For better blood pressure management, go with your gut

This past weekend was a tough one… A dear friend of mine suffered a heart attack that very nearly took him from his family forever.

One minute he and his son were car shopping, as his son was about to head off for college, and in the next minute, he was on the ground as an ambulance was called.

Fortunately, he was lucky and in a few days he’ll be back home with his wife and kids.

But, it was a stark reminder of how fast things can change when you’re living with high blood pressure.

The good news is that if you, like my friend, are living with high blood pressure and are a heart attack waiting to happen, there is an effective way to get your numbers under control naturally… sort of from the bottom up…

3 Scientific studies = 1 Important conclusion

You see, researchers have discovered that the key to lowering your blood pressure could lie more in your gut than in your heart.

That’s because bad gut bacteria can disrupt the process that regulates the amount of sodium in your cells. When that happens, your cells swell up and become hypertensive.

In fact, in one study, scientists found that when they transplanted the bad bacteria from mice with high blood pressure into mice with normal blood pressure, their blood pressure skyrocketed!

And, that’s not all…

You know how when you eat salt and your blood pressure goes up? Well, a second study found that your gut bacteria are actually sensitive to salt, so that’s why.

Even worse, the scientists discovered that just 14 days of a high salt diet can kill off good gut bacteria, leaving you at even higher risk for hypertension and the heart attack and strokes that can come with it.

But, there was some good news to come out of the study…

The researchers found that the effects could be countered by adding probiotics to your diet, which makes sense since probiotics are basically the good bacteria you should have in your gut.

Those findings weren’t a one-off either.

A study in the American Journal of Hypertension reported that eating yogurt (which is packed with probiotics) lowers cardiovascular disease risk in hypertensive men and women. In fact, yogurt consumption was associated with a 30 percent reduction in risk of heart attack in women and a 19 percent reduced risk in men.

The conclusion of all three of these studies is the same: Good gut bacteria equals good blood pressure. Bad gut bacteria equals bad blood pressure.

Natural blood pressure management

That makes restoring your gut health an important step in lowering your blood pressure.

To do this:

#1 – Eat plenty of fermented foods
Fermented foods are rich in those probiotics we talked about so be sure to include them in your diet. Good choices are yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi and kombucha.

#2 – Avoid sugars and processed foods
Sugars and processed foods promote the bad bacteria you want to avoid so stick to whole, natural foods instead.

#3 – Eat whole grains
Whole grains promote the growth of good gut bacteria. Grains to add to your diet include oatmeal, quinoa, amaranth, farro and rice.

#4 – Take a daily probiotic
To even further boost your gut health, add in a probiotic supplement to your daily regimen. You can find them online or at your local health food store.

In addition to optimizing your gut health, it’s also important to support the health of your arteries. All you have to do is add a few more supplements to your regimen, including:

• Vitamin K2 – I like K2 because it promotes a healthy blood flow and blood pressure by helping to keep your arteries clear, elastic and pliable. In fact, K2 is so powerful that a scientific study of 4,807 people supplemented with the vitamin K2 found that it delivered a 52 percent reduction in calcium deposits — and a 41 percent lower risk of serious heart problems.
• Grape Seed Extract – Grape seed extract is important to your blood pressure because it’s packed with polyphenols which activate nitric oxide in the lining of your blood vessels. Nitric oxide helps keep your blood platelets from sticking together by relaxing your arteries promoting healthy blood flow.
• Pterostilbene – This antioxidant helps block the creation of Angiotensin II — an enzyme that stiffens the walls of your blood vessels and triggers a hormone that increases the amounts of sodium and water retained by your body — something that could skyrocket your blood pressure.