My story of dealing with high blood pressure has many twists and turns. It started out as “gestational hypertension” during my second pregnancy, that didn’t go away after the baby was born. The side effects of the medications for treating high blood pressure are not fun. Many people end up on other medications just to treat the side effects or an original medication! I didn’t want to stay on that track.

So I tried a variety of things, including different diets and exercise, and finally eliminating certain foods from my diet that my body personally cannot handle (like gluten and corn). I have blogged more about this part of the story here. I was off medication for nearly 4 years, when my blood pressure began creeping up a bit again. (My weight had also crept up, which could be the issue. Did you know a difference of 5 pounds can measurably impact your blood pressure?!

Thankfully, I have a wonderful doctor who is not opposed to using meds if absolutely necessary but is first likely to offer something like hawthorne berry to treat your blood pressure. This, in addition to his suggestion that I up my magnesium and potassium supplement, was enough, and at my physical this summer, my blood pressure was a beautiful 119/78. For a gal , not on meds, who has experienced regular readings of 160/125 in years past, this was an amazing thing!

It is most important to uncover the route cause of the blood pressure increase, and treat the root. So I continue to exercise, and reduce my grains/carbs/sugar in an effort to get the weight-creep off of my middle! 🙂

Did you know that sugar raises your blood pressure?! And healthy fat does not!

NOTE: This is not my usual magnesium/potassium. I usually order them through Purecaps via my doctor’s office. They are very pure/allergen free.

Please do not mess with your blood pressure. I did this experiment at the advice and under the care of my doctor. Take this information and discuss it with them before discontinuing any medications.

This is part of a series on taking steps to A More Natural Medicine Cabinet, in which I am chronically our journey for friends and also for my kids as a reference.  See the entire list of posts here!