Blood Pressure -- Experiments and Stategies

[eytonxav]

Yes, but you'd need 10 bananas to get to the RDA for potassium.

Bananas have good PR when it comes to potassium.

A medium banana has 450 mg of potassium
A 4 oz serving of turkey breast has 465 mg
Half an avocado has 602 mg
A cup of cooked spinach has 1,166 mg

and the RDA is 4,700 mg (which some feel is too low).

Wow, had no idea. I also take a multi-vitamin so need to check the potassium in that. Thanks!

My blood pressure averaged about 150/100 two years ago. My new doctor decided to put me on a low dosage of BP medicine. A year later, my blood pressure was about the same so he increased my dosage. Just got back from the doctor again and despite the increased dosage, the BP is still about the same! Hasn't improved any since taking it. The only thing the meds have done for me is to give me a chronic dry cough. Very frustrating. When I asked him this time what I could do differently his reply was to "lose weight". Was hoping there was an easier option than that! I am skeptical that will have much of an impact. I have weight 30-40 lbs less than what I do know in the not so distance past and my blood pressure was about the same.
(I am a beer drinker)

Skyvue,

I was having an internet chat with a guy some time ago who appeared to be quite an authority vitamins and various health issues. When I told him I was on a BP med, he asked if I had a cough to which I said no, but wanted to know why he asked that. He indicated that if I did, he would recommend taking CoQ10 as it supposedly eliminates the cough. Of course you can't believe everything you hear of the internet, so maybe best to check with your Dr, but even there, I'm not sure they have all the answers either.

 

[TromboneAl]

Wow, had no idea. I also take a multi-vitamin so need to check the potassium in that. Thanks!

Your multivitamin will have at most 99 mg of Potassium in it. In other words, almost none. One can't sell a supplement with more than 99 mg, because potassium can be dangerous to people with some medical conditions.

 

[haha]

You can buy powdered potassium gluconate, and take enough to kill yourself if you want.

 

[TromboneAl]

You can buy powdered potassium gluconate, and take enough to kill yourself if you want.

True. Same with potassium chloride.

Thanks again for turning me on to the Moore book, Ha.

 

[Zero]

Interesting that supplements are limited to 100mg and yet a rutabaga with 1,320mg per cup isn't labeled with a warning sticker.

I'm certainly not getting 4,700mg of potassium and am scratching my head as to how anyone would, it would require 10-12 servings of potassium rich foods.

 

[W2R]

Interesting that supplements are limited to 100mg and yet a rutabaga with 1,320mg per cup isn't labeled with a warning sticker.

Yuck. I can't imagine eating a cup of rutabaga. Guess I'm not in any danger there.....

 

[haha]

Yuck. I can't imagine eating a cup of rutabaga. Guess I'm not in any danger there.....

That was my Dad's favorite veggie. Mashed rutabaga drowning in salted butter and black pepper. I have to admit that I like it quite a bit too.

 

[TromboneAl]

I'm certainly not getting 4,700mg of potassium and am scratching my head as to how anyone would, it would require 10-12 servings of potassium rich foods.

Same here. I don't think it's feasible. I figure I get maybe 3,000 mg.

 

[Zero]

I just purchased a tiny rutabaga that looked like a runt of the litter. Got it home and discovered that it was sealed in wax. How am I supposed to get that off of it? So I figure maybe the wax must be edible but will save it until the more enlightened one returns home.

I looked at my intake today and it was less than 500 mg.

EDIT: So I'm headed back to Safeway to get a bushel of spinach. Will that wilt down to one cup.

 

[TromboneAl]

A huge bag (16 oz) wilts down to one large serving, but I find that the frozen spinach is much more convenient, unless you have a huge fridge.

 

[Zero]

Yuck. I can't imagine eating a cup of rutabaga. Guess I'm not in any danger there.....

Maybe a warning sticker that says, " In most folks, rutabaga rarely reaches the digestive system."

 

[Nemo2]

I just purchased a tiny rutabaga that looked like a runt of the litter. Got it home and discovered that it was sealed in wax. How am I supposed to get that off of it? So I figure maybe the wax must be edible but will save it until the more enlightened one returns home.

Peel it, (Dear Henry, Dear Henry, well peel it)!

 

[Zero]

Peel it, (Dear Henry, Dear Henry, well peel it)!

So you're saying sesame seeds are the key?

I looked online and saw axes being used to remove the skin and wax. Yikes.

 

[Nemo2]

I looked online and saw axes being used to remove the skin and wax. Yikes.

A cleaver or chef's knife to cut it in half/remove the top/bottom, and then a regular peeling/boning knife to take off the wax.

(Sesame seeds? The "Dear Henry" referred to "There's a hole in the bucket, Dear Liza". )

 

[W2R]

A cleaver or chef's knife to cut it in half/remove the top/bottom, and then a regular peeling/boning knife to take off the wax.

(Sesame seeds? The "Dear Henry" referred to "There's a hole in the bucket, Dear Liza". )

There's a Hole in the Bucket (classic Sesame Street) - YouTube

 

[Nemo2]

Ah, Sesame Street..........being 'old' I remember the Harry Belafonte version.

 

[Zero]

I bought 10 each 6 oz bags of baby spinach $2/bag, and each bag has 1,260 mg K and only 130 mg Na, so 10 to 1. Eat 3 bags per day. Also bought organic chicken breasts.

Gonna shoot for daily intake of 3,500 mg K and 1,000 Na.

Starting BP was 136/78 at 9:30AM.

 

[RAE]

We use zero-sodium baking powder, and I buy soft drinks with no sodium, or make my own (e.g. lemonade).

.

Al - you might want to try giving up all soft drinks for a while (and even the lemonade mix, which I assume you sweeten with something?), and replace them with water, and see if your BP starts to come down. Even if the soft drinks you consume have no sodium, and no sugar, they are likely to contain all sorts of other compounds that can influence blood pressure, from the reading I've done (artificial sweeteners, caffeine, etc). I gave up all soda/soft drinks years ago (both regular and diet)...........nasty stuff.

 

[TromboneAl]

That's a reasonable idea, but I've tried it and I don't like to give up flavor and sweetness. My favorite drink is the juice of half a lemon, 4 oz of water, 7 oz of seltzer water and sweetened with liquid splenda and stevia. I drink unsweetened decaf coffee with lots of heavy whipping cream.

My BP was 113/78 this morning. 145/85 to 113/78 doesn't seem possible, but the monitor is an objective measurement.

 

[JSadler]

Even if the soft drinks you consume have no sodium, and no sugar, they are likely to contain all sorts of other compounds that can influence blood pressure, from the reading I've done (artificial sweeteners, caffeine, etc).

I have always read about such great health benefits that tea has, but my doctor has recommended that I go off of those. Because like many teas, most soda has caffeine, which causes BP to spike.


---
J. Sadler
\

 

[TromboneAl]

Four-Month Update

It's now been four months:



As you can see I've bounced off the lows. This may be some random fluctuation. I've slacked off the spinach a bit -- I was having several servings a day at the beginning.

There really are so many variables, and it's hard to keep things constant. Things still look good, I think it will take a year before I'll be totally convinced that I've found the answer.

 

[LOL!]

Did your weight drop? I usually get lighter in the summer due to lack of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter treats and lots more outdoor exercise. Also I sweat more when it's warmer.

 

[TromboneAl]

Did your weight drop? I usually get lighter in the summer due to lack of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter treats and lots more outdoor exercise. Also I sweat more when it's warmer.

No, I just checked, and it is exactly the same as it was on Jan 27 (156 pounds).

 

[haha]

Congratulations Al, this seems like a very meaningful improvement!

Ha

 

[BellBarbara]

Interesting thread. I am 55, was borderline for 20 years, and had terrible white coat. I went to get a tooth pulled and it was 200/100 - the doc was freaked out. I finally asked to go on the meds in the last year as I did not want to damage my body. I think I read that as we age the number of people needing bp medicine goes up until it is 75% at age 75.

I use an automatic cuff, and checked it at the docs office (it reads within 1 or 2 pts of the manual one). Since I recently retired, up'd my exercise and lost weight, it will be interesting to see if if goes down.

Pretty much everyone in my family has high bp - even the thin people. Perhaps it's genetic? No heart disease, and the only person who had strokes was my mom who was a super heavy smoker.

We eat so much better now, we have both lost weight just from better eating and exercise (no counting anything). My philosophy is to lower bp before any damage. Would I prefer not to take meds? Of course, but right now I take one of the lowest dose pills so I will live with that.

And there is no profit to the drug companies - it's a generic and costs me like $3 a month!