katyzzzNatural Ways to Reduce Blood Pressure, and Other Smart Moves
September 26th 2008 14:44
Q: What alternative treatments (herbs, etc.) will help bring down high blood pressure?
-- Debra, Georgetown, TX
A: The best “alternative treatments” are to put healthy foods on your table and walk for at least 30 minutes every day. The details: Eat more fruits and vegetables. Avoid foods that contain simple sugars or syrups and saturated or trans fats. Eat only 100% whole grains.
Need help with walking? Find someone to be your walking buddy. Then, after you walk every day, call or e-mail your buddy and report in. Or walk with your buddy. And no excuses: If there’s a downpour, you walk; a hurricane, you walk; a blizzard, you walk. Do it in the basement, the playroom, or the garage. But walk.
You’ve got it: The changes that work best to reduce blood pressure are lifestyle choices -- 60% of our patients are able to get completely off blood pressure meds if they do these things.
Nothing replaces these changes, but you could try supplementing them with 200 milligrams of coenzyme Q10 daily. A few studies have also found that eating a couple of cloves of garlic a day, or 10 tablespoons of tomato sauce a week, helps. But eating right and exercising is such powerful medicine that they’d be blockbusters if they came in pill form.
Q: My husband and I are both senior citizens; we’re in good health and want to stay that way. I take calcium tablets every day, but I’ve heard that men shouldn’t take calcium. Why? Don’t men also get osteoporosis or brittle bones?
A: Yes, men get osteoporosis -- or its forerunner, osteopenia. And as men are living longer, we are seeing more of them break fragile bones as they get older, which makes them even older. That is, the breaks can be so physically limiting that the men can’t do anything, which can result in their untimely demise. So yes, we think that adult men should take the following twice a day: 600 milligrams (mg) of calcium, 500 international units (IU) of vitamin D, and 200 mg of magnesium. The D works with calcium to strengthen your bones; the magnesium counters the constipation that calcium supplements can cause.
Q: A man approached me at a ball game a few weekends ago and tried to sell me a product called Vemma. He said Dr. Oz recommends it. I have very bad arthritis -- I‘ve had both knees operated on. I take lots of medicine, and he assured me that I would be able to get off of all of it if I took this. What are your thoughts?
-- Anonymous
A: The product is actually called Verve -- it’s made by a company called Vemma, and it’s basically a multivitamin in a beverage. Both of us YOU docs periodically take it as a vitamin “insurance” supplement. Will it get you off other medicines? Only if your diet is so bad that nutrient deficiencies are causing the disease, and that isn’t very likely.
What is important for osteoarthritis is this: Do exercises that strengthen the muscles above and below the affected joints—this will help support them. (If needed, take pain relievers so you can do the exercises.) Eat a healthy diet -- see the first question of this column. Supplement it with these: Twice a day, take 500 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C, 600 mg of calcium, 500 international units (IU) of vitamin D, and 200 mg of magnesium. And walk, even if it hurts -- take analgesics to relieve it. People who did this regimen in a major medical study (Framingham) had no progression of their osteoarthritis. Those who didn’t got worse.
Q: In your book YOU: Staying Young, you say people should consume 20 grams of chia seeds twice a day. Is this correct? It seems like a lot.
-- William, via email
A: Yes, we do mean 20 grams of chia, which isn’t that much -- less than an ounce. But this tiny seed has big benefits: It has the highest antioxidant activity of any whole food, it decreases sharp blood sugar spikes after eating, and it may lower your blood pressure and risk of heart problems. You can add it to cereals, salads, yogurt, and smoothies or stir it into whatever you’re drinking (meaning water, tea, juice -- not gin and tonics). So it’s not hard to eat 20 grams.
Brought to you by YOU Docs Daily via Real Age available free on the WEB
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