimidated by the doctor’s verbiage. Asking for a paraphrase of the diagnosis and treatment will help your blood pressure, your mood, and your treatment plan compliance.

For easy-to-understand exercises to help with your high blood pressure, try my natural program today.

Warm regards,

Christian Goodman

El331005

In this study a group of 600 men had their blood pressure and levels of visceral fat measured. The researchers found that the men with the highest levels of visceral fat had 5 times greater hypertension risk when compared to those with low levels of this special type of body fat. Visceral fat is fat stored deep inside the abdomen that’s thought to dramatically increase inflammation –a key driver of high blood pressure.

For even more powerful program to tackle high blood pressure…

Warm regards,

Christian Goodman

They note that cocoa is unusually high in a special class of antioxidants known as flavanols. The paper author’s note that the flavanols found in cocoa are effective for reducing blood pressure by 5 percent or more. Cocoa flavanols also improve the health of arteries –reducing the risk of dangerous plaque formation.

More tasty ways to lower your blood pressure…

All the Best,

Scott Davis