Blood pressure help!!

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gottagetitoff11
gottagetitoff11 Posts: 122 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have had high bp for a while now. Im on meds for it and for the most part they have been helping keep it down but lately its been creaping back up.

I was wondering if anyone knows how total fluids and food affects blood pressure. I have read that too little fluids can raise your bp but i have also read that too much total fluids can raise your bp. Now i also read that too little food can raise your bp but also read that too much protein and carbs can raise your bp.

Now before anyone asks or says talk to my dr my dr is an *kitten* as of right now im trying to find one who is tsking on new patients. My last bllod work kidneys and things were all good.

Im trying to see if anyone here lowered their bp and meds by their way of eating. I need advice on how much total fluids i should aim for and what to set my macros to. I read a study online saying that people with high blood pressure who eat 104g protein a day seen a drop in bp. Also those who lowered their carbs seen a drop in bp.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Replies

  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    Overall weightloss has lowered my BP. I've never been on meds for it but being 5'3" at 254 lbs put me at 130/90 when I went for a checkup in September. I started MFP on October 30th. Basically eating what I wanted within my calories, going mostly healthy with a few indulgences, and getting more exercise. I went for a follow-up in March and found that 1) I'd dropped 44 lbs (only shock there was that my doctor's scale was 'nicer' than mine; it was showing me 42 at that point) and that my BP had dropped to 125/85. In other words from the border between 'pre-hypertension' and 'hypertension' to the middle of the range.

    And though you haven't asked this, I'll just state for the record that I routinely go over the sodium recommendations by quite a bit. Being over 1,000 mg over on any given day isn't uncommon. Now, I wasn't tracking sodium intake before MFP. So was I getting more than 2,000 mg over recommendation before that and now, even though it's still high, it's lower? Very possible. I've always had more of a 'salt' tooth than a sweet tooth, so it wouldn't shock me any. I mention this because although there is some correlation between high sodium and bp, mine still lowered.
  • PKM0515
    PKM0515 Posts: 2,937 Member
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    Look into the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) Diet.
  • mattreadfx
    mattreadfx Posts: 50 Member
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    SaraKim17 wrote: »
    Look into the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) Diet.

    Yup, this helped me when i investigated a couple of years ago.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Blood pressure goes up and down all day.

    Weight loss is what finally got my BP in normal range. No magic foods. Lowering your salt intake, eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, good oils, and moderate protein including fatty fish, can help (the DASH diet).

    Factors that can cause a spike in blood pressure:
    Standing up
    Talking
    Visiting the doctor's office
    Exercise
    Embarrassment
    Anger

    Factors that can temporarily lower your blood pressure:
    Petting a cat or dog
    Meditation
    Laying down

    However regular exercise did improve my overall vascular health and lowered my heart rate (not my BP).
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
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    What helped for me was not drinking alcohol and not smoking. Those two cut my blood pressure from hypertensive to consistently low.

    Sodium/diet made little to no difference.
  • allyphoe
    allyphoe Posts: 618 Member
    edited May 2017
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    DASH diet, lower sodium (I average 1200mg a day), 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a day, and BMI just barely over 25 have not been enough for me. Maybe additional weight loss will help, but not so far.
  • jen_092
    jen_092 Posts: 254 Member
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    DASH diet (I honestly didn't commit to it very well but it's a needed guideline to get started), lower sodium, and exercise lowered my BP. It went down with my weight, basically.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
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    SaraKim17 wrote: »
    Look into the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) Diet.

    This is good. Also, exercise will help.
  • jen_092
    jen_092 Posts: 254 Member
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    @allyphoe yes maybe additional weightloss, but some people are just genetically predisposed. I suspect mine will go back up with my age, because I'm only 24 and I was diagnosed when I was 20 lbs overweight.
  • allyphoe
    allyphoe Posts: 618 Member
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    jen_092 wrote: »
    @allyphoe yes maybe additional weightloss, but some people are just genetically predisposed. I suspect mine will go back up with my age, because I'm only 24 and I was diagnosed when I was 20 lbs overweight.

    Yep. Sometimes you need to just take your meds!

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