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clear search termsFrom 3 Drugs to None. Hypertension: Gone!
I am celebrating yet another client (Jane) getting rid of her hypertension – from Three medications to None. Woohoo!
What did we do? Step-by-step, primarily 6 things, over about six months in total…
- Decreased her sodium intake? No. But Jane did need more potassium. In her cells. She was eating enough potassium via fruits and vegetables, but not absorbing enough at the cellular level. Her diuretic medication was actually causing this imbalance. So we increased her magnesium dramatically which increases cellular potassium absorption. Not surprisingly, this also had the welcome benefit of improving her sleep.
- Increased her exercise? No. In fact, exercising too often and too intensely was a big part of Jane’s imbalance. We found out her cortisol levels were too high and exacerbated by too much running. High stress hormone levels are very often part of the hypertension puzzle. Jane took up yoga and is loving it. She also started a morning meditation habit.
- Decreased fat in her diet? No. We increased it. Unbeknownst to her, Jane’s labwork revealed evidence of insulin resistance for the past four years in a row. Her PCP had never mentioned it. We took grains entirely out of her diet, increased overall fat intake, and made sure she consumed a rich variety of low-glycemic carbohydrates, especially vegetables and fruits. Despite many myths otherwise, higher natural fat intake often improves blood pressure. Her HbA1c went from 5.9% to 5.3%.
- Stopped her calcium supplements. Surprised? In fact, much research confirms the cardiovascular dangers of excessive calcium supplements, especially when taken without Vitamin D, magnesium, and Vitamin K2. Her prior PCP has recommended 1500mg/day of calcium supplements! Prior PCP-recommended testing clearly showed atherosclerotic plaque too, but the only guidance Jane was given was to reduce dietary fat. Jane started taking Fish oil and Vitamin K2 supplements (MK-7 form) twice daily and increased dark leafy greens and tahini to gain more food-based calcium.
- Increased nitrates in her diet. Yes! Those things people are usually harping on negatively in bacon and other preserved foods. In fact, natural nitrates are key for producing nitric acid which is what naturally causes blood vessel dilation. Jane started having a (blended, not juiced) smoothie every morning with celery, cucumber, various greens, and a small beet.
- Recommend she try different drugs? No. But her beta blocker medication had likely been depleting her body’s level of CoQ10 (as statins do) and also melatonin (perhaps contributing to her highly interrupted sleep the past few years). She started using 100mg CoQ10 (ubiquinol) twice daily. CoQ10 is critical for endothelial function in the lining of blood vessels.
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12 Questions for “From 3 Drugs to None. Hypertension: Gone!”
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Thank you for your comment and for casting the light on the fundamental functional medicine principle that we are teaching at the School of Applied Functional Medicine: supplements are only one of the tools to help bring relief; the most important and influential thing is to help the person get to the root cause of their dis-ease, identify the unique interconnectedness between their symptoms, health history, and current biochemical and physiological status and help them minimize what is harmful, maximize all that is health-promoting for them and create the proper environment for healing. In this vein, we encourage you to check out these other posts:
https://schoolafm.com/ws_clinical_know/health-creation-to-do-list/
https://schoolafm.com/ws_clinical_know/its-not-enough-to-master-the-science-the-art-of-facilitating-lifestyle-change/
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Hi there ~ I am delighted to learn that CoQ10 is supportive to the endothelial function in the lining of blood vessels. I came across a wonderful study showing the benefit of CoQ10 at lowering blood pressure in general. For a client who has been on beta blockers for 5 years, should I be concerned about the CoQ10 lowering her blood pressure too much? Also can you share a bit more regarding appropriate length of ubiquinol supplementation?
Thank you.
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To your point, CoQ10 on its own could have a blood pressure normalizing effect. It is always prudent to start low and slow with any supplement especially when working with people already taking prescription medication – we all have a varying capacity for detoxification and/or sensitivity to the drug or its side effects (lowering CoQ10 in case of a beta-blocker). That being said, we haven’t found any reports of CoQ10 potentiating the effect of beta-blocker medications to any point of concern. Here is a review that may be of interest to you: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7222396/
Since long-term use of beta-blocker medication leads to depletion of CoQ10 and the extent of that is most likely individual-specific, the time and dose required for getting back to an optimal level for an individual can vary as well. We recommend starting with 100-150mg of ubiquinol once daily and building up to 100-200mg twice a day and continuing at least until the root cause of the high blood pressure is resolved and a client has successfully weaned off of the prescription medication and even beyond, keeping in mind that CoQ10 supports healthy cellular energy levels.
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Bonnie Kate says:
An excellent tip for a very common problem! Is it possible for you to share the recipe for Jane’s blended smoothie?
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This recipe is quite flexible and we encourage using it more as an inspiration rather than as a rigid recipe:
In a power blender combine: 1-2 celery stalks, 1/3 – 1/2 fresh cucumber (with or without peel), 3-4 green leaves (here cycling a variety of different greens is best; options include, spinach, swiss chard, blanched kale, lettuce, etc), a small raw beet, and 1-1.5 cups of water. One can also add some ice cubes and/or slice of an organic lemon with peel
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Maddy jackson says:
What can you do for over active adrenal that cause high blood pressure elevation problem that comes and goes.
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If you are sure that the overactivity of the adrenal function is the cause of high blood pressure, first, you will want to explore what is causing the overactivation – is it psycho-emotional stress, trauma, physical stress, infections, toxicity, gut health issues such as dysbiosis and/or intestinal hyperpermeability, or a combination of some of these drivers. Then you will start working on these root causes of adrenal overactivation. Also, in some cases, it may be beneficial to support the adrenal gland with calming adaptogenic herbs while you are working on the upstream root causes. At SAFM we do offer a full deep-dive clinical course on “Adrenal and Thyroid: Myths and Truths” that goes into great detail of various adrenal dysfunction scenarios and possible solutions.
If you are interested in other drivers of hypertension, you may also want to explore these posts:
https://schoolafm.com/ws_clinical_know/client-relief-magnesium-to-the-rescue/
https://schoolafm.com/ws_clinical_know/diuretics-hypertension/
https://schoolafm.com/ws_clinical_know/the-surprising-reason-most-coaches-quit-and-what-you-must-know-about-insulin-resistance/
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SAFM Team says:
Thanks for your question! Curcumin and CoQ10 are best taken with meals. Amino acids, however, can compete for absorption, so it is best to take them on an empty stomach in between meals.
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Debka Janak says:
Hi Tracy,
Are there any good, low glycemic “grain choices”? Quinoa and Amaranth are seeds I think, would that be ok to eat if there’s evidence of insulin resistance?
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Alas, it really depends on the individual. In my Reversing Diabetes guidelines, I limit clients to 1/2 cup whole grain daily, and certainly quinoa and amaranth are good choices relatively speaking. Just some people need a much more aggressive restriction for a few months in order to “shock” the cells back into accepting more insulin. Again, my goal is doing this is not to “manage” the insulin resistance or just keep it from getting worse but rather to reverse it. Certainly over time, once they are healed of this dysfunction, most of my clients are able to go back and have some whole grain in their diet. Again, the amount just depends on the unique person. There is no substitute for Experimenting and Checking progress!
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Do you all take a handful of supplements to support everything that we lack? It seems like there is a supplement for every disease, prevention and health issue. I don’t mind supplements and prefer them over medication but they get expensive too. I have been wanting to try CoQ10 and Magnesium citrate or oxide for a while.