3 ms·

I went a week with no salt (and serious minimization of dietary sodium), no coffee or caffeine of any sort, adjusted my sleep schedule to be idealized, no alcoh

I went a week with no salt (and serious minimization of dietary sodium), no coffee or caffeine of any sort, adjusted my sleep schedule to be idealized, no alcohol (although I was a minimal consumer already and now am a zero consumer), very little sugar or simple carbs, took potassium supplements, etc. After seven days my BP was just as insane. And while people always have a stereotype of people with hypertension, I've been very active and fit over my entire life. I started donating blood -- some report it as beneficial to BP -- and the effect was extremely short lived for me and very minimal regardless. I still donate blood regularly now as I'm an O- and they remind me constantly. People are different. Someone who has mild hypertension probably can tweak some lifestyle dials and control it. I had severe hypertension with nothing to point the finger at (e.g. obesity, lifestyle, etc). For whatever reason my body was malfunctioning and in a recursive death loop of escalating hypertension.

sph 3y ago
What is your diet? FWIW I'm in the same boat: both my parents have hypertension, one is a smoker, the other isn't, one is overweight, the other isn't. My mum has taken heroic hypertensive doses to keep hers at bay, for decades. I've been diagnosed with it in my 20s when I was fit as a fiddle... it must be a genetic component, though these days I do believe it's because of a diet too high in carbs than my genes can handle. Have a look at the effect of fructose on blood pressure. Low carb seems to work well for me, but I'm not consistent enough to see my BP trend down to the point I can throw my pills away. I'm working on it. And yeah, the entire salt scare is pretty much nonsense that's slowly being debunked. I have a friend who eats more salt than a goat, and he's got hypotension. Go figure. Hyponatremia is not fun, I tend to use salt liberally these days.

sph 3y ago

What is your diet? FWIW I'm in the same boat: both my parents have hypertension, one is a smoker, the other isn't, one is overweight, the other isn't. My mum has taken heroic hypertensive doses to keep hers at bay, for decades. I've been diagnosed with it in my 20s when I was fit as a fiddle... it must be a genetic component, though these days I do believe it's because of a diet too high in carbs than my genes can handle. Have a look at the effect of fructose on blood pressure. Low carb seems to work well for me, but I'm not consistent enough to see my BP trend down to the point I can throw my pills away. I'm working on it. And yeah, the entire salt scare is pretty much nonsense that's slowly being debunked. I have a friend who eats more salt than a goat, and he's got hypotension. Go figure. Hyponatremia is not fun, I tend to use salt liberally these days.