Sound Non-Prescription Steps for Battling Hypertension | The Blood Pressure Cure: 8 Weeks to Lower Blood...

Excellent information regarding blood pressure. | The Blood Pressure Cure: 8 Weeks to Lower Blood Pressure without Prescription Drugs | Robert E. Kowalski

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	• The Blood Pressure Cure: 8 Weeks to Lower Blood Pressure without Prescription Drugs Robert E. Kowalski Wiley, 2008 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Practical Alternatives to Drugs for BP

Robert Kowalski, author of "The Blood Pressure Cure," said that in order to lower your blood pressure without drugs, you should first know your blood pressure.

"What I really recommend is a home blood pressure monitor. It's no more expensive than bathroom scales," he said.

Kowalski said he has five secret weapons.

The first is a tomato extract called lycomato, a product made by several different brands.

Kowalski said that in two separate studies, "(Patients) took one pill (of lycomato) a day and it brought their blood pressure down eight to 11 points."

Kowalski said the next step is to have a nightly cup of cocoa -- not the mixes, but real cocoa filled with polyphenols -- and the darker the cocoa the better. He said to make it with skim milk and a little sweetener.

"What it does is relax the lining of the arteries called the endothelium, making it more flexible and pliable so that the blood can more easily flow through," he said.

The third step in the process is to take arginine, an amino acid. Kowalski said it's a precursor to nitric oxide.

"The nitric oxide again causes the lining of the artery to expand and relax," he said.

Kowalski said that because arginine is metabolized rapidly, he recommends a sustained release formula.

But a warning comes with arginine. In Kowalski's book, he warned about a Johns Hopkins study of arginine and heart attack patients.

"There were six deaths in the arginine group and no deaths in the placebo group. So, my recommendation would be not to use this until more studies show that it is safe," said Dr. Charles Cummings, a Baltimore cardiologist from Mid-Atlantic Cardiovascular.

The fourth step on Kowalsi's list includes taking MegaNatural BP grape seed extract. The extract is sold under a number of brand names. Kowalski's book cited studies that showed an eight- to 11-point drop in blood pressure.

No. 5 on Kowalski's list was pycnogenol, an antioxidant made from pine trees. He said it's another nitric oxide producer.

"Here's my little trick. (It's kind of like a) salt substitute. Instead of being sodium chloride, it's potassium chloride," he said.

Kowalski said people need more potassium to balance the sodium. He said if people don't like the taste of pycnogenol sprinkled on food, try cooking with it.

"You won't taste it, and at every meal it becomes high in potassium to blunt the sodium," he said.

Cummings said Kowalski made some very good points in his book.

"It is true that by adopting some of the changes he suggests, we can reduce our medications significantly. But the idea that someone who's been on blood pressure pills for a long time can get off them is completely is unrealistic," he said.

Kowalski said people with high blood pressure should at least know about the medications they are taking, but don't frown about them. He said that sends a message to the brain.

"The body perceives it as something is wrong. Cortisol and norepenephrine are released, causing the blood pressure and heart rate to go up," Kowalski said.

Kowalski had another tip for those with high blood pressure.

"Find a way every day just to be nice to yourself. It helps you reduce your blood pressure, and it's better than taking a pill," he said.

Kowalski also recommended deep breathing for two to three minutes, three or four times a day. He said it's another way to help bring your blood pressure down.

Good book to read Before you take the doc's drugs!

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Sound Non-Prescription Steps for Battling Hypertension

The book is intriguing, in that it is written by a medical journalist, not a physician. You even wonder how he ever found a publisher to publish the book. Nevertheless, with that qualifier up front and the predominance of "anecdotal" evidence, author Robert Kowalski offers a common sense approach to lowering your blood pressure. This is a combination of exercise/activity, stress reduction, diet and various diet supplements. He does not come off as dogmatic or as a zealot. One is tempted to say that these measures may be like chicken soup - "they can't hurt but might help."

The larger message that has merit is that patients should take responsibility for their own health and blood pressure, that there is a lot in the way of lifestyle that we can do short of getting on prescription drugs to manage and lower our blood pressure. Whether the process takes eight weeks or eighty, that is a good message.

Like lots of things in life, the kicker lies not in knowing the right things to do, but having the strength of will to do them and to act on them. In this regard, "The Blood Pressure Cure" is no exception.

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Excellent information regarding blood pressure.

The Blood Pressure Cure: 8 Weeks to Lower Blood Pressure without Prescription Drugs
This book is an excellent reference for people who want to really understand high blood pressure and how to control it. Even if you do not want to go on the 8 week plan this book is filled with information. For people who do not want to use medication as a first line of treatment this book will walk you through all of your options. But it also addresses blood pressure medications and when and why they may be appropriate. I learned a great deal from this book and I highly recommend it.

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interesting book; not so practical or effective

I am an MD. This book is very anecdotal. Emphasizes some supplements that only have a bit of evidence backing them, and leaves out others with at least as much evidence.

Also, essentially promising that everyone will get at least some effect out of these ideas is wrong.

Personally, Ive now tried all of these supplements and the other recommendations. Got expensive quickly and MAYBE have had a few points reduction each in systolic and diastolic pressures when on the arginine, grapeseed extract, and the calcium/magnesium supplements. The others did nothing. Not able to reduce medications.Not sure if I will continue or not.

A disappointment compared to his cholesterol book.

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It works!!!

Even being a person that exercises 6 days a week, having low fat in my body and eating healthy food I had my blood pressure around 130/70 easily going to 140 if I ate something with too much sodium, like Japanese food. After reading a few books I reduced the salt and increased the potassium. After a few months with this new diet my blood pressure dropped to 120/125. However, it couldn't drop more! Then I read this book and start taking the suplements the author mentioned, the four all of them. Now, after about a month my blood pressure is constantly about 115/60. Amazing!!!

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From The Bestselling Author of The 8-Week Cholesterol Cure

Robert Kowalski's clinically proven program draws on the very latest research on high blood pressure causes, development, and treatment. With the most up-to-date information on herbs, supplements, diet, physical activity, and more, this commonsense, easy-to-follow program can help you lower your blood pressure so that you can decrease your risk of heart attack and stroke?and increase your chances of living a long and healthy life.

"The book is exceptional in its clarity and depth. I would recommend it to anyone with a tendency to hypertension."
?Charles Keenan Jr., M.D., Associate Professor of Family Practice, UCLA

"Hypertension is an important member of the quartet of risk factors for cardiovasculardisease?the other three are elevated cholesterol levels, diabetes, and cigarette smoking. Robert Kowalski endeavors to bring all these risk factors under control without resorting to medications. This book presents simple answers to the questions that arise when people take charge of their own health in partnership with their physician."
?Calvin Ezrin, M.D., author of Your Fat Can Make You Thin

"Robert Kowalski is now doing for blood pressure what he did for cholesterol in his previous books?he is revolutionizing the way we think about the non-pharmaceutical treatment of this important risk factor for heart disease. This well-written, concise book is a must-read for every person suffering from or treating high blood pressure."
?Paul Dougherty, M.D., Professor of Medicine, UCLA

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