The American Heart Association (AHA) examined the findings of 14 different studies that looked into the effects of air pollution particles on more than 350,000 children from the US, China, Europe, between the ages of five and 12.

The AHA found that short-term and long-term exposure to common air pollutants like nitrogen dioxide could raise the blood pressure levels in children significantly. Professor Yao Lu, the study’s lead author, says that this link between air pollution and high blood pressure puts children at a greater risk for heart disease as adults.

They found that short-term exposure of less than 30 days to larger, coarse particles was enough to significantly raise systolic blood pressure – the pressure in your arteries during the contraction of your heart muscle. The same result was found for those children who were exposed to longer-term fine particles and nitrogen dioxide from traffic pollution.

Air pollution puts children as young as FIVE at greater risk of high blood pressure and heart disease, study warns

To learn more about high blood pressure and how to correct it, check out this article.

If  you’re reading this article, there’s a good chance that you or someone you know has been diagnosed with hypertension (also known as high blood pressure). It may be a worrying condition, but still, there are several things you can do about it: physical exercise, managing stress, quitting smoking, and of course dietary changes.

One of the most significant yet uncommonly practiced approach is cutting out salt. A small decrease in sodium intake can actually lower blood pressure by 2 to 8 mm Hg. You can flavor your food with organic salt alternatives that are readily available just around the corner! Not only are they beneficial in the reduction of sodium intake, they are also rich in many nutrients like magnesium and potassium, which are helpful in the management of hypertension. Plus, the taste is just great!

Let’s identify the best ones.

Sunflower Seeds

Sunflower seeds are a really good salt alternative that comes from a common wildflower in North America. The taste is nutty and vaguely sweet.

Other Blood Pressure Benefits

There is more to sunflower seeds than being a salt alternative. They carry a peptide that helps lower blood pressure and they contain fiber, protein, folic acid, magnesium, copper, magnesium, tryptophan, phosphorus, selenium, and vitamins E, B1, and B6, for healthy blood and blood flow.

Preparation/Usage

Eat sunflower seeds raw or roasted and unsalted. Always note that sunflower seeds make a good snack, but you can also add them to salads, oatmeal, or wild rice dishes to add some crunch.

Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

The lemon is believed to be a hybrid between citron and bitter orange. Based on historical research, the fruit is found to have hailed originally from Asia. Lemons contain a lot of acid, making the flavor of the juice, tart and bracing.

Other Blood Pressure Benefits

The juice of the lemon keeps blood vessels pliable and soft, easing and improving the blood flow. Blood pressure becomes reduced – thereby blood can flow easily away from and towards the heart. Also, lemon juice is packed with Vitamin C, which is an antioxidant. Antioxidants neutralize the damaging effects of free radicals.

Preparation/Usage

Lemon juice can be used in so many ways. You can squeeze it into green tea or plain water for a little kick, or use it as a topping on salads, on fish or chicken, on pasta, or in your morning green smoothie.

Onion Powder

Onion powder is a dehydrated and grounded spice out of an onion bulb. The powder is commonly used as a seasoning ingredient in many spice mixes. Be careful not to confuse “onion powder” with “onion salt”. Onion salt is an onion powder with added salt. Stick with its plain powder form. Onion powder tastes sweet, spicy, and earthy, and in some cases, strong.

Other Blood Pressure Benefits

Onions contain Vitamin C and chromium. Pure onion powder induces the production of good cholesterol (HDL), and in doing so, it keeps your heart healthy and helps keep blood pressure in control.

Preparation/Usage

Onion powder is great in soups and stews, sprinkled on baked sweet potato wedges, and just about any other dish that will complement its complex flavor. Since powder is stronger than a raw, fresh onion, you should add it later in the process of cooking or baking.

Black Pepper Powder

The black pepper powder is a salt alternative that is native to India. It comes from a flowering vine that’s cultivated and dried for use as a spice and seasoning for a variety of foods. It tastes a bit acrid.

Other Blood Pressure Benefits

The peppercorn, whether whole or ground, aids in the breakdown of fat cells. Since obesity can lead to hypertension, this is a great way to keep weight in check.

Preparation/Usage

Peppercorn is delicious on egg whites, in tomato drinks, as a sprinkle on chicken or fish, and in just about any other dish you currently spice with salt.

Garlic Powder

Garlic is a bulb that is native to central Asia, but it’s been long associated with Italian food. Garlic powder has been used for over 7,000 years in the human diet, and was utilized as a medicine by the ancient Egyptians. The taste is rich and complex, with a slightly oniony undertone.

Other Blood Pressure Benefits

Garlic inhibits the body’s production of angiotensin II, a blood vessel constrictor that is responsible for increasing the pressure in your veins.

Preparation/Usage

You can actually take garlic powder in pill form as a supplement — a 600mg dose contains 3.6 mg of allicin, which is said to lower the blood pressure by 10% — but you can’t deny how it can tastier as an added ingredient to food. You may sprinkle it on healthy whole grain toast to make garlic bread, or use it on vegetable pasta.

Bay Leaf

The Bay Leaf is native to the Mediterranean, a product out of the old time favorite Bay Laurel tree. The flavor comes from its very sharp aroma, and tastes bitter.

Other Blood Pressure Benefits

Studies have shown that adding bay leaves to one’s diet can reduce glucose and lipids – aka, sugar and fat – in the blood.

Preparation/Usage

Add bay leaves to soups and stews, spaghetti sauces, and just about any dish you simmer. If you have headaches (a common symptom of blood vessel constriction and increased blood pressure), a well-known effective herbal remedy is  hot tea using three dried or fresh bay leaves, and letting them steep for 10 minutes before drinking.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a savory spice that comes from the inner bark of trees of the genus Cinnamomum. There are two varieties of cinnamon, Chinese and Ceylon. The taste is sharp, sweet, and warm.

Other Blood Pressure Benefits

The mechanism of action is not well understood, but clinical studies have shown that even short-term use of ground cinnamon can significantly lower high blood pressure. It also reduces glucose levels, making it especially helpful for people with diabetes in addition to hypertension.

Preparation/Usage

The spice is sweet, and a bit fruity, so it’s best in breakfast preparations such as whole grain toast or cereal, a healthy morning smoothie, a low fat yogurt, or hot oatmeal. It’s also well-fitting to have with herbal tea in its stick form. It’s good in some soups, as well.

Conclusion

Hypertension can lead to heart attacks, strokes and even kidney failure. A blood pressure reading of 140/90 mm Hg or above is generally considered high. But fortunately, it’s a good thing to know that hypertension is a highly manageable condition. In fact, the DASH (Dietary Approaches To Stop Hypertension) was developed as a dietary plan to specifically deal with the condition. You may want to take a look at these DASH diet recipes.

Editor’s Note:

A limited diet of processed foods with refined salt leads to hypertension, but salt is not the bad guy here. The refined white table salt has beens stripped of its beneficial minerals so the companies can sell them back to you.  Make sure the salt you use is not refined and therefore not void of the nutritional benefits we need from it. Just like sugar, in its natural form salt is good for us and absolutely essential. On the other hand, cooking with herbs and seasonings is an easy way to improve your health and the taste of your food. If you want to lower your blood pressure quickly, try this protocol Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included for a few days and then get your blood pressure checked. You’ll be amazed.

Recommended Reading:

• Hypertension – How To Lower Your Blood Pressure Quickly and Naturally
• Salt is Good For You
• Cayenne and Capsaicin, Natures Miracle Medicine
• Cinnamon – Ceylon Vs Cassia, Health Benefits, and Other Interesting Facts
• Things You Should Know About Garlic – DIY, Recipes, Other Tips

One in three American adults has high blood pressure, a condition that increases the risk of heart disease (the number one cause of death in the U.S.) and stroke (the number three cause of death) as well as aneurysm, metabolic syndrome, impaired vision, kidney disease, and mental deficits.

Risk factors for hypertension include the following:

• Age (For men risk increases about age 45; for women risk increases after age 65.)
• Race (African Americans are at greater risk of developing hypertension and serious complications are more common)
• Family history of hypertension
• Obesity or overweight
• Inactive
• Tobacco use (Including second hand smoke)
• Alcohol use (Heavy drinking)
• Diet (Poor nutrition, high salt intake, low potassium and low vitamin D)
• Kidney Disease
• Sleep apnea
• Pregnancy
• Diabetes
• Stress

Hypertension places increased force on arteries, stretching them. Stretching results in scar tissue that becomes a rough patch on the arterial wall. This creates a spot that will be prone to accumulate plaque and cholesterol, narrowing the artery and setting up perfect conditions to create blood clots.

There seems to be a definite link between vitamin D deficiency and hypertension though conventional medicine is slow to admit the cause and effect. Instead, of course, allopathic doctors prescribe blood pressure medications. The list includes:

• Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors
• Angiotensin II receptor blockers
• Beta blockers
• Calcium channel blockers
• Renin inhibitors

If these medications do not work, singularly or in combination, doctors are likely to prescribe an alpha blocker or vasodilator.

Vitamin D and Blood Pressure

Why do so many Americans develop high blood pressure? There are many factors including the standard American diet (so aptly nicknamed SAD), obesity rates, and high stress lifestyles. Chronic, rampant vitamin D deficiency is likely to be a vital factor.

Studies have shown that those with higher levels of vitamin D in their system have lower blood pressure. Unfortunately, outcomes from studies designed to prove whether supplementation with vitamin D lowers blood pressure have been inconsistent. Those showing benefits from supplementation have been small studies. But as often happens, the flaw in a large study was easy to spot. In the 7-year double-blind study of 36,282 postmenopausal women no evidence was found to support the idea that vitamin D supplementation reduces blood pressure. However, the dose given was too low (400 IU/day), half of the normal dose (700-800 IU/day) used for clinical purposes.

Why Supplement Vitamin D?

Draw a line on a map from Los Angeles, California to Atlanta, Georgia. According to Dr. Michael Holick, one of the world’s leading authorities on vitamin D, those living above this line are likely in need of vitamin D supplementation, especially in the winter.

The more our lives revolve around indoor pursuits, indoor technology, and indoor occupations, the more we remove ourselves from daily exposure to the sun and the benefits we gain from its rays.

If you choose to supplement with vitamin D, choose a good source and do not exceed 10,000 IU per day. Remember the body needs vitamin D needed to absorb calcium and magnesium. It is essential for healthy bones and teeth and a strong immune system.

Hypothyroidism has also been recognized as a cause of hypertension. Previous studies regarding hypertension in subjects with hypothyroidism have demonstrated elevated blood pressure values. Increased peripheral vascular resistance and low cardiac output, known causes of hypertension, are believed to be the possible link between hypothyroidism and diastolic hypertension.

Further Reading:

• Understand Hypothyroidism – Prevention and Natural Remedies
• Hypertension – How To Lower Your Blood Pressure Quickly and Naturally
• Sunlight and Vitamin D

Sources:

• Gaby, Alan R., M.D., Nutritional Medicine
• High Blood Pressure Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – CDC
• Hypertension – Vitamin D Council
• Choosing Blood Pressure Medications – Mayo Clinic
• Sunlight and Vitamin D – Organic Lifestyle Magazine

The problem with blood pressure medications is that they do not correct the underlying issue of the problem. Imagine you have a car with a 6-cylinder engine that is running very rough. You find out that two of your six cylinders have the problem, so you remove them or shut them down. Now your car runs smoothly, but it has to put out a lot more effort to get up to speed.

You should have cleaned all of the cylinders, flushed out the engine, and changed the oil, like an automotive detox. Instead, you cut out two of the cylinders completely, and now four are doing the work of six. And because the car was not meant to do this, your gas mileage is terrible, and more problems will develop soon. How long do you think this engine is going to last?

In order to get off of high blood pressure medications, it helps to understand the cause of high blood pressure.

Recommended: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

What Causes High Blood Pressure?

High blood pressure is almost always caused by thick, toxic blood. Consider that engine analogy, and think of our blood like the car’s motor oil and its gasoline. The cleaner the blood, the easier it is for the heart to pump it through the body. Chronic high blood pressure is a result of the heart working harder to push the blood where it needs to go. Restricting the heart doesn’t seem like the smartest thing to do, does it?

So What Causes This Toxic Thick Blood?

• Smoking – Smoking anything toxifies the blood, makes it thick, and makes it harder to circulate. This includes marijuana.
• Toxic Liver – A toxic liver results in dirty, sticky, thick blood full of toxins. And of course, smoking anything makes the whole body very toxic. Junk food, as in refined, processed food, does as well.
• Kidneys – Kidneys that aren’t at optimum health do a poor job of filtering the blood. Sugary and artificial beverages slow down the kidneys. For non-smokers, getting off of sodas and cheap juices is often enough to lower blood pressure.
• Candida – Candida seems to be at the foundation of almost everyone’s poor health and with good reason. Almost everyone, even self-proclaimed health experts, eats way too much sugar. Sugar feeds Candida, and Candida thickens the blood as it multiplies, poops, and multiplies some more.
• pH Balance – Acidic blood is slow, thick, problematic blood because it impedes the kidneys’ ability to function, and causes a host of other problems, many of which also result in higher blood pressure for other reasons.
• Fibrin – Vascular injury leads to inflammation and damage from free radicals which contributes to fibrin accumulation.
• Low vitamin D and other vitamin and mineral imbalances.

Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism has also been recognized as a cause of hypertension. Previous studies regarding hypertension in subjects with hypothyroidism have demonstrated elevated blood pressure values. Increased peripheral vascular resistance and low cardiac output, known causes of hypertension, are believed to be the possible link between hypothyroidism and diastolic hypertension.

How To Reduce High Blood Pressure Naturally

If you’re willing to get off the drugs and do right by your body, the good news is that high blood pressure is extremely easy to fix. The bad news is that you’re going to have to change your lifestyle. The habits that got you here will have to go.

Low Blood Pressure Diet

The goal is to balance the body’s pH, remove toxins, and increase enzymatic actions. There are some easy short-term solutions for balancing the pH and achieving these other goals, but a diet with lots of fresh raw produce that is devoid of processed junk food is the best and only way to permanently balance the body’s PH and achieve optimum health. Also, eating in this manner eliminates the other toxic accumulation from junk food.

The foundation of a truly healthy diet is raw, fresh produce – 80% should be raw, fresh, organic produce, more vegetables than fruit. It’s this simple: the more raw fresh vegetables anyone eats, the healthier they become. Eliminate processed foods and increase your raw food intake; there’s nothing else that comes close to the power of raw produce when it comes to eliminating ailments and restoring health. Nothing comes close except…

Cranberry Stevia Lemonade

I drink a gallon of cranberry stevia lemonade a day. The difference in my health that I experienced when I started drinking it is amazing. I ate well and I was very healthy, but this took my body to another level.

For a surprising number of people, high blood pressure is simply dehydration. Soda, Gatorade, sugary juices, and coffee either dehydrate you immediately or they dehydrate you in the long run (for instance, Gatorade and cheap, sugary juices will impeded kidney function). When you don’t have enough fluid in your body, the blood gets thick and harder to move. Cranberry juice will help normalize the kidneys, lemon juice will flush the liver and normalize pH levels of the body, and the stevia, I find, simply goes very well with cranberry and lemon.

If for any reason you can’t do cranberry stevia lemonade, drink a lot of clean water. Distilled or spring water (provided the source is reliable) are the best choices to drink and to make the lemonade.

The Body’s pH

Between diet and the lemonade, your pH should balance quickly. If you need it to balance nearly immediately, or your body is extremely acidic (due to toxic accumulation such as drugs like chemo drugs) then try:

Doc Shillington’s Body Balance Formula Recipe:

• 1 – cup of Organic Blackstrap Molasses
• 1 – cup of Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

Mix well and take a tablespoon twice a day. I recommend also taking a strong probiotic with this formula as the molasses can feed Candida. This formula tastes horrible in my opinion, but some people actually like the taste, it’s got a lot of benefits, and it’s well worth it.

Other Recipes For Normalizing Blood Pressure

If you want to bring blood pressure down as quickly as possible, especially if you’re coming off medication and/or have a heart problem, the following formulas are an absolute must have to bring the body out of the danger zone quickly and promote long-term healing:

Ginger, Cranberry, Turmeric Tonic

Equal parts:

• Cranberry juice
• Ginger juice
• Turmeric juice

This is an awesome way to start out the morning. Drink a shot of fresh pressed ginger, cranberry, turmeric juice. Ideally, as always, fresh is best. Juice turmeric root with the peel, ginger root with the peel as well, and cranberries. The perfect ratio is equal parts juice. Try to get whole, fresh cranberries if possible. If not, find some organic, unsweetened, un-concentrated/reconstituted cranberry juice with no additives.

Juice a total of  4 to 6 ounces and take the shot on an empty stomach. You should feel the benefits right away.

Doc Shillington’s Brain Tonic Recipe (or purchase here)

Doc Shillington’s Heart Formula Recipe (or purchase here)

Doc Shillington’s Blood Detox Formula Recipe (or purchase here)

Vitamin D

Studies have shown that those with higher levels of vitamin D in their system have lower blood pressure. Unfortunately, studies designed to prove supplementation with vitamin D lowers blood pressure have been inconsistent. Those showing benefits from supplementation have been small studies. But as often happens, the flaw in a large study was easy to spot. In the 7-year double-blind study of 36,282 postmenopausal women no evidence was found to support the idea that vitamin D supplementation reduces blood pressure. However, the dose given was too low (400 IU/day), half of the normal dose (700-800 IU/day) used for clinical purposes.

Coenzyme Q10

While the mechanism by which coenzyme Q10 reduces blood pressure is not fully understood, countless studies have shown significant improvement and reversal of high blood pressure with coenzyme Q10 supplementation.

Magnesium

Magnesium levels are consistently low in those who have hypertension. It’s recommended for most cases to take a mineral supplement that has a balanced range or minerals with magnesium, as opposed to just magnesium alone, especially for long-term supplementation.

Systemic Enzymes

Digestive enzymes break down food. Plant enzymes break down food in the pre-digestive phase of digestion before stomach acid inactivates them. Metabolic enzymes, also known as systemic enzymes, break down foreign proteins and fibrin and clean your blood of impurities. Consider the ramifications of this. Fibrin builds up when the body is damaged. It’s an important part of the healing process. Enzymes eliminate this scar tissue. Enzymes also eliminate viruses.

When a virus contacts a human cell, its external coating connects to the cell and the virus becomes able to contact DNA. This connection to DNA permits the virus to reproduce in a rapid manner. Proteolytic enzymes consume the exterior coating of a virus, rendering the virus permanently inert. They also break up circulating immune complexes in the blood. They enhance the elasticity of erythrocytes and reduce aggregation of blood platelets, increasing blood fluidity and its circulation in tissues. Enzymes are what take out the garbage, and they are the tools to rebuild the body. But the body can only produce so many.

When the body quits, producing proteolytic or protein digesting enzymes responsible for controlling fibrin levels in the body system, the body dies within 24 hours. The more enzymes we supplement the body with and get in our diets, the longer we live. It’s that simple. Heart attack, stroke, somewhere, somehow, the body will cease to function.” – Dr. Tim Kelly

Enzymes are the fountain of youth, if ever there was one. Aging appears to begin between the ages of 27 and 35 when the production of enzymes that dissolve protein begins to diminish. Scars stick around longer and remain more prominent. Aches and pains take longer to fade, injuries become slower to heal, and our body just doesn’t seem to recover like it once did because it doesn’t. We do damage to our body simply by being alive, and the more damage we do, the more enzymes we need to repair the damage.

Everybody can use more enzymes. We cannot get an optimal amount in our food unless we grow most of our own food with best practices to produce the most nutrient dense crops. Even then, we could still use more. Our body produces enzymes, but only a finite amount. The more foods we consume that are void of enzymes, the more we use up our finite supply.

Enzyme supplements fall under two categories: digestive and systemic. Digestive enzymes are taken with food to help digestion. There are also enzymes in raw foods that make it easier to absorb and properly assimilate nutrition.

Systemic enzymes (pancreatic enzymes, proteolytic enzymes, metabolic enzymes) are a bit more complicated. Getting enzymes from the digestive tract into the bloodstream isn’t easy. Enzymes released in the stomach will help digest food but will not survive the stomach acid. This is why systemic enzymes are typically offered in an acid-resistant capsule. The capsule is designed to release in the more alkaline environment of the intestinal tract. As long as the enzymes are taken on an empty stomach, the results have been shown to be spectacular.

Systemic enzymes have been used to treat problems and successfully eliminate ailments ranging from physical injuries, arthritis, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, autism, herpes, HIV, (seems to work against any virus) fibromyalgia, asthma, and so much more. Most of the research has been published in non-English language journals. This systemic use of oral enzyme supplementation is just beginning to take off in the United States.

There are no reported side effects with systemic enzymes. Massive doses do not cause any problems or side effects, unlike high doses of pharmaceutical drugs or extremely high doses of supplements and herbs. The initial dosage, which is often one potent enzyme pill taken three times daily, 45 minutes before or 45 minutes after a meal, can be raised by three tablets daily every few days until the desired therapeutic response develops. A person given more than 3700 enzyme tablets in one day experienced diarrhea, but this was attributed to the capsules, not the content. The only side-effects from the enzymes themselves will be reduced inflammation and reduction of damaged and decaying cells, fibrin, viruses, and other proteins that have been introduced from a leaky gut or the body’s own mutated proteins (which happens under stress).

Enzyme supplementation is not a quick fix, but over time, they do produce amazing results. Consider systemic enzyme supplementation for repairing the damage done to the body from vaccines, infections, toxins, poor diet or lifestyle choices, breathing the air we breathe, or anything that would cause any damage. Enzymes can help the body to reverse its age. What is age if not accumulated damage?

Conclusion

For those suffering from high blood pressure for a very long time, or those who have any other heart conditions, we also highly recommend Shillington’s Heart Formula and large doses of systemic enzymes right away. And do read Understand Hypothyroidism – Prevention and Natural Remedies if you suffer from hypothyroidism.

Be sure to check out How to Make A Tincture if you plan to make one of the aforementioned formulas, and see the cranberry lemonade recipe here. High blood pressure is something you can eliminate very quickly. You just need to let go of conventional wisdom, embrace natural health, and clean your blood to that your heart can do its job.

Recommended Supplements:

• Systemic Enzymes
• Vitamin D
• Omega-3 w/CoQ10
• Liquid Light – Sunwarrior
• Shillington’s Blood Detox Formula
• Shillington’s Body Balance+
• Shillington’s Blood Detox Tea
• Shillington’s Brain Tonic
• Shillington’s Heart Formula

Further Reading:

• Understand Hypothyroidism – Prevention and Natural Remedies
• How to Make A Tincture
• Inexpensive Easy Detox the One Gallon Challenge
• 80% Raw Food Recipes
• Acidity and Alkalinity Balance

Sources:

• Alternative approaches to hypertension – Dr. Hoffman
• Heart Health, Inflammation & Systemic Enzymes