blood pressure variability as indicator of overdoing

[November Girl]

Does anyone else's blood pressure rise when they've overdone? In my case, it's not a quick up and down, like heart rate can be (if we pay attention!) It seems to be that when I feel weaker or more flu-ish than usual my blood pressure is high. I'm not sure that it always does this, but know that it often does.

For years I had low blood pressure, which dropped quickly when I stood still. Sometime in my mid-40's it started getting higher, and now I'm on a blood pressure med. I still have symptoms of OI, but not as bad as when younger.

Btw, I checked my blood pressure before opening a little can of V-8. Deciding I didn't need that much sodium, I poured a large glass of milk - then realized it has just as much sodium!

 

[rydra_wong]

November girl -

my blood pressure is almost totally controlled by DHEA. I take 500 mg potassium/day to do the rest. My b.p. is 184/117 even with all sorts of things like garlic, coq10, olive leaf extract (1g), and many other things that are supposed to bring it down. Only DHEA works and brings it down over 30 points in a half hour. Potassium normalizes the rest of the way. I have to keep DHEA in my blood at all times (it only stays in the body 20 hours, so I need a staggered dose).

Yes, milk products are very high in salt. I could not eat them at all until I discovered the DHEA cure and even now I am careful. You should get a book by Netzer on counting salt and write down ebverything you eat for 2 weeks and look up the salt content of everything (after that you will know it by heart). You are supposed to keep under 1500mg salt/day (DASH diet that works fo high blood pressure) but some people can't even tolerate that much (me). You give yourself a budget of 500mg salt per meal. You hopefully can do breakfast in less to give yourself a budget for snacks (otherwise no snacks - which can be horrible if you get low blood sugar so this is very much like planning a war on salt).

I eat only naked food - no soups salts, gravies cheeses. etc. that is how I keep my salt intake low. I also avoid most of the chemicals that way. I like those Steamer tv dinners because the sauce is in a second tray and can simply be discarded.

You'll find blood pressure goes up when you eat too much salt or get dehydrated or eat too much sugar. And fruits juices are too much sugar. Also low salt V-8 will not lower b.p. despite the potassium (per a study). B.P. also goes up with kidney problems, like a urinary tract infection.

Also there is some tie to alkaline minerals. I could drop my b.p. 30 points also with enough Ca/Mg (I take in a 1:1 ratio) BUT it would only last a few hours and my b.p.ould creep right back up again. I think the salt does something to make your kidney excrete alkaline minerals you need. It is part of DASH to replace these minerals.

 

[rydra_wong]

So to tie back to your original observation...it may be that you feel worse and more 'flu'-ish when you are low in alkaline minerals (I know I do - when I am low in alkaline minerals I feel like crap I retain water, my joints hurt, my muscles hurt, etc). BTW, macrobiotics says that tiredness is a result of an acidic condition in the body. I believe alkaline minerals are in order. Greens are the preferred way to get them but when you are in a bad way -- I supplement. I do not believe milk products are the way to get alkaline minerals as there are many studies which show that populations that do not drink milk do not even have osteoporosis. Milk is extremely high in protein and excess protein causes calcium excretion. To alkalize I take calcium citrate:magnesium capsules and I drink things with acetic acid like apple cider vinegar in water or kombucha. I also take a teaspoon of potassium (I forget - maybe it's gluconate) in a Vitamin Water for the potassium or sometimes I just take this dried potassium broth powder (carrots, celerey etc powder). Also note (also according to macrobiotics), many pathogens give off acidic wastes. SO if you are harboring pathogens you may need way more alkalizing to keep your ph normal. Since I read that I actually also approach flu (pathogen emitting acidic wastes) via drinking orange juice (which I normally avoid since citrus is too alkalizing supposedly to be healthy unless you live in a tropical region and sweat alot).

I don't know if this is of any use for you. I tought it might be interesting.