Reversing Hypertension

What are the alternatives to blood pressure medication?

A number of major scientific studies have convincingly shown that simple dietary and lifestyle changes can reverse most essential hypertension in a matter of weeks without drugs.
A large percentage of people are sensitive to salt and would benefit from its reduction in their diets.
When the weight goes down, blood pressure levels usually fall. Reducing excess weight is often the only treatment needed to correct a rising blood pressure.
A diet very low in fat yet high in fiber lowers the blood pressure by about 10% even without weight loss or salt restriction. Reducing the blood's viscosity (thinning of the blood), which results from eating less fat, probably produces these favorable changes.
Deleting alcohol from the diet will lower blood pressure and do the body a favor in several other areas as well.
Physical exercise lowers blood pressure by reducing peripheral arterial resistance. In addition, regular exercise promotes general health and well-being.

For more information, we recommend:

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease
By Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD, Cleveland Clinic; Avery/Penguin Group, 2007

Based on the groundbreaking results of his 20-year nutritional study, Dr. Esselstyn explains, with irrefutable scientific evidence, how we can end the heart disease epidemic in this country by changing what we eat. Click for more...

Reducing Blood Pressure!

Eat lots of fresh, raw food, both fruits and vegetables. They need no added salt. They also increase potassium stores, which helps lower blood pressure.
Look for unsalted snacks (if you really need them).
Undercook vegetables and eat them a bit crispy. They will require less salt.
Learn to flavor foods with lemon juice, parsley, taragon, garlic, or onions instead of salt.
Take advantage of the excellent salt-free gourment cookbooks available on the market today.

People taking blood pressure medications should not play doctor and change doses or stop medicines on their own. But those who are willing to make healthful lifestyle changes will usually find their physicians glad to help them eat and exercise their way out of hypertension.

A Tremendous Step

Become a label reader.

By carefully reading labels, you can select products low in sodium. Watch for words like "salt," "sodium," and "soda," and avoid products in which these terms are listed among the first five ingredients.

FDA's Proposed Packaging Guidelines (per serving)
Sodium-free	under 5 mg
Very Low Sodium	under 35 mg
Low Sodium	under 140 mg
Reduced Sodium	a 75% decrease

Happy, healthy family

Contact CHIP to learn more. "Be Healthy by Choice, Not by Chance!"

For more information, we recommend:

The Optimal Diet Cookbook

This official cookbook used in the CHIP program has 166 pages of delicious, healthy recipes fully approved by the CHIP program for lifestyle change. Click for more...