Cutting back on soda directly improves a person's blood pressure. Over time, the benefits of this practice will also continue to increase.

Today, the average American consumes 28 fl. oz. of sodas and other sugary drinks everyday – an alarming fact considering that new research has discovered the vital link between these sugary drinks and blood pressure.

According to research done by Dr. Liwei Chen from the Louisiana State University, cutting back on your consumption of sugary beverages has a direct impact on your blood pressure.

The 3-point difference

In the randomized study involving 810 adult Americans (aged twenty five to seventy nine), Dr. Chen observed that halving the usual consumption of sodas produced a 3-point reduction in blood pressure. What does this mean?  Well, a 3-point reduction in blood pressure also reduced the incidence of a heart attack by a hefty eight percent.

Mortality associated with cardiovascular incidents was also reduced by five percent.  During the study, the 810 respondents were given beverages that had been sweetened with corn syrup – the most common sweetener used in the beverage and food industries today.

According to Dr. Chen, if a person were to gradually reduce his or her soda consumption over a long period of time, then the benefits to a person’s heart is also for the long term.  And that’s not all, a person who reduces his consumption of soda also protects himself more efficiently from stroke – one the greatest silent killers in medical history.

Soda & blood pressure?

But many people are still wondering: what does soda consumption really have to do with blood pressure?  There are two theories supporting the move to reduce the intake of sodas and sugary drinks: the sodium theory and the uric acid theory.

You see, many commercial beverages are loaded with sodium, the same stuff that we use to season food. Sodium has the capacity to directly raise a person’s blood pressure.

Also, the sweetener used for these beverages also contributes to the increase of a person’s uric acid, which is also directly associated with high blood pressure.  In addition to high blood pressure, increased uric acid can also contribute to a higher probability of developing gouty arthritis – a very painful form of arthritis.

Tips for lowering your blood pressure

1. Avoid eating too much fast food and processed food – foodstuffs developed by most food sectors are loaded with at least 40% more sodium than what is considered safe by the US FDA.

2.If you can, use spice substitutes when cooking. Avoid using too much salt when cooking.  Your blood pressure can progressively increase through time.

3. You don’t have to spend a cent to exercise – start getting fit today.  Five minutes of brisk walking, done everyday, can do wonders for your blood pressure.

4. Cut down on smoking – cigarettes and cigars have been shown to raise blood pressure.  If you stop smoking for just 1 to 2 hours, your blood pressure begins to go down.

References:
webmd.com
disease/article32650.html
rd.com
rd.com

Salmon is a heart-healthy rich source of Omega-3.

There are few things more satisfying than recommending something years ago, and having those recommendations supported by science several years later.

“The Blood Pressure Miracle ” started out as an e-book.  Years later, thanks to you, the print version of “The Blood Pressure Miracle ” has achieved best seller status on Amazon.com.

Of course I’m happy about this, but I honestly expected nothing else.  People recognize the legitimacy of all-natural healing methods, which has been made manifest to me in the amount of positive feedback I’ve received throughout my career,  and even more so recently.  That’s because people have employed my scientifically-backed methods, and it’s paying dividends for thousands upon thousands of people.

One of the things I recommend in my book is supplementing with omega-3s , be it in pill form or in the foods we eat.  The omega-3s found primarily in fish are loaded with benefits for the brain, heart, immune and digestive systems.  Its benefits are so far-reaching, that it’s often referred to as the “miracle fat.”

And it was this “miracle fat” that researchers from four universities supplied approximately 300 overweight and hypertensive volunteers with.

To analyze the effects of omega-3s on the volunteers, the researchers had the participants consume one of several omega-3 diets over the course of eight weeks, all of which were energy-restricted:  a cod diet, a salmon diet, a fish oil diet or a control diet.  The people who ate the fish (lucky them!) ate 150 grams of their respective fish three times a week, the salmon one containing about 2.3 grams of omega-3s per day, the cod about 0.3 grams of omega-3s per day.  Those on the fish oil supplements had about 1.3 grams of omega-3s per day.

By the study’s conclusion, not only had the participants on the fish diets dropped weight – nearly 12 pounds on average – but their blood pressure levels dropped as well.

Any blood pressure level that’s over 120/80 is in the worry stage, but anything over 140/90 is the red alert stage.  So when researchers found that these hypertensive participants had dropped their systolic and diastolic pressure levels by 4.4 and 7.4 mmHg, respectively, you can imagine the relief they felt (not to mention the participants themselves).  And that was after just two months – imagine the benefits on the participants a year from now!

This was a joint study conducted by several world-renowned universities, including the University of Iceland and the University of Navarra.  It will soon be published in the journal Nutrition , but it can be found in its pre-published form on their Web site.

When it comes to omega-3s, the benefits just keep evolving.  They’re a lot like a movie or book that you’ve seen or read over and over again, where every time you go back to it, you get a new wrinkle, a new permutation that you didn’t recognized before.

The best sources for omega-3s are through fish, salmon being among the most abundant.  But as this study demonstrates, even cod – a rather bland, flaky fish that is comparatively lacking in omega-3s – can bring down those blood pressure levels.
Bottom line: Get these miracle fats into your system and let them work their wonder!

Source:
nutraingredients.com

The most recent research involved 242 black and white women aged between 18 and 21 years. The participants all had normal blood pressures, and were found via their participation in the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study. The initial stages of the trial began when the participants were between 8 to 11 years old. Over a 10-year period, the plasma levels of ascorbic acid – Vitamin C – and their blood pressures were monitored.

Block and her research team found that by the end of the 10-year period, blood pressure had been inversely associated with ascorbic acid levels. This means that higher than normal blood pressure lowered with higher amounts of vitamin C, and lower than normal blood pressure levels increased with vitamin C.

Women with the largest intake of vitamin C had a decline in their high blood pressure (systolic) readings of approximately 4.66 mm Hg compared to women with the lowest intake of vitamin C. Similarly from the same group of women taking the largest levels of vitamin C with initial low blood pressure (diastolic) had increases in their readings of 6.04 mm Hg compared to women with the lowest intake of vitamin C.

The difference remained when researchers included in their calculations variables of: body mass, race, education levels, as well as dietary fat and sodium intake.

The researchers also noted that the women with the highest recorded levels of ascorbic acid would have diets rich in fruits, vegetables, multivitamins and or supplements. The women with the lowest levels of plasma ascorbic acid were likely to have included an average dosage of fruits and vegetables in their diets.

Blocks’ further analysis of the research findings indicated that “people with the highest blood level of vitamin C had the least increase in blood pressure.”

Block and her colleagues are now looking towards further studies involving healthy young adults and the effects of vitamin C on their blood pressure.

By Nicole Chiu – Contributing Health Journalist ]]> http://naturalhealthontheweb.com/mangano-minute/blogs/?feed=rss2&p=229 0