CUT the grains and Sugar to Lower Your Blood Pressure and Extend Your Life!

There is a considerable amount of evidence out there that eating grains and simple carbohydrates that convert into sugar in your system quickly can wreck havoc on your A1C, your Blood pressure and your Longevity.

Here is one example of that which I am going to pass along to my readers: (Courtesy of Dr. Mercola's website) SEE link at the end of this post.

Your Diet Will Raise or Lower Your Blood Pressure

Are you on a high grain, low fat regimen? If so, I have bad news for you, because this nutritional combination is a prescription for hypertension and can absolutely devastate your health.

Groundbreaking research published in 1998 in the journal Diabetes reported that nearly two-thirds of the test subjects who were insulin resistant (IR) also had high blood pressure, and insulin resistance is directly attributable to a high sugar, high grain diet, especially if accompanied by inadequate exercise. So, chances are that if you have hypertension, you also have poorly controlled blood sugar levels, because these two problems often go hand in hand.

As your insulin level elevates, so does your blood pressure.

As explained by Dr. Rosedale, insulin stores magnesium. If your insulin receptors are blunted and your cells grow resistant to insulin, you can't store magnesium so it passes out of your body through urination. Magnesium stored in your cells relaxes muscles. If your magnesium level is too low, your blood vessels will constrict rather than relax, which will raise your blood pressure and decrease your energy level. Insulin also affects your blood pressure by causing your body to retain sodium. Sodium retention causes fluid retention. Fluid retention in turn causes high blood pressure and can ultimately lead to congestive heart failure. If your hypertension is the direct result of an out-of-control blood sugar level, then normalizing your blood sugar levels will also lower your blood pressure readings into the healthy range.

Fructose Can Cause Your Blood Pressure to Skyrocket

The first thing you need to do is remove all grains and sugars from your diet, particularly fructose, until both your weight and your blood pressure have normalized. Eating sugars and grains -- including any type of bread, pasta, corn, potatoes, or rice -- will cause your insulin levels and your blood pressure to remain elevated.

A study1 published earlier this year discovered that those who consumed 74 grams or more per day of fructose (the equivalent of about 2.5 sugary drinks) had a 77 percent greater risk of having blood pressure levels of 160/100 mmHg. (For comparison, a normal blood pressure reading is below 120/80 mmHg.) Consuming 74 grams or more of fructose daily also increased the risk of a 135/85 blood pressure reading by 26 percent, and 140/90 by 30 percent.

This is significant because the average American now consumes 70 grams of fructose EVERY day!

Fructose breaks down into a variety of waste products that are bad for your body, one being uric acid. Uric acid drives up your blood pressure by inhibiting the nitric oxide in your blood vessels. Nitric oxide helps your vessels maintain their elasticity, so nitric oxide suppression leads to increases in blood pressure. In fact, 17 out of 17 studies demonstrate that elevated uric acid levels lead to hypertension. For more information on the connection between fructose, uric acid, and hypertension, please see this article that explains it in greater depth.

I've also interviewed Dr. Richard Johnson, one of the leading medical researchers in this field, about his research into the health dangers of fructose, specifically how fructose causes health problems such as high blood pressure.

MY INPUT:

It is interesting that growing up, we were told to get plenty of whole grains from bread, cereals, etc. to keep you strong and healthy and to provide adequate fiber etc. Turns out that this is NOT the best advice. To be fair, whole grain breads, cereals etc. are not what they were when I grew up (I am 68 and born in 1947).

If you don't believe me, read the labels on the cereal boxes on your grocer's shelves. Pay special attention to the additives and the preservatives and the glucose levels. In many cases you might as well fill your cereal bowl with sugar, add a little milk and maybe have a couple of slices of "Wonder Bread" with sugary jam on it and head out the door for the day.

I consider old fashioned Quaker Oats to be the exception to this thinking. I have it every morning with some blueberries, 4 or 5 seedless grapes,  organic ground flax seed, and a dash of unsweetened Almond Milk.

(READ the book entitled "Wheat Belly Diet" for more information.

HERE is one link to more information on this topic:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/10/08/discover-the-secret-to-lowering-your-blood-pressure-in-15-minutes.aspx

God Bless,

Dan