The story continues.....

As I said in my first post, this will be a collection of my regular stories and conversations with people and low-and-behold one of those conversations took place today.

I also got an email off of an old school friend yesterday who told me about their high blood pressure, so high blood pressure or hypertension to give it it's medical term, is the topic of my first post and is also how and where it all began.

In 2003 as I went through the process of getting my permanent residency for Australia, the doctor noted that I have a very high blood pressure.  I can't recall it exactly but it was something like 190/110.  I went to my GP and then had a million tests.  But I knew something was wrong because every time I went to one of the places/clinics to have a test, I was surrounded by much older much larger people.  A young, slim, athletic looking person stood out in those waiting rooms!  Every test came back with no answer and so I was diagnosed with "essential" hypertension and a week later started taking a low dose of medication.

Not that I ever understood the "essential" part; as if I was missing something, or needed it? Go figure??

Initially, I was on the lowest dose of medication but the dosage increased a little in 2007 as my blood pressure had crept up from the 120/80 range to the 140/90 range which was out of the so called normal range.  That's another blog post right there.

And as I said in my first post, I went back to my GP in late 2008 and my blood pressure continued to raise and now my cholesterol was high.  So, after that bad news I researched a lot of Internet material and read the book "The Paleo Diet" by Dr. Loren Cordain which, I followed very closely for just over three months.  When I returned to the GP's office and had more tests my cholesterol had been cut in half and my blood pressure has dropped to below normal.  Consequently, my GP halved my medication and I was back on the lowest dose.

My GP was astounded as to how I had managed to turn this all around in such a short period of time.  I owe that to Dr. Lorien Cordain's book.

Hypertension is a serious condition and is an indicator of future health problems such as stroke, heart disease, cardio vascular disease, kidney disease to name the usual suspects.  However, in my opinion high blood pressure is a disease of inflammation of the arteries.  And through the changes I made to my diet, I managed to significantly reduce and potentially remove, that inflammation.  And that inflammation was caused by the processed carbohydrates and seed oils that I had in my diet.

I encourage you to check out my opinion and let me know what you find.

Look after yourself and take care until next time.