Blood Pressure – During a recent visit to my doctor he informed me my blood pressure was borderline/ high.  This could be due to family history, age, and stress, but I believe the major contributor to my condition was from eating a not-so-healthy diet.  My doctor was concerned that my recent readings had been higher than he liked and that the last several visits to him showed they hadn’t improved.  He started me on a water pill, but it really didn’t do the job.  Then, he moved me up to a prescription for blood pressure medication.  I had the prescription filled and then after reading the warnings, I began to do some research.  My findings really scared me.  Sometimes I feel that the risks associated with certain medications outweigh the benefits.  This was one of those times.  I knew I did not want to be on this medication for the rest of my life.  I had to find an alternative.

Here’s what I did.  Now I’m not going to say it’s easy, because sometimes it not.  After years of doing something one way, it’s hard to change.  Change isn’t easy.  But change is good. 

-My husband was also concerned about blood pressure health and, after doing some research, purchased a product called RESPeRATE.   It’s a little device to help you breathe properly, which also helps lower your blood pressure.  It’s been proven to have great results in lowering blood pressure.  I urge you to read more about this product and its successes.  It has helped us.  You need to make sure you set a time aside for yourself to do this – it only takes 15 minutes a day. 

-We changed our diet.  After doing some research on-line, we purchased a book called The Dash Diet, along with a Dash Diet Cookbook.  This gave us amazing results.  Basically, you really up your intake of fruits and veggies, along with sensible portions of dairy, grains, nuts and limited amounts of sweets.  And, the food you can eat is amazingly good.  I will share some of my favorite recipes with you in the Food section of this website.  When you stick to this diet, you will see great results.  We surely did.  My biggest problem is sticking to the plan (not just with this, but with most things in my life – I’m working on that – you’ll hear more about that in some of my other blog entries).  Limiting sweets has been a struggle for me, especially since I seem to have a strong addiction to chocolate.  However, substituting some delicious sweet fruit has helped.  Of course, consult your doctor if you already have high blood pressure and are taking medication.  The book gives you all the details you need, and the cookbooks give great recipes.  Even if you don’t have high blood pressure, it’s a great way to eat.