Finally, Conquering the High Blood Pressure!

Background
After about 10 years of taking high blood pressure medicine, finally, I feel that I will be able to go medicine free. Let us say, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I like to share this information with every one so that you can also try along similar lines (however please consult the doctor before you take anyone's advice). It is indeed a great personal achievement for me.

Ten years back, I used to feel dizzy and doctor warned me categorically that I had to take medicine to lower the blood pressure. He prescribed me Ramipril 5 mg (known as Altace in US and Cardace in India), but in time that did not effect me and it was increased to 10 mg (the maximum dosage). Even with this dose it was important to watch my nutrition, do exercise and sleep well. If I did not have good night sleep, my BP would shoot up in spite that I have take medicine.

Now with this regimen that is mentioned below, my blood pressure has come to normal. I have gradually reduced the dose and for past few days I am not taking the medicine. My last measured BP is 136/71

Regimen that worked!
If I were to highlight the factors that helped me reduce the BP, they are as follows:

• Exercise with perspiration - I jog 2-3 miles (without pause) at least 5 days a week which takes about 30-40 minutes. Then I do light weight (2.5Kg), till I feel tired so that my muscles are relaxed. I mentioned perspiration because if you live in cold countries, you may not see the benefit by running outdoors where you may not perspire.
• Nutritional food - No pizza or juice or restaurant foold. Mostly homemade food which may contain light oily food. It is a real tragedy of our times that we do not get time to cook food from raw ingredients and all the restaurants serve unhealthy food.
• Less food, especially for dinner- Literally my bench mark is: I am always slightly hungry. One should have a balance. If one is too hungry, your work will be impacted and you will tend to get frustrated and have a big meal later.
• Fasting - I fast two times a week. In the fast I eat only fruit and tea (that contains milk), but have normal dinner. I usually also jog during fasting day. Fasting also help in controlling craving for the food for the rest of the week.
• Proper sleep - At least six hours of continuous sleep. However, even when my sleep is less, it did not seem to impact much!

This has been the magic combination that has cracked the puzzle and brought my blood pressure to normal. It may sound excruciating regimen, but it is tolerable. The rewards are great.

At the hindsight, from evolution standpoint, it is closest to imitation of the natural habitat that our bodies are shaped for, through eons of Darwin's selection. Imagine as farmer thousands of years ago - they must have at least worked many hours of day covering at least few miles; had food with low taste, so they ate just what the body desired; When the season was bad, they had to go hungry; and since there was no light or mental work stress, they slept well. Also read my article on ideal nutrition that has reasoning along similar lines.

Doubts
There are always doubts if this is a permanent cure. After all, I had seen in the past that any regimen I adopted, I get the initial benefit. But with time the body gets used to it and I get the high blood pressure again. So one might think this is also a passing phase before my body gets used to this regime.

There are two reasons for doubt:

1. It has been only one month that my BP is in normal range. I should watch for about 8 months before I could be more confident.
2. For past 3 months I am not in any project so I do not have any work stress. Very soon, I will be in Australia for my next consulting engagement and I am keeping my finger crossed.

Well, let us see. I will post about my status six months from now.


How this Miracle Happened:
Thought some of you may like to know, how things changed...

My blood pressure was alright with medication for number of years. It was important that I ate nutritional food and did reasonable exercise. However, any time I slept less or had work stress or had nice dinner, my BP will shoot up for next few days. My body was so sensitive.

However, a month back in India, there was an Hindu festival called Shiva Ratri (Lord Shiva's night), where one takes fast for the whole day - (having tea and fruits if you have low will power). Once I had undertaken the fast as a teenager. I decided to do it again partly as as challenge with my past and partly for God. Wow! For next three day my blood pressure went below the normal range! It seemed as if I never had High Blood pressure. That's how I realized fasting is one of the key in my regimen.

Earlier, I always thought exercise and good nutrition are the main factors to reducing BP and I thought it could be gradually achieved (against doctor's belief that some of us are predisposed to High BP that cannot be cured.). I never expected that fasting would suddenly produce the affect I was looking for a long time. I had a feeling that this was the final piece of the puzzle that solved the problem.

I will tell you, India is really incredible place! The extremities of ideas and the tenacity of the environment that one is exposed by being here is truly amazing. I would have never figured this piece of puzzle by reading science, health news or being in any other country.

Next Steps
I am observing myself for next eight months to see if this regimen has really worked. I hope I could write a book as people could learn and feel motivated. However, given the time, currently it is not in my immediate plans. Nevertheless, I plan to write some articles in this blog for motivation and the details that I could not put here.

I would also like research institutions to do study along the similar regimen with controlled groups. I could contribute by reviewing such proposals. I am amenable to critical way of thinking as required for the scientific research (I have doctorate degree in Physics from Rutgers university)