Food that Lower High Blood Pressure

What?! Celery has side effects? That sounds dangerous. Just like many drugs, celery, when eaten raw or juiced does have a proven effect on lowering high blood pressure. And just like many drugs, it carries a bag of side effects with it. But you may be surprised by these.

First, let’s talk blood pressure. Countless studies and research projects over the decades have proven time and again that the chemical 3-n-butyl phthalide is like a laser-guided missile that targets stress hormones in the body.

As we all know by now, stress is the key factor in high blood pressure, regardless of its source: biological stress (illness or injury), emotional stress, or environmental stress. The stress hormones cause blood vessels to constrict, and blood pressure goes up.

The phthalide lowers the chatecholamines, which are the stress hormones, thereby keeping the blood vessels healthier and blood pressure closer to normal.

However, while blood pressure reducing drugs have a list a mile long of weird, frustrating, and even dangerous side effects, celery’s laundry list of side effects are much more acceptable.

Here are just a few:

– Celery is packed with potassium, which most people in industrialized societies don’t get enough of. This mineral is a known diuretic and naturally eliminates excess fluid in the body. What makes it safer than a supplement is that it’s more easily absorbed and in safer quantities than a pill.

– The sodium in celery doesn’t raise BP like salt does. The side effect it does cause is to balance the electrolytes in the body.

– Coumarins, the more powerful of known anti-oxidants, are believed to help fight colon cancer. Side effect of this little chemical? A reduction in inflammation in the body, which is music to the ears of those with arthritis.

– Calcium in celery replaces what those with lactose intolerance or celiac disease lose by not being able to drink milk. Stronger bones and healthier teeth are a great side effect!

[adrotate group=”5″]In case you hadn’t noticed the theme, I decided to look at ways people treat high blood pressure and highlight the proven methods there that have GOOD side effects and not bad ones. Juicing celery along with other fruits and vegetables is one such proven method.

As with all the articles I write that highlight super-foods that heal, I get a huge surge in the email inbox asking for how to eat/drink them, in what quantities, where to find them, how to store them…you name it.

So now I am going to save you the time and give you my friend Tom’s Morning Cocktail recipe. Drinking this every day has this man looking and feeling 2 decades younger than his age-mates and his wife tells me his skin is perfect.

So here is the low-down on the Cocktail (and no-there isn’t any alcohol. Not every cocktail has liquor in it):

What: celery, apples, spinach or cucumber, and carrots (the end result is an ugly green color but it’s really quite delicious)

Where: your local grocery store or farmer’s market (better yet- your own garden!)

When: Every day, but at least twice a week, first thing in the morning OR before dinner (helps control appetite). Drink immediately after juicing. Do not store in the fridge for more than a couple hours because it diminishes the impact of the very vitamins, minerals, and chemicals you are after.

Why: You know why- you want to get healthy without the BAD side effects.

How: Follow the recipe below-

Using a commercial juicer or any quality juicing machine (these are really coming down in price lately too!), run the following foods –IN THIS ORDER- through the juicer after you wash them (but no peeling):

Apples- 2 small or medium Red Delicious- include seeds and core but not stem

Carrots- 3 medium or large, with the top cut off

If you like robust flavors, use spinach- 1 cup, OR

If you like mellow flavors, use cucumber- 1 whole

6 stalks of celery, including leaves

Remember these final important factoids:

Strain the juice a couple times through a strainer with a finer mesh and it will be less pulpy and fibrous. While you want some insoluble fiber, too much might give you runny stools at first.

You have to include either the cucumber or the spinach, because the carrots will turn you into an oompah-loompah if you don’t add some green.

It’s also important to run the celery through last so the threads don’t bind the juicer up before the rest of the fruits/vegies go through.

Hopefully this will get some you who might have been on the fence about the benefits of juicing to go out and get yourself a new kitchen appliance, just in time for spring.

For more information on natural ways to eliminate blood pressure-raising stress naturally, grab my program for lowering blood pressure naturally today and get on your way to a healthier you!

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