Blood pressure is a measurement of the force against the walls of your arteries as your heart pumps blood through your body. Hypertension is another term used to describe high blood pressure.
Blood pressure readings are given as two numbers. The top number is called the systolic blood pressure. The bottom number is called the diastolic blood pressure. For example, 120 over 80 (written as 120/80 mmHg).
One or both of these numbers can be too high. Numbers around 120/80 are considered normal. Although there is much controversy as to what is normal the goal should be to aim for less than 140/90 (2018 the guidelines have changed ,it is now recommended that adults over 60 , with no health issues: diabetes, heart disease, etc. should aim for 150/90 or below).
Most of the time, there are no symptoms.
Because there are no symptoms, people can develop heart disease and kidney problems without knowing they have high blood pressure.
Malignant hypertension (hypertension emergency) is a dangerous form of very high blood pressure. Symptoms include:
- Severe headache
- Nausea or vomiting
- Confusion
- Vision changes
- Nosebleeds
Monitoring blood pressure at home or with a health care provider is a good step and a necessary step to keep blood pressure in check before it reaches unhealthy levels. Many grocery stores now have blood pressure monitoring machines you can check your levels for free while you shop. It only takes a couple of minutes.
Food can cause high blood pressure and food can also cure high blood pressure. My personal belief is you can control blood pressure and sugar without medication. But you have to be faithful to eating and living a healthy way.
#1 Truth: Sugar can cause blood pressure to rise.
Dr. Richard Johnson is one of the physicians on the cutting edge of sugar metabolism research today, his focus being on how the overabundance of sugar in the American diet -- particularly fructose -- is causing obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and a number of other health problems in staggering numbers.
The worse type of sugar you can ingest is FRUCTOSE (even from fruit). What we consume as common table sugar (the white stuff) is called SUCROSE. When sucrose is ingested the body breaks it down into two simple sugars FRUCTOSE and GLUCOSE. The body uses the 2 sugars in 2 completely different ways. Glucose is used by every cell for energy. Fructose breaks down into a variety of waste products. One very harmful waste products is called uric acid.
Nitric oxide expands the blood vessels to make blood flow better. Uric acid keeps nitric oxide from doing this, therefore causing HBP. Fructose generates uric acid just minutes after ingesting.
It was once thought that uric acid was caused by disease but now it is known that disease is caused by uric acid. Diseases that not only include HBP, but also kidney, insulin resistance, diabetes, obesity, fatty liver, cardiovascular, elevated triglycerides, elevated LDL, preeclampsia in pregnant women ,general overall poor health and premature death.
- Interesting find is that when you mix fructose and glucose together (sucrose) the body absorbs the fructose more easily. Not good!
Dr. Mercola recommendation: I strongly advise keeping your TOTAL fructose consumption below 25 grams per day. However, for most people it would actually be wise to limit your fruit fructose to 15 grams or less, as it is virtually guaranteed you will consume “hidden” sources of fructose from most beverages and just about any processed food.
You can use the table below to help you count your fructose grams.
|
| Fruit | Serving Size | Grams of Fructose |
| Boysenberries | 1 cup | 4.6 |
| Tangerine/mandarin orange | 1 medium | 4.8 |
| Nectarine | 1 medium | 5.4 |
| Peach | 1 medium | 5.9 |
| Orange (navel) | 1 medium | 6.1 |
| Papaya | 1/2 medium | 6.3 |
| Honeydew | 1/8 of med. melon | 6.7 |
| Banana | 1 medium | 7.1 |
| Blueberries | 1 cup | 7.4 |
| Date (Medjool) | 1 medium | 7.7 |
| Apple (composite) | 1 medium | 9.5 |
| Persimmon | 1 medium | 10.6 |
| Watermelon | 1/16 med. melon | 11.3 |
| Pear | 1 medium | 11.8 |
| Raisins | 1/4 cup | 12.3 |
| Grapes, seedless (green or red) | 1 cup | 12.4 |
| Mango | 1/2 medium | 16.2 |
| Apricots, dried | 1 cup | 16.4 |
| Figs, dried | 1 cup | 23.0 |
If you feel you must have a sweetener, here are a few guidelines to follow: from Dr. Mercola
- Avoid ALL artificial sweeteners.
- Avoid all conventional agave and high fructose corn syrup
- If you have favorite products that you use PLEASE write the company and tell them to remove the fructose or you will not purchase them in the future. We have been VERY effective as many major companies have already shifted their practice of using HFCS.
- Limit sugar of all types as much as possible. You can buy pure glucose (dextrose) as a sweetener for about $1 per pound, which has none of the adverse effects of fructose if used moderately. It is only 70 percent as sweet as sucrose, so you’ll end up using a bit more of it for the same amount of sweetness, making it slightly more expensive than sucrose -- but still well worth it for your health.
- Use high quality agave that has fructose in it's conjugated from. You can also use raw honey in moderation or avoid it completely as it is 70 percent fructose which is higher than HFCS. However the fructose is not in its free from so that moderates the damage. But each teaspoon of honey has nearly four grams of fructose so you will want to carefully add the total grams of fructose (including fruits) and keep them under 15 grams per day.
- Use regular stevia in moderation, but avoid stevia-based sweeteners like Truvia and PureVia because they have undergone more processing. My favorites are the liquid stevias that are flavored with English Toffee or French Vanilla. Remember, in the US it is illegal to advertise stevia as a sweetener so you will need to look for it in the supplement section where it is legal to sell.
- Lo Han is another excellent natural herbal sweetener.
- Exercise can be a very powerful tool to help control fructose in a number of ways. If you are going to consume fructose it is BEST to do so immediately before, during or after INTENSE exercise as your body will tend to use it directly as fuel and not convert it to fat Additionally exercise will increase your insulin receptor sensitivity and help modulate the negative effects of fructose. Lastly exercise will also help to blunt your appetite and control your sweet tooth.
If you have fasting insulin levels, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, or if you’re overweight, I suggest you avoid all sweeteners, including stevia, since any sweetener can decrease your insulin sensitivity.
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