High Blood Pressure
nena49659
Posts: 260 Member
I began my adventure into trying to lose weight due to high blood pressure. I've been excersizing regularly for 3 months now and changed my eating habits, as well. The result? Very little change in weight and NO change in blood pressure.
Yesterday, I read that getting more potassium into your system can help to lower the systolic portion of your blood pressure. However, after eating a snack of raisins today, I noticed that MOST foods high in potassium are also high in sugar! **Grumble grumble** After a mere quarter cup of raisins for my snack, I only have 3 grams of sugar left to eat for the day!
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Yesterday, I read that getting more potassium into your system can help to lower the systolic portion of your blood pressure. However, after eating a snack of raisins today, I noticed that MOST foods high in potassium are also high in sugar! **Grumble grumble** After a mere quarter cup of raisins for my snack, I only have 3 grams of sugar left to eat for the day!
Does anyone have any suggestions?
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Replies
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I began my adventure into trying to lose weight due to high blood pressure. I've been excersizing regularly for 3 months now and changed my eating habits, as well. The result? Very little change in weight and NO change in blood pressure.
Yesterday, I read that getting more potassium into your system can help to lower the systolic portion of your blood pressure. However, after eating a snack of raisins today, I noticed that MOST foods high in potassium are also high in sugar! **Grumble grumble** After a mere quarter cup of raisins for my snack, I only have 3 grams of sugar left to eat for the day!
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Fish oil supplements (Omega 3) can perhaps help a little.
You can also use Morton's Salt Substitute (which is a potassium salt rather than the usual sodium salt) to increase your potassium intake ( http://www.mortonsalt.com/for-your-home/culinary-salts/food-salts/5/morton-salt-substitute/ )0 -
I began my adventure into trying to lose weight due to high blood pressure. I've been excersizing regularly for 3 months now and changed my eating habits, as well. The result? Very little change in weight and NO change in blood pressure.
Yesterday, I read that getting more potassium into your system can help to lower the systolic portion of your blood pressure. However, after eating a snack of raisins today, I noticed that MOST foods high in potassium are also high in sugar! **Grumble grumble** After a mere quarter cup of raisins for my snack, I only have 3 grams of sugar left to eat for the day!
Does anyone have any suggestions?
My diary is open...I have a lot of potassium...I don't have a lot of sugar. Also, sometimes it is what it is. I've reversed just about everything bad and nasty with diet and exercise and have gone from being on 7 medications to 2 medications...those 2 are for my blood pressure which is largely hereditary for me and apparently has little to do with my lifestyle...but rocking my fitness and nutrition has helped me immensely in other regards and I've lost around 35 Lbs to boot.0 -
Also...for more potassium...more green veggies...more fruit...more roughage in general. Also, you may be getting more than you think you're getting because it isn't required to be labeled on food products so many things that have potassium just don't tell you.
Some good sources...
- Low sodium V8
- Broccoli
- Chard (also spinach, kale, and pretty much leafy greens in general, by chard rules all)
- Cocnut water
- legumes (beans, nuts, etc)
- fruit
- Avocado
and the list goes on...lots of stuff with potassium that isn't high in sugar0 -
One goal of mine is to get off of blood pressure meds--I'm really hoping I can.
I do tend to look at sodium more than any other macros. I try to eat not as much processed/canned/boxed foods--but still do; just not as much and I am more aware of it.0 -
My suggestion is to not worry about the sugar as long as your total carbs are within your desired range. Sugars are just carbohydrates.0
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I think the sugar macros here on MFP are off ... I don't know of many people that can actually stay under the MFP default. It don't differentiate between natural sugars and processed sugars. While you should be aware of the natural sugars, fruit is good for you. My hubby was able to get both his blood pressure and cholesterol down with diet and exercise.0
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Also natural sources of sugar aren't as a big of a worry because in fruits and veg they're combined with other goodies like vitamins, fiber, etc and digest slower than added/processed sugars. Unless you also have to worry about blood sugar levels, don't worry too much bout your natural sugar intake.
My workout buddy is also hypertensive and was able to go over her BP meds for a bit but ended up being put back on due to her BP spiking after she went on vacation (not sure exactly what triggered that). Hers is genetic and therefore harder to regulate with proper diet and exercise.
OP, are you lowering your sodium intake? i would be much more concerned about that than sugars for hypertension.0 -
I don't have any personal experience but there was a study a few years back that concluded a low carb diet was better for reducing blood pressure. I haven't looked into it all but if you're open to eating a low carb diet it might be worth looking into.
Low-carb diet best for lowering blood pressure:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/01/26/us-low-carb-idUSTRE60P6HG201001260 -
Yes, I am trying to lower my sodium intake, as well. Until the past year or so, I've never been big on salt anyway. Except, on chips. Which I don't eat much of anymore either.0
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If you want a super high potassium shake go look at my diary yesterday...except the coffee and creamer, that wasn't part of it
Other foods high in potassium:
White mushrooms
Lentils
Black beans
Brussels sprouts
Coconut water
Avocado
Spinach
Plain yogurt
Cottage cheese
Salmon
Potatoes
Sweet potatoes
What helped my blood pressure was maintaining a 3:1 potassium to sodium ratio and drinking lots of water. This week hasn't beengreat on potassium but you can look back at my diary and get some ideas.0 -
ncmedic201 wrote: »If you want a super high potassium shake go look at my diary yesterday...except the coffee and creamer, that wasn't part of it
Other foods high in potassium:
White mushrooms
Lentils
Black beans
Brussels sprouts
Coconut water
Avocado
Spinach
Plain yogurt
Cottage cheese
Salmon
Potatoes
Sweet potatoes
What helped my blood pressure was maintaining a 3:1 potassium to sodium ratio and drinking lots of water. This week hasn't beengreat on potassium but you can look back at my diary and get some ideas.
I'm going to try your suggestion. Thanks for sharing!
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The biggest thing that helped lower my BP was losing weight. Calorie deficit.0
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The biggest thing that helped lower my BP was losing weight. Calorie deficit.
This! Unless you have a genetic pre-disposition, and some people do, then losing weight will do wonders for your BP.
My doctor first cut my medications in half, then in quarter and now I'm off any and all medications. It's really amazing to me!0 -
The biggest thing that helped lower my BP was losing weight. Calorie deficit.
How much weight had you loss when you began to see results? This study I found says 8 to10 lbs. loss will lower it. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0005068/ I'm there. Now I'm focusing on my BMI.0 -
Be careful playing around with electrolytes without consulting a physician. Potassium and sodium must be in balance in order for our muscles to function properly, and our heart (cardiovascular system) can take a hit if those two are not at adequate levels. Also, your genetic make up and/or other medications could be a factor in your HTN so again, consult a physician for proper management of your condition.
Good luck!0 -
The biggest thing that helped lower my BP was losing weight. Calorie deficit.
This! Unless you have a genetic pre-disposition, and some people do, then losing weight will do wonders for your BP.
My doctor first cut my medications in half, then in quarter and now I'm off any and all medications. It's really amazing to me!
That's great. I told my doctor during my last physical in October I wanted to try to lose weight instead of continuing my med, Hyzaar. He told me the he didn't recommend it, but he could not compel me to keep taking it. I had lost 6 lbs. at that point now I'm at 8 and counting. Gotta go check my pressure today.
I also told him that I would come to the office to have it checked every 2 weeks also. I'm due for that Monday. I'm making decent progress. I'm not a spring chicken, so I have to shed this weight now. 0 -
I began my adventure into trying to lose weight due to high blood pressure. I've been excersizing regularly for 3 months now and changed my eating habits, as well. The result? Very little change in weight and NO change in blood pressure.
Yesterday, I read that getting more potassium into your system can help to lower the systolic portion of your blood pressure. However, after eating a snack of raisins today, I noticed that MOST foods high in potassium are also high in sugar! **Grumble grumble** After a mere quarter cup of raisins for my snack, I only have 3 grams of sugar left to eat for the day!
Does anyone have any suggestions?
I understand just how you feel. I felt like that too a couple years ago. There are "many" things you can do to get the BP down. For one thing, coconut water is good for you and has lots of potassium and other necessary electrolytes. But, do not be fearful of raisins. I eat them daily. The sugar in them is natural, not added.
Also, get an app to lower BP. I do slow breathing exercises for 15 minutes three times a week and I do hand squeeze isometric exercises three times a week according to the Air Force standard that has been proved to lower BP. I also took Lycopene. Doing all this brought my BP down and now I'm off medication.
The more we stress about it, the more it goes up. And, as you lose weight, it will go down as well. Exercise does cause it to go down. At least it should. Perhaps not right after exercise but about a half hour afterwards.
There are also isometric exercises you can do. Do some research on your own. YOu can lower your own BP. If you need medication, take it. But if you have not been given it yet, take this opportunity to get it down and do not be discouraged. It takes awhile.
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Losing weight and getting down in size vastly improved my health. I did a complete overhaul on myself. When I started this most recent weight loss journey I had the trifecta, High blood pressure (some of that is hereditary - some was diet) diabetes (insulin dependent) and high cholesterol. I totally changed my eating habits and do some sort of low intensity exercise daily (generally just walking 2-3 miles a day at a 2.5 mph speed so not very fast)
Now I take 1/2 a pill for the blood pressure and have stopped all diabetic and cholesterol meds.
So depending on what kind of changes you make, it is possible
Just keep working at it0 -
Most foods actually have plenty of potassium. You mentioned eating raisins for potassium. A 100g serving of chicken breast (measured uncooked) has about the same amount of potassium as a calorically-equivalent serving of raisins. Boom, problem solved. But beans and potatoes are my go-to when I want a potassium boost, they're hugely helpful.
Be aware that the MFP database is missing potassium data on most of the entries. Just because an entry says a food doesn't have potassium doesn't mean it doesn't have potassium, or indeed that it isn't even a high potassium food! In fact, most foods have some potassium (for instance, an 8 oz cup of black coffee alone has >100 mg), so if the food entry says zero or N/A in the potassium field it's almost sure to be wrong.
If you want to track your potassium intake more accurately and you mostly eat packaged foods you're out of luck, because it would be very difficult to find accurate potassium data for many of them, as U.S. nutrition labelling standards do not require food marketers to include potassium data.
However, if you cook from ingredients a lot and/or just eat a lot of simple foods that are in the U.S.D.A. database, you're in luck. If you log things like your meat, dairy, fruits, veg, whole grains (like rice, oats, quinoa, barley, etc.) from using the U.S.D.A. database entry instead of from any member-submitted entry or from a brand-name that packages those products, you can get the entry that includes potassium and get a better read on your potassium intake. Just be sure to search for the food entry that does /not/ have an asterisk by the name. The asterisk means it was member-submitted, but the "good" U.S.D.A. entries were included in the core database by MFP itself at the beginning and are not member-submitted.0 -
I began my adventure into trying to lose weight due to high blood pressure. I've been excersizing regularly for 3 months now and changed my eating habits, as well. The result? Very little change in weight and NO change in blood pressure.
Yesterday, I read that getting more potassium into your system can help to lower the systolic portion of your blood pressure. However, after eating a snack of raisins today, I noticed that MOST foods high in potassium are also high in sugar! **Grumble grumble** After a mere quarter cup of raisins for my snack, I only have 3 grams of sugar left to eat for the day!
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Hi Nena -
First suggestion is to have patience. You didn't get where you are in three months. Getting back to healthy takes time but the time goes by anyway. May as well use it changing your lifestyle. You have a good start! Now make educating yourself about a healthy diet your next step. Apply what you learn to your life.
Don't count on losing weight by exercising alone. Use the tools on MFP and actively log your food. Use MFP and the internet to educate yourself about a healthy diet for a pre-diabetic as well as for losing weight. I think that exercise and focusing on losing weight may impact your blood-pressure more than focusing on one element like potassium or salt. A diet rich in fresh vegetables and fruits will give you all the nutrients you need. Getting into preparing meals from fresh ingredients, rather than pre-packaged, will lower your sodium.
Check out the Glycemic Index. I find it a handy tool for quickly accessing which foods are beneficial to a diet for pre-diabetics. After doing a lot of reading on this, I stopped worrying about sugar from fruit. It still has to be within my calorie limit for the day but, because of the fiber, it doesn't cause a spike in blood sugar with resultant spikes in insulin. I mentally tally the added/processed sugars in my MFP total for the day and try to keep that number under 30g.
Glycemic Index FAQs
GI Table of Fruits and Vegetables
Diabetes Superfoods
Setting Your Calories and Macros
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TwizzlerGirl13 wrote: »The biggest thing that helped lower my BP was losing weight. Calorie deficit.
This! Unless you have a genetic pre-disposition, and some people do, then losing weight will do wonders for your BP.
My doctor first cut my medications in half, then in quarter and now I'm off any and all medications. It's really amazing to me!
That's great. I told my doctor during my last physical in October I wanted to try to lose weight instead of continuing my med, Hyzaar. He told me the he didn't recommend it, but he could not compel me to keep taking it. I had lost 6 lbs. at that point now I'm at 8 and counting. Gotta go check my pressure today. I also told him that I would come to the office to have it checked every 2 weeks also. I'm due for that Monday. I'm making decent progress. I'm not a spring chicken, so I have to shed this weight now.
I'm 64 and had been on medication for about 10 or 12 years. My doctor gradually took me off. I monitored my BP at home and kept notes for her. It actually got quite low every time before she would lower it.
I've lost over 50 pounds in about 14 months so it's been a slow process. I only have about 15 - 20 more to go.
Good luck. It's funny because she didn't think I would get off completely either.0 -
I think I was about 40 - 50 lbs down when my doctor said I no longer needed the BP meds.TwizzlerGirl13 wrote: »How much weight had you loss when you began to see results?
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TwizzlerGirl13 wrote: »The biggest thing that helped lower my BP was losing weight. Calorie deficit.
This! Unless you have a genetic pre-disposition, and some people do, then losing weight will do wonders for your BP.
My doctor first cut my medications in half, then in quarter and now I'm off any and all medications. It's really amazing to me!
That's great. I told my doctor during my last physical in October I wanted to try to lose weight instead of continuing my med, Hyzaar. He told me the he didn't recommend it, but he could not compel me to keep taking it. I had lost 6 lbs. at that point now I'm at 8 and counting. Gotta go check my pressure today. I also told him that I would come to the office to have it checked every 2 weeks also. I'm due for that Monday. I'm making decent progress. I'm not a spring chicken, so I have to shed this weight now.
I'm 64 and had been on medication for about 10 or 12 years. My doctor gradually took me off. I monitored my BP at home and kept notes for her. It actually got quite low every time before she would lower it.
I've lost over 50 pounds in about 14 months so it's been a slow process. I only have about 15 - 20 more to go.
Good luck. It's funny because she didn't think I would get off completely either.
You're my HERO! Thanks for sharing.
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I think I was about 40 - 50 lbs down when my doctor said I no longer needed the BP meds.TwizzlerGirl13 wrote: »How much weight had you loss when you began to see results?
My doctor actually told me that he would give me 3 months. He saw that I was serious with the weight I had loss already. I need to lose about the same. Need to get my BMI down in the 20s. It's in the high 30s right now. Thanks for sharing.0 -
TwizzlerGirl13 wrote: »TwizzlerGirl13 wrote: »The biggest thing that helped lower my BP was losing weight. Calorie deficit.
This! Unless you have a genetic pre-disposition, and some people do, then losing weight will do wonders for your BP.
My doctor first cut my medications in half, then in quarter and now I'm off any and all medications. It's really amazing to me!
That's great. I told my doctor during my last physical in October I wanted to try to lose weight instead of continuing my med, Hyzaar. He told me the he didn't recommend it, but he could not compel me to keep taking it. I had lost 6 lbs. at that point now I'm at 8 and counting. Gotta go check my pressure today. I also told him that I would come to the office to have it checked every 2 weeks also. I'm due for that Monday. I'm making decent progress. I'm not a spring chicken, so I have to shed this weight now.
I'm 64 and had been on medication for about 10 or 12 years. My doctor gradually took me off. I monitored my BP at home and kept notes for her. It actually got quite low every time before she would lower it.
I've lost over 50 pounds in about 14 months so it's been a slow process. I only have about 15 - 20 more to go.
Good luck. It's funny because she didn't think I would get off completely either.
You're my HERO! Thanks for sharing.
LOL, just an old lady trying to delay the inevitable!0 -
Also recommend looking for The Dash Diet. "Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension" not a fad diet - recommended by many doctors. Many books available but you can get the basic diet online for free.
Good luck.0 -
Thanks I will take a look at it again. MFP allows me to keep a good track of my sodium and potassium as long as I am honest in my entries. I'm pretty used to eating within my caloric count and my sodium is always slow. I believe the dash diet will help me out even more.dasher602014 wrote: »Also recommend looking for The Dash Diet. "Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension" not a fad diet - recommended by many doctors. Many books available but you can get the basic diet online for free.
Good luck.0 -
TwizzlerGirl13 wrote: »
Thanks I will take a look at it again. MFP allows me to keep a good track of my sodium and potassium as long as I am honest in my entries. I'm pretty used to eating within my caloric count and my sodium is always slow. I believe the dash diet will help me out even more.dasher602014 wrote: »Also recommend looking for The Dash Diet. "Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension" not a fad diet - recommended by many doctors. Many books available but you can get the basic diet online for free.
Good luck.
Just a caution -- MFP does NOT allow you to track potassium unless you only cook from scratch and use USDA entries for basic foods (whole foods, commodity foods, whatever you want to call them) or the very few packaged foods that actually include potassium information on the label. The FDA (in the U.S.) does not require potassium information to be included on food labels.
I used to look up roughly equivalent amounts of the main ingredient in packaged foods on the USDA nutrient database for potassium amounts, and do "quick add potassium" entries, but that got old pretty fast, plus my blood pressure came down with exercise and weight loss, combined with being a little more conscientious (I was already pretty good with my diet) about eating more foods containing minerals important in regulating your blood pressure: potassium (e.g., bananas, kiwis, potatoes, pistachios, avocados, swiss chard, etc.); magnesium (e.g., spinach, cocoa powder, pumpkin seeds, swiss chard, white beans, etc.); calcium (e.g., yogurt and other dairy, soy milk, collard greens, sardines with bones, etc.).0 -
I do cook a majority of my food. I have to. I am careful, it's my life I'm wagering. I know you know that lots of foods have unnecessary sodium added, so I have to cook fresh veggies, fish, meat etc. Thank you again.0
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OK, this is a bit extreme but to my surprise, for me at least, it's working. I have a doctors appointment next week and will see what he says.
I've had high blood pressure for 12 years. Nothing will change it. I take 3 pills a day since and still have to be careful.
I read one of these weird things about juice and though, what the hell, nothing to loose, lets try it
So, 3 raw beetroots
2 apples and a large handful of grapes, juiced up. Sounds disgusting, taste surprisingly nice
Drink one of those per day. I check my pressure results daily and since drinking this, almost a week I'm getting the lowest ever results I've seen in 12 years.
Whether it's sustainable I don't know. Whether it works long term, I don't know
Am I claiming this is the magic antidote for everyone, NO!
Just saying, at the moment, for me, it appears to be working0
This discussion has been closed.
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