Hey, I'm Jordan Rubin, and welcome to "Ancient Medicine Today" brought to you by draxe.com.
We're here to share with you how to use food as medicine.
Today we're going to talk about a topic that affects tens of millions of Americans and
hundreds of millions of people around the world, but the good news is you don't need
to turn to modern medicine.
We're going to teach you how to use ancient medicine for a high-blood-pressure diet and
natural remedies.
Blood pressure can be a challenge.
There are, as I mentioned, many people that are hypertensive, or have high blood pressure,
some don't even know it, and medications certainly work, but they come with side effects.
I truly believe that elevated blood pressure can absolutely be lowered and we're going
to share with you a few tricks of the trade.
And as always, if you love this information, click the "like" button.
And, if you know someone who has high blood pressure, who has some kidney issues and wants
to improve their health, this is the show for them, so make sure to click that "share"
button.
Let people know that there is ancient medicine for high blood pressure.
Let's get started.
Number one: Vegetables.
I want to let you in on a little secret.
My opinion is that the key or a key to overcoming high blood pressure is to balance your dietary
potassium and sodium ratio.
Check this out: The average American consumes about 10 times as much sodium as they do potassium
in their diet.
The natural diet should be opposite: more potassium than sodium.
What does that cause?
High blood pressure.
What does that cause?
Holding of water.
What does that cause?
All kinds of issues with energy and other imbalances.
So vegetables and their consumption.
You see it on the screen, multi-colored vegetables all have potassium.
In fact, some of the best are celery and its juice, watermelon and its juice, especially
the rind.
These are great sources of dietary potassium and sodium.
When you consume a beverage or food, you want to have at least a ratio of potassium and
sodium of 3:1.
So vegetables are a great source of potassium.
Virtually any vegetable can help you, and juices, as we've talked about before, serum
soluble nutrition getting right into your cells, immediately available.
Number two: Fresh fruit.
Right here we have apricots.
Fresh or dried, fruit is a great source of, again, potassium, and also antioxidants.
Both fruits and vegetables have antioxidants which protect your cardiovascular system,
your capillaries, your veins, and your arteries.
Consume fresh fruit and, as always, consume it in moderation.
We like the higher-fiber lower-sugar fruits.
Grapefruits are great.
Green apples are great.
Berries are amazing.
In fact, cranberries . . . I've been saying this, Dr. Axe got me turned on to cranberries
not just for thanksgiving, but every day, great source of antioxidants, super low in
sugar, and really good sources of fiber.
Think about this: Potassium, fiber, good fats, and antioxidants.
That's the answer for blood pressure.
Number three: Lean proteins.
Blood pressure can be a little bit related to blood sugar.
So, consuming lean sources of protein . . . and really what this is meant to say are sources
of protein where the animals are on a native diet.
Pasture-raised animals have a better ratio of fat.
And, when you eat animals, you're not what you eat, you're what they ate.
Speaking of potassium in animals, bone broth is my favorite blood pressure food.
Bone broth contains naturally occurring potassium in a form your body can use immediately, serum-soluble
is what we call it, and the potassium and sodium is organically bound going to work
right away.
As always, consume one to three servings of bone broth.
Make it yourself, find recipes at draxe.com.
Buy it in its frozen or container form at your local health food store or progressive
grocery, or use a powdered protein made from bone broth.
I make sure to get a minimum of three to five servings a day and it will help tremendously
with blood pressure.
Beans and legumes.
Remember we talked about fiber and antioxidants, beans are great sources.
My favorite beans would be lentils, split peas, mung beans, adzuki beans, and black
beans.
The darker the bean, darker the color, the more antioxidants.
There are many other good beans.
Make sure to soak them to make them more digestible.
Healthy fats.
This is a broad category.
Right there you see an avocado, and avocados are a great source of omega-9 fats, fiber,
vitamin E which is good for the heart as well, powerful antioxidant of the fat-soluble variety,
and avocados are good for the gut.
Other sources of fat that are really good for blood pressure would be almonds, the oil
of olives, otherwise known as olive oil.
Olives themselves are really good, and the fat from healthy eggs and animal foods, butter
and ghee, coconut oil is great.
Healthy fats are really important, particularly those from cold water fish, flax, chia, and
walnut known as omega-3s.
When you consume grains, make them sprouted.
Sprouted grains, which you can make yourself or now buy bread, pasta, cookies, crackers,
even flour from your health food store that's sprouted, unlocks the nutrition, and grains
can be a good source of fiber and B vitamins, and also potassium depending on what you put
on the sandwich or on the pasta.
But, if you consume grains, try sprouted, and organic unsweetened dairy.
Now, I'm going to give you a caveat here.
Dairy can be sort of a catch-22.
Dairy, in the right form and that would be A1 beta-casein-free.
I know that's confusing, but let's make it easier: dairy from goat, sheep, or special
cows.
How do you know they're special?
You need to know if they're A1-free, they're grass-fed and organic.
Dairy products can actually, according to clinical studies, lower blood pressure likely
due to the high amount of electrolyte minerals.
Calcium is even helpful for lowering blood pressure, as is magnesium.
We talked about potassium, and sodium.
All right, here's some quick tips.
Cook at home.
Now, I don't know about you but I like to eat out.
However, I'm also a label reader, which doesn't happen when I eat out.
So the question is: What oil did they use?
The question is: What's in the sauce?
What is in the condiments?
We just don't know these things.
We don't have that information, and who wants to be the weird person to ask?
We want to make sure that we eat at home and we eat fresh meals.
And you've come to the right place for good food because the Dr. Axe Facebook page, YouTube
channel and website have hundreds of amazing recipes, you can even sneak these delicious
foods in the diet of your kids and, yes, your husband's, if you're a wife watching today.
Increase fiber intake.
Fiber is great for the gut, it's great for the heart, and those with a higher fiber diet
tend to have lower blood pressure.
We talked about this before: lower sodium.
I don't know where you're at on the salt side, but sometimes I salt my food before I taste
it.
My mom used to get really mad at me and she would say, "Don't add salt until you taste
it," and it really is a good habit.
If you consume salt, which I would minimize, I recommend consuming a high-mineral salt
such as a Celtic salt, maybe a Himalayan salt, one of those salts that have additional minerals
other than sodium, but in general, you're better off lowering sodium.
I do have a favorite condiment that sort of replaces my sodium.
I don't even know if it's called a condiment.
Whatever it is.
It's called Herbamare and it's a blend of organic spices that are sort of marinated
with whole mineral sea salt.
I've been using it for 20 years and it's really, really amazing.
Lower sodium and increase potassium.
There's the standard-bearer for potassium, bananas, but there are other low-sugar sources
such as greens, I mentioned celery's amazing, watermelon and its rind.
Every fruit and vegetable has potassium.
Oranges do, too.
Bananas just get all the credit for potassium.
Get more of that.
It naturally produces sodium and helps your extracellular fluid be really, really healthy.
Staying hydrated is absolutely key.
One of the areas you need to focus on for blood pressure is your kidneys.
So many people have kidney issues they don't even know about.
So, staying hydrated with pure water, certainly with teas and herbal infusions, and there
are many great fermented beverages we've talked about and, of course, bone broth.
Portion control can be important.
However, I would also say that the time you eat is absolutely critical.
I've seen people lower their blood pressure by simply extending their daily fast because
the morning meals called break-fast, or breakfast, but what if you had breakfast for lunch?
What if you had it for dinner?
I've seen people eat the same amount of food in a smaller period of time and have lower
blood pressure.
That's pretty awesome.
Folks, I'm Jordan Rubin here on "Ancient Medicine Today" brought to you by draxe.com.
And as always, there is more expanded information on the website, including nearly 2000 articles
to help you lower your blood pressure and really help just about any health condition
you have.
And, if you loved this information, click that "like" button and make sure to share
this information with everyone you know who needs to either lower their blood pressure
or they have maybe a hereditary sort of risk factor for elevated blood pressure.
This information is great for them.
And as always, ancient medicine doesn't have side effects.
We've got side benefits.
All right, here is a quick lowdown on today's program.
To lower blood pressure naturally, diet and natural remedies would include vegetables
and fruits high in potassium, fiber, and antioxidants, sort of a trifecta of health.
Lean proteins: You want to consume proteins from animals that graze and eat properly.
That would include red meat, that would include poultry, that would include eggs, and we'll
get to dairy in just a moment.
Bone broth is the beverage for blood pressure probably sort of 1A with juices, fresh juices
being 1B.
Beans and legumes have fiber and they have antioxidants if they're colored.
Make sure to get more of those.
Healthy fats including monounsaturated omega-3, as well as medium-chain fats and short-chain
fats are all good for your blood pressure, but also for your cardiovascular system in
total.
Sprouted grains: If you eat grains, make them germinated.
That just means you unlock their health potential.
They'll be healthier for you, good sources of fiber, surprising sources of antioxidants,
and B vitamins.
And last but not least, consume dairy, but make sure that it comes from goat or sheep,
cows that are A1 beta-casein-free, and fermented grass-fed organic is really good.
Sheep yogurt is one of my favorites.
A product called amasi is really good as well, some kefirs are really good, and they have
been shown to lower blood pressure, especially if they're fermented.
Here's some tips.
Cook at home, really, really important for you.
Prepare your own meals.
Draxe.com has the best healthy recipes you've ever seen.
And we want to increase fiber intake while simultaneously lowering sodium, increasing
potassium.
Staying hydrated is critical for your kidneys which control blood pressure.
And, either control portions by eating the right foods first, I've talked about this
on previous programs.
Protein is a good start, your highest fiber veggies next, then go to the grain or the
fruit and I bet you won't even be hungry for dessert, or you can eat at certain times of
the day where you extend your fast, which preserves your body's enzymes and can help
lower blood pressure.
Folks, I promise you that if you're one of those folks that are mildly hypertensive,
meaning you've got sort of a little elevated blood pressure sometimes, or you could be
hypotensive and have low blood pressure, getting your potassium levels right, increasing your
fiber and antioxidants, and eating good fats, plus all these tips will get it done.
So, remember, we are here each weekday, actually Monday through Thursday 10:30 a.m.
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Tens of millions of people today are counting on you to give them ancient medicine for their
modern world.
I'm Jordan Rubin on behalf of Dr. Josh Axe for "Ancient Medicine Today."
God bless you.
See you next time.