BEET IT!

High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is no joke. Sustained high blood pressure leads to heart attacks, stroke and hardening of the arteries that lead to kidney failure, dementia, peripheral vascular disease etc. It’s a leading cause of death and disability in the world. Your doctor believes that some people get hypertension and some people don’t. Your doctor will confirm your blood pressure and start meds. That’s a mistake. Hypertension is not the problem…it’s a symptom. What’s causing the hypertension is the problem! Fix that and you have fixed the underlying problem, not just the symptom.

First off, your doctor should not treat the blood pressure he sees in his office. If your BP is up in the doctor’s office it should be confirmed with home readings or, better yet, a 24 hour home BP monitoring unit. The BP most predictive of whether or not you will have a stroke or heart attack is your BP at night while you are asleep and you can only get that info from this type of monitor. It’s a royal pain to wear this monitor but the info obtained can be very helpful.

Secondly, if your blood pressure is elevated you should look for the cause and treat that! Is it your weight? Is it sleep apnea (a very often overlooked cause for high BP)? Is there a blood flow problem to one of your kidneys? Is there an oversecretion of one of your hormones? Is it a deficiency of potassium or magnesium? These issues are all easy to check with a variety of tests.

Why not work with your doctor to cut the carbs, try extra potassium, magnesium, arginine etc., before going to medications. Sure, the pills are easy but it’s much better to treat the underlying cause of the problem. Dr. Greger of nutritionfacts.org fame has a great video that shows the benefits of treating the blood pressure with lifestyle changes has a much much more positive and beneficial effect than with meds. Here is the Youtube link:

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/The-Actual-Benefit-of-Diet-vs-Drugs/

Another option you and your doctor should consider is beets! Yes, the vegetables. Beet juice, derived from the root vegetable, Beta vulgaris, is rich in essential nutrients, antioxidants, and nitrates. Beet juice is recognized for its potential health benefits, especially concerning cardiovascular health, athletic performance, and cognitive function.

Beets and beet juice are a super source for nitric oxide which your body uses to relax blood vessels (and hence lower blood pressure). Nitric oxide is what Viagra releases so beet juice may have the same benefit as Viagra! Beet juice also contains other chemicals which act as anti-inflammatory, polyphenolic etc. Beet products are available as the beet (and why not try pickled beets), powder, capsules, gummies etc. I don’t have any studies as to which works best but it’s an easy experiment to do on your own. The studies suggest that beet juice, 250 ml per day will lower your blood pressure as much as the leading BP medications.

Now there are two issues with beets to consider. One is that they may change the color of your urine, this is called Beeturia and is harmless. The second is that while beets are high in fiber, and have all these helpful chemicals, they also contain high levels of oxalates. Oxalates are not your friend and in some sensitive people can cause kidney stones and widespread arthritis. So if you have a stone history or feel more aches and pains after starting a beet regime you should probably back off.

Of course, don’t do anything without consulting your healthcare team but why not ask to try some non-prescription interventions before resorting to the drug store. It’s your health and you should be actively involved in maintaining it!

Until next month…get well and stay well.