Health

May

2013

Ten Ways to Lower Blood Pressure without Medication

Top Ten non-medical Tools to lower to lower blood pressure quickly:
#1 Reduce intake of foods that raise blood sugar and insulin. Potatoes, flour, cereal, pastries desserts are probably best avoided. Fruit juices and fruits aren’t so great either.

#2 Use insulin supporting nutritional supplements. The B-Complex is important and B3, Niacin is especially so. Consider taking several B-100 capsules daily; using the Beyond Tangy Tangerine and taking 100-20mg of TIMED RELEASE Niacin daily.

#3 Vitamin C not only has blood pressure lowering properties, but it plays a key role in strengthening blood vessels. Take 1000 to 5000 mg daily powdered in water; best to sip slowly

#4 Magnesium has multiple benefits for the cardiovascular system, not to mention the liver lungs brain and adrenal glands. Use 1000-2000 mg of Magnesium glycinate daily. All green leafy vegetables have magnesium

#5 Speaking of green leafys, make sure you’re eating lots of veggies. Veggie juices can be helpful too. Use a vitamix type blender so you don’t lose the fiber. Vegetables contain electrolytes that play a key role in keeping the blood pressure healthy. Think 1 pound of vegetables for every 50 pounds of body weight

#7 Coenzyme Q-10 is one of the most important of all cardiovascular supplements. I would be doing 100-200mg of the oil soluble capsules. They’re a bit pricey but well worth it. It’s great for the heart and liver and if you’re on a statin drug you’re ability take your own CoQ10 will be compromised. CoQ10 levels drop with age, so everyone should be supplementing as they get older.

#8 Lay out in the sun, (but don’t even come close to burning). Vitamin D can have a significant effect on lowering blood pressure.

#9 Omega-3s can be helpful and both fish oil and seed oils have their benefits. Both can thin the blood which will reduce pressure and help maintain fluidity. And lignins from flax have blood pressure lowering properties while Vitamin D from fish oil can support anti hypertension.

#10 And don’t forget to breathe. Slow deep breathing can have a rapid affect on lowering blood pressure. High blood pressure is a manifestation of the body’s generic response to stress. It indicates activation of the sympathetic (stress) nervous system. Deep breathing is the fastest way to attenuate to attenuate this sympathetic (stress) response. That means in addition to lowering blood pressure it support blood pressure health indirectly via other mechanisms. It can relieve anxiety and psychological stress. It can help you fall asleep too. And if you have issues with constipation it’s a great way to relax your bowels. All of these benefits can provide anti-hypertensive benefits. Make sure you’re breathing SLOWLY and DEEPLY into the lower part of your belly. If you can do three or 4 breaths a minute, 7 second inhale 7 second exhale or 10 second inhale and 10 second exhale.

Omron 7 Series Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor

Hypertension is a chronic elevation of blood pressure that affects at least 80 million Americans and increases their risk for strokes, aneurysms (burst blood vessels), and heart attacks. And that’s not all. Every single one of the 100 trillion cells in the human body is intimately dependent of the movement of blood through circulatory vessels. That means increases in blood pressure can have deleterious effects on the health of the brain, the kidney, the liver and the lungs among other organs and systems. . According to Dr. Sherry Rogers, writing in the book The Blood Pressure Hoax, 53 percent of deaths can be attributed at least in part to hypertension and high blood pressure triples the chances of an early demise.

Normal blood pressure which can be defined as the pressure or tension exerted on arterial walls as the blood circulates through the vessels is measures in a binary reading where the first number (the systolic measurement) indicates the arterial wall pressure as the heart is pumping and the second number refers to the pressure on the artery wall as the heart is relaxed (the diastolic measurement). Blood pressure readings are considered to be one of the most vital indicators of health and visit to a medical professional that will not include one. The standard unit of measurement is done millimeters of mercury and the desired range for normal adult is around 90-119 mm Hg (systolic) over 60-79 (diastole).

If you go to a physician and he determines that you have an elevated blood pressure, chances are pretty good you’re going to end up on medication and that is not a good thing. Blood pressure medicines do not address the causes of high blood pressure and come with potential for serious side effects. In fact anti-hypertensive, while among the most prescribed of all classes of medications is also among the most toxic. Even the most benign of blood pressure lowering medications, the diuretics (e.g. Hydrochlorothiazide or HCTZ), can increase risk for electrolyte loss, elevations in blood cholesterol and fats and heart arrhythmia, which are all interesting and ironic risks for a drug that’s supposed to protect the cardiovascular system. The more powerful of the anti hypertensives, the so called calcium channel blockers and beta blockers are even worse. Lethargy, digestive health issues, hypoglycemia and sexual problems are all common side affects as well arrhythmia, slow heart beat. Heart failure is not an unheard adverse reaction for these supposedly heart cardiac benefiting medicines. And, some raise the risk of cancer. In 2010, researchers form Case University Western Reserve university announced a …”modest but significant increase” in the risk of new cancer occurrences in patients taking so- called ACE inhibitor drugs, among the most popular of all anti hypertensive’s.

If you’ve been diagnosed with high blood pressure, it’s important to recognize that drugs are not your best treatment option. In fact given the many healthful alternatives drugs shouldn’t be a Treatment option at all. As we’ve said drugs do not address the cause of the hype4rtension. And they do not come without health or dollar cost. If you have been diagnoses as hypertensive, your best is to start to employ some nutritional, dietary and even lifestyle changes immediately.

Blood pressure is typically recorded as two numbers, written as a ratio like this:

Read as “117 over 76 millimeters of mercury”		SystolicThe top number, which is also the higher of the two numbers, measures the pressure in the arteries when the heart beats (when the heart muscle contracts).
		DiastolicThe bottom number, which is also the lower of the two numbers, measures the pressure in the arteries between heartbeats (when the heart muscle is resting between beats and refilling with blood).

What is the AHA recommendation for healthy blood pressure?

This chart reflects blood pressure categories defined by the American Heart Association.

Blood Pressure Category	Systolic mm Hg (upper #)		Diastolic mm Hg (lower #)
Normal	less than 120	and	less than 80
Prehypertension	120 – 139	or	80 – 89
High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) Stage 1	140 – 159	or	90 – 99
High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) Stage 2	160 or higher	or	100 or higher
Hypertensive Crisis (Emergency care needed)	Higher than 180	or	Higher than 110

May

2013

Melatonin: Biggest Health Bang For Your Money

By Ben Fuchs | Pharmacist Ben

There is no more cost-effective and versatile nutritional supplement in the average health food store than melatonin. First discovered by dermatology researchers at Yale University in 1958, melatonin was initially recognized for its skin lightening properties. Since then it has been shown to provide a wide range of health benefits from anti-oxidation and anti-aging to reducing blood pressure and improving cardiac function.

Typically, melatonin is produced by released from cells in the pineal gland as a normal part of the brain’s 24 hour sleep/wake cycle know as the circadian (circa-dia or “cycles of the day”) rhythm. Production of melatonin is tied to cyclic patterns of daylight and nighttime sensed by the retina and communicated to the brain. When this cycle is disrupted as in jet lag or working the late shift, melatonin secretion may be negatively affected. Senior citizens are also at risk for low secretion of melatonin as a normal consequence of the aging process.

The most common symptom of depressed melatonin secretion is insomnia. In the 1990’s this important biochemical became a popular sleep-aid supplement. Because its highest concentrations are secreted during the evening, a bedtime dose may allow patients to duplicate the melatonin levels that would be achieved under normal circumstances. It can also be used to improve sleep patterns after discontinuing the use of anti-anxiety medication. According to Dr. Russel Reiter in his bestselling book Melatonin, Your Body’s Natural Wonder Drug, as little as 10mg of melatonin can have “profound sleep-enhancing effects”.

Melatonin acquired its moniker from its anti-pigmenting properties on the skin of frogs. Composed of the Latin terms for black (“mela-”) for black and “-tonin” for control, melatonin has unfortunately not been shown to have the same effects on humans. However, melatonin may still provide cutaneous benefits. Researchers at The University of Zurich have found that topically applied melatonin may help protect the skin from harmful UV rays if applied prior to sun exposure.

Melatonin has also garnered a reputation among nutritional scientists as a potent anti-oxidant. Dr. Julio Ochoa of the institute of Nutrition and Food Technology calls melatonin “a potent free radical scavenger and broad spectrum antioxidant”. He also touts its benefits as an anti-inflammatory and considers it a viable candidate for decreasing oxidative stress associated with intense exercise.

Because its levels typically decrease with age, melatonin has attracted attention as an anti-aging supplement. According to several studies done at the Virginia Commonwealth University and published in the book “The Miracle of Melatonin”, mice given melatonin demonstrated extensions in both average and maximum lifespan. And a Chinese study published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences found that patients given melatonin exhibited reversal of damage associated with age-related macular degeneration.

And, as they say on the commercial, that’s not all! A Harvard study published in the January 20, 2004 issue of the journal “Hypertension” showed that taking melatonin for 21 days lowered blood pressure among 16 men with untreated high blood pressure. It is thought that melatonin’s natural effects on improving the circadian cycle accounts for its anti-hypertensive effects. Also, because some blood pressure drugs may have a depressant effect on melatonin levels hypertensive patients on pharmaceuticals may want to consider adding a melatonin supplement to their medication regimen.

In 1994, German scientists curious about melatonin’s effects on the heart found that melatonin blocked the formation of cholesterol by up to 38%. LDL accumulations were shown to decrease by up to 42%. And in the B-Oval contraceptive study, conducted on 1400 women, and which included a melatonin supplement, it was found that participants had “significantly lower” cholesterol levels than they had before starting the study.

Melatonin is readily available in health food stores in tablets and capsules. I like the sublingual form which dissolves under the tongue. A good starting dose is 3 mg at bedtime, although some people can take as much as 15mg a night with no residual morning grogginess, which is the only potential side effect of note. And at less than 10 cents for a 3 mg tablet, it’s an incredibly economical way to achieve numerous health benefits.

May

2013

Sleep Better With Theanine

By Ben Fuchs | Pharmacist Ben

I wrote about about the relaxing properties of the neurotransmitter GABA, which can be taken as a nutritional supplement. Well, it turns out that many of the benefits of GABA can also be obtained by taking its precursor, a rarely heard-of nutritional supplement called theanine.

Theanine is an amino acid that is found naturally in the green tea plant and may be responsible for the improved sense of well-being and relaxation that aficionados claim they receive from the popular Asian beverage. Like GABA, it can improve the quality of sleep and can provide a calming effect for anxiety sufferers. Unlike its more well-known derivative however, theanine crosses the brain barrier and may thus have more significant effects on the nervous system. And, it’s an anti-oxidant too.

If you’ve tried GABA and have not been satisfied with the results, you may want to consider replacing it with theanine. It’s analogous to the amino acid glutamine, which provides comprehensive health benefits although it is unclear where or not these benefits may also be obtained via theanine supplementation. Theanine has been shown to improve the levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which is associated with feeling of reward and pleasure, and this may account for some of theanine’s reported positive effects on mood.

It may have beneficial effects on the immune system too. A study done in 2003 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston found that patients drinking theanine-containing beverages had up to 5 times higher levels of anti-bacterial peptides than those who didn’t drink the beverages.

The best bet on theanine for relaxation is 200 mg to 400 mg a day. There are not a lot of studies though, so the jury’s still out on exactly how much benefit it can provide in a real-life setting, but from a biochemistry standpoint theanine looks like it’s got some potential. If you’re taking GABA and not getting the results you want, or maybe if you want a little more relaxation or deeper sleep, taking a couple this little known nutritional supplement at bedtime might be something you’d want to try.

May

2013

Gaga For GABA: Love Nutrient For the Endocrine System

By Ben Fuchs | Pharmacist Ben

Like many nutrients, with the exception of the essential ones, GABA is a chemical component that is produced by the body, but one that can be taken as a supplement for maximum benefit.

It is technically a neurotransmitter, which simply means it is a chemical that affects nerves; in the case of GABA, the effects are inhibitory, which means it’s got some nice anti-stress effects. There are prescription drugs such as the benzodiazepines (diazepam for example) that induce relaxing effects by exploiting the GABA neurological system.

GABA can be taken as a sleep aid and it has been used by anxiety sufferers to improve their sense of well-being. Body-builders have a special fondness for GABA because it can help improve growth hormone levels. According to well-known study done at The University Of Milan, Italy, 90 minutes after supplementation with 5000mg of GABA, levels of growth hormone increased by 5 times.

GABA may help improve concentration and also can be used for its soporific effects to help alleviate insomnia. Try taking one or two grams before going to bed, it may help you get a good night’s sleep and you’ll be helping support the nighttime growth hormone surge that occurs as part of normal endocrine functioning.

gamma-Aminobutyric acid

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
γ-Aminobutyric acid is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system. It plays a role in regulating neuronal excitability throughout the nervous system. In humans, GABA is also directly responsible for the regulation of muscle tone.

Structure and conformation
GABA is found mostly as a zwitterion, that is, with the carboxy group deprotonated and the amino group protonated. Its conformation depends on its environment. In the gas phase, a highly folded conformation is strongly favored because of the electrostatic attraction between the two functional groups. The stabilization is about 50 kcal/mol, according to quantum chemistry calculations. In the solid state, a more extended conformation is found, with a trans conformation at the amino end and a gauche conformation at the carboxyl end. This is due to the packing interactions with the neighboring molecules. In solution, five different conformations, some folded and some extended, are found as a result of solvation effects. The conformational flexibility of GABA is important for its biological function, as it has been found to bind to different receptors with different conformations. Many GABA analogues with pharmaceutical applications have more rigid structures in order to control the binding better.

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Serving Size: 1 Capsule
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May

2013

Fluoride Could Be Causing Your Heartburn

By Ben Fuchs | Pharmacist Ben

By now, most people reading these posts are aware that adding fluoride to drinking water is not such a great idea. Aside from the dubious benefits to teeth, fluoride is a known toxin. According to the Fluoride Action Network, ingestion of as little as 1 per cent of a tube of toothpaste can produce acute fluoride toxicity in a young child.

Every year, U.S. poison control centers receive thousands of reports related to excessive ingestion of fluoride dental products, which include toothpastes, mouth rinses and supplements.

The story of the addition of fluoride to municipal drinking water is not pretty, and now it turns out that many symptoms of indigestion and excess stomach acid may be related to fluoride toxicity. Fluoride is turned into hydrofluoric acid by digestive juices and this can have a corrosive effect on the lining of the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, scientists at The All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi have published research in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology that fluoride itself can create changes in digestive tract cells. Substances that create structural changes in biological cell systems are clearly problematic and to be avoided.

If you’re one of the unlucky folks living a municipality that is fluoridating their water (according to a 2002 study cited on the US Center for Disease Control website, that includes 67% of the United States population), it may be a good idea to use a fluoride filtration system. The two most commonly used are activated alumina and the SIR-900 which is a synthetic aluminum oxide. Cheap charcoal filters do not filter out fluoride, but reverse osmosis water and distilled water are typically free of the troublesome chemical compound. And, if you have problems with indigestion or unexplained production of excess stomach acid, drinking fluoride-free water may be especially beneficial.

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