What Causes High Blood Pressure And How To Fix It

Coming up on this episode of the Doctor's Pharmacy.

If you eliminate all the processed food, if you eat potassium-rich foods, if you get enough magnesium, get omega-3 fats, if you deal with insulin resistance, if you exercise a little and deal with stress, blood pressure is really a very treatable condition. One of today's sponsors is ButcherBox.

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Episode of the Doctor's Pharmacy. Hey everybody, it's Dr. Mark Hyman and welcome to the Doctor's Pharmacy. And that's Pharmacy with an F, a place for conversations that matter. And today's conversation is part of our new feature called Health Bites where we tackle topics that are really common with practical solutions and early steps you can take every day to make yourself healthier. And today we're talking about a really prevalent problem, which is hypertension. High blood pressure, which affects almost up to half the adult population, is huge. And a quarter of the population who are adults worldwide have high blood pressure or hypertension. And a lot of people have pre-hypertension, which is sort of early hypertension. We know the levels we say of like 140 over 90, even when you're down 120 over 80, you still have risk. below 110/70, you're doing good. So most of us don't have blood pressure like that because of our lifestyles, because of our diet, because of the stresses of our environment, because of lack of exercise, because of all the inflammatory things. And then high blood pressure is a real killer. It's the silent killer. You often don't know you have it, but it's a huge driver of kidney failure, strokes, heart attacks, dementia. It's a big deal. Now, normally it's treated with medications. and often combinations of medications, which can help reduce the risk of these complications, but it doesn't address the root cause. So we've got to figure out the root cause. These medications are not risk-free, often they have side effects. In functional medicine, we really focus on dealing with the root cause, whatever it is. What's the cause of high blood pressure? So in today's episode, we're going to talk about what are the real drivers of high blood pressure and what's a functional medicine approach to dealing with it. So what's really wrong with our current approach? We are just using whacK-A-Mole medicine. We treat the symptoms to suppress them with medication without ever really digging into why. And how do we get high blood pressure? We call it essential hypertension. I joke that it means essentially we don't know what causes it, but we do, we really do. And there's a lot of things that we can treat that are the root causes. The biggest one by far is insulin resistance, prediabetes. This affects so many people. New data came out that 93% of Americans have either high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, have had a heart attack or stroke, or are overweight. That means that about 6.8% of Americans are actually healthy and don't have any of these problems. That's scary. That's adult Americans over 18. So, why is this going on? It's because our diet is so bad. We have very inflammatory diet, creates a lot of oxidative stress, and high blood pressure is a problem of inflammation and oxidative stress. And what's triggering that often is the insulin resistance, which is triggered by the mountains of sugar and flour we have every day. I mean, the average American has about 152 pounds of sugar and 133 pounds of flour a day a year. That's almost a pound a day, and that is driving lots of metabolic issues, insulin resistance, organ fat, and that creates a whole cascade that drives up blood pressure and causes weight gain. And it's really, really important to address those causes. So there are other factors. The heavy metals can be a big factor, often undiagnosed. Heavy metals, lead, mercury can drive a lot of issues. Sleep apnea, another big factor. If you have sleep apnea, you snore at night, it may be driving high blood pressure. Lots of nutritional deficiencies can be a factor. Omega-3, magnesium deficiency, very common. Magnesium deficiency about half the population, omega-3 is over 90% of the population. So these are really treatable causes. And obviously stress, lack of exercise, certain environmental toxins all can drive these problems of high blood pressure. So what about salt? Because that's a big question, right? Is salt the cause of high blood pressure? Well, no, we need salt. But the problem is since we were hunter-gatherers, our ratio of salt and potassium potassium is completely flipped. We used to be 10 times as much sodium, potassium is sodium, or potassium is salt, but now we have 10 times as much sodium as potassium. And potassium helps you lower your blood pressure. Potassium actually is a very important mineral that we are not getting enough of, but it comes primarily from plant foods. So when you're eating a lot of plant foods, you're getting a lot of potassium. If you're eating a lot of processed foods, you're getting a lot of salt. How do they make basically refined oils, flour and sugar taste edible, they often will add a lot of salt to the product. So it's really a problem with added salt in this country and lack of the right amounts of fruits and vegetables that can help to provide the right amount of potassium. So we need salt. It's not bad. And there are certain patients that are salt sensitive genetically, often African-Americans that have to really restrict salt or watch their salt intake. But most of us don't really have to worry so much about salt if we're not eating processed food. It's not the salt that you add to your diet, it's the salt that's added by corporations in processed food. So if you want to add a little salt on your food, don't worry about it. If you are using salt, it's actually tricks. You can actually put it on after you cook and just put it on top of the food and you'll get the same kind of salt flavor without having even as much sodium. But the key is to actually increase dramatically your plant foods to include enough potassium. And that's really the issue. So, a lot of unprocessed plant foods that have a lot of potassium or spinach, broccoli, squash, avocados, papayas, bananas. Also, you can make broth if you make a lot of root vegetable broth, greens, mushrooms, boil them up. You don't have to eat the mushy vegetables, but strain it and drink the broth full of potassium. I call it the ultra broth and there's an ultra broth. recipe on our website. We'll link it in the show notes. Now, if you have high blood pressure, you'll be told to cut your salt, but that may not be a great idea. And there's some studies that kind of say that maybe we shouldn't be so aggressive about lowering salt for everybody if we're having them eat a whole unprocessed diet. So, in fact, in one study on heart failure patients, those who were salt restricted, were 85% more likely to die or be hospitalized than those who did not limit their salt intake. Now, again, there are people who are salt sensitive, so be careful. So where are you gonna, where are you gonna get your salt? We'll get it from foods, which is naturally occurring in there. Basically, it's, it's high in things like meat and carrots and beans and beans. But you can add a little bit of salt, like Himalayan pink sea salt is great. Redmond salt is great from, from Utah. I like those. You want make sure though you're kind of, you know, adding the salt towards the end of cooking because it'll actually help bring out the flavor without having to eat as much. So you definitely can eat too much salt for sure. So it's not really unlimited, but be careful when you have high blood pressure and watch what happens. Check your blood pressure, check your diet. Also, iodine salt's really common. They add iodine into the salt because of deficiencies that we are we're had in there in a population and you do need iodine and it can cause problems if you don't have it. But often you can get it from fish and from seaweed and other sources. So I think, you know, it depends on your diet, but we might need a little extra iodine. Now, what can you do to actually fix high blood pressure? Well, the first is to reduce inflammation, to get rid of oxidative stress in your diet. And how do you do that? Well, you've got to get off of the junk, right? So eat, get rid of all the processed foods, eat a whole foods plant rich diet that's high in potassium rich foods. and I created something called the 10-day detox diet, which is a very simple 10-day approach to cutting all the inflammatory processed foods. And we found people's blood pressure drops up to 20 points when they do that in, in a week or seven days or 10 days. So it's very impressive when you see the results. You want to eat a lot of potassium-rich foods. Like I said, the broths are great. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, high fiber, good fats, calcium, magnesium. Magnesium is a, is a relaxation mineral. It's really important for regulating blood pressure. In fact, when women come in with preeclampsia, which is a pregnancy induced high blood pressure condition, they can cause seizures and high blood pressure. What's the treatment? We give them intravenous magnesium. Now, I don't know why we start with all the drugs with blood pressure. Why don't we start with magnesium? And, and you can get a lot of, I can get a lot of magnesium from your diet, greens, beans, nuts, seeds, a little chocolate, too. Carbohydrates are a big factor, starch and sugar. So make sure you're cutting those down or cutting those out and eating good carbohydrates, which are all the fruits and vegetables. Um, sugar is really the, the big, the big problem. It's driving insulin resistance. It drives the high blood pressure. Uh, eat the right fats. So omega three fats are really important, help reduce inflammation, but also can help lower blood pressure. Those can come from wild fatty fish. I like the smash fish, which are small, low in toxins, sardines, mackerel, herring. anchovies, salmon, and those are all really good, good quality fats. So you can get also grass-fed meats often have Omega-3s like bison, grass-fed lamb, chickens, depending what they're eating, all great. Get real food. Just eat real food. Get rid of all the processed food. Like I said, make sure you try to avoid inflammatory foods that may be triggers for you, like gluten and dairy. Those can be driving problems with blood pressure as well. That's why the 10-day detox is a great way to start. set. Also liquid sugar, really bad. Sodas, juices, all that fix you. Hydrogen and fat, actually we shouldn't be eating any of that anymore, but that also can be very inflammatory. Get protein and fat for breakfast, not starch and sugar. Most of our breakfast in America is cereal, bagels, muffins, croissants, blah, blah, blah, all that stuff. Pancakes, French toast, that's all dangerous to eat for breakfast. You want fat and protein. I usually have a protein shake. You can have eggs, avocados, those are great. Flax seeds are great also, lots of fiber can help improve insulin resistance and alcohol. Alcohol can be a big factor. So I would really minimize or eliminate alcohol for a little while. Stay hydrated, really important, keeping your blood pressure normal and don't eat before bed. That worsens insulin resistance, weight gain. So you do all these dietary things, you still maybe need a little help. What do you do? Well, there's some supplements that can really be helpful. I like magnesium and you can take magnesium citrate or glycinate. If you're a little constipated, use magnesium citrate. If you're not, you can use magnesium glycinate. CoQ10 has been shown to help with blood pressure. You can take potassium, omega-3 fats, B vitamins, extra fiber, a good multi, all those are great strategies. What about exercise? Exercise actually can increase your blood pressure when you're exercising, but overall it helps your cardiovascular system and lowers your blood pressure. It'll help you lose weight. I mean, even if you lose 5 to 10 pounds, we've seen that really have a big impact on blood pressure. Exercise is not a luxury. I mean, one cartoon I often use in my lecture says, would you rather exercise an hour a day or be dead 24 hours a day? So it's definitely not a luxury. It's an essential part of living, just like eating and breathing and brushing your teeth. So what about stress? Well, stress is a big factor. And we know that stress drives blood pressure up. We know that It increases adrenaline, which increases blood pressure, cortisol. So practices like yoga, tai chi, meditation, guided imagery, breath work all engage your parasympathetic nervous system and help lower your blood pressure and inflammation and help your metabolism and just basically healthy overall. Sleep also super important. A lot of us don't get enough sleep. And, you know, in fact, sleep can, deprivation can be a factor in high blood pressure as well. So I encourage people to get good sleep. And there's a lot of tricks for that. I mean, try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. Use your bedroom for sex and sleep only instead of working or re, you know, doing a lot of stuff that we do in bed. I'm watching TV. Make sure it's dark and quiet and cold in your room. Really important to really reduce all the stimulation. Caffeine, alcohol can be big sleep disruptors. Get morning sunlight. Very important. 20 minutes in the morning can help. activate your melatonin cycle and help with mood. Don't eat before bed, don't exercise after dinner, except maybe a walk. If you're ruminating, write your worries down, take a hot bath, I love that at night, get a massage if you can, stretch a little bit. Hot water bottle can be great. Actually, I used to love that when I was a kid. And watch for medications that affect sleep such as antihistamines, stimulants, cold medications, steroids, headache medications that have caffeine. and, and if you follow all this, if you eliminate all the processed food, if you eat potassium-rich foods, if you get enough magnesium, get Omega-3 Fats, if you deal with insulin resistance, if you exercise a little and deal with stress, blood pressure is really a very treatable condition. And, and yes, some people have more significant issues like heavy metal toxicity or more advanced vascular disease, and, and so they'll need help with blood pressure medication. But getting through cause and fixing high blood pressure is something that many of us can do. It's, again, it's not a natural condition of being human. It's a product of our modern, really unhealthy Lifestyles and diet, and also some of the other factors like environmental chemicals, which help drive inflammation and oxidative stress, which increases blood pressure. So just remember, if you're diagnosed with high blood pressure, even the guidelines from American Heart Association, other groups are basically lifestyle first. So try that and try these ideas and I bet you won't need medication. And if you do, make sure you work with your doctor to find the right one for you and use as low dose possible. So that's it for this week's health bite. I hope you enjoyed that and if you have comments on what you've done to help your blood pressure, we'd love to hear from you. Share this with your friends and family, subscribe wherever you get podcast and we'll see you next time on the Doctor's Pharmacy. Hey everybody, it's Dr. Hyman. Thanks for tuning into the Doctor's Pharmacy. I hope you're loving this podcast. It's one of my favorite things to do and introducing you all the experts that I know and I love and that I've learned so much from. And I want to tell you about something else I'm doing which is called Mark's Picks. It's my weekly newsletter and in it I share my favorite stuff. from foods to supplements to gadgets to tools to enhance your health. It's all the cool stuff that I use and that my team uses to optimize and enhance our health. And I'd love you to sign up for the weekly newsletter. I'll only send it to you once a week on Fridays. Nothing else, I promise. And all you have to do is go to drhyman.com/picks to sign up. That's drhyman.com/picks, P-I-C-K-S, and sign up for the newsletter and I'll share with you my favorite stuff that I use to enhance my health and get healthier and better and live younger longer. Hi everyone.

I hope you enjoyed this week's episode. Just a reminder that this podcast is for educational purposes only. This podcast is not a substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. This podcast is provided on the understanding that it does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services. If you're looking for help in your journey, seek out a qualified medical practitioner. If you're looking for a functional medicine practitioner, you can visit ifm.org and search their find a practitioner database. It's important that you have someone in your corner who's trained, who's a licensed healthcare practitioner, and can help you make.

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