Drugs do not remove the cause, nor do they cure the condition. All drugs against hypertension without exception, are toxic and have distressing side-effects. They safest way to cure hypertension is to eliminate the poisons from the system which cause it. Persons with high blood pressure should always follow a well-balanced routine of proper diet, exercise and rest.
Diet is of primary importance. Meat and eggs cause blood pressure to rise more than any other food. The pressure is lowered and blood clotting diminished by par-taking a diet with a higher fruit content, lower protein and non-flesh diet. A natural diet consisting of fresh fruits and vegetables, instead of a traditional diet, is helpful in getting rid of the poisons from the body.
A hypertension patient should start the process of healing by living on all- fruit diet for atleast a week, and take fruits at five-hourly intervals, thrice a day. He should take juicy fruits such as oranges apples, pears, mangoes, guavas, pineapples and grapes. Milk may be taken after a week of a diet of fruits only. The milk should be fresh and boiled only once. The patient can be permitted cereals in the diet after two weeks.
Vegetables are also good for a patient of hypertension. They should preferably be taken raw. If they are cooked, it could be ensured that their natural goodness is not destroyed in the process of cooking. Vegetables like cucumber, carrot, tomato, onion, raddish, cabbage and spinach are best taken in their raw form.
They may be cut into small pieces and sprinkled with a little salt and the juice of a lemon added to them so as to make them more palatable. The intake of salt should be restricted ; in any case it should not be taken more than four grams or half a teaspoon per day. Baking powder, containing sodium carbonate should also be avoided.
Garlic is regarded as one of the most effective remedies to lower blood pressure. The pressure and tension are reduced because it has the power to ease the spasm of the small arteries. Garlic also slows the pulse and modifies the heart rhythm besides relieving the symptoms of dizziness, numbness, shortness of breath and the formation of gas within the digestive tract. The average dosage should be two to three capsules a day to make a dent in the blood pressure.
Recent studies have revealed an important link between dietary calcium and potassium and hypertension. Researchers have found that people who take potassium-rich diets have a low incidence of hypertension even if they do not control their salt-intake. They have also found that people with hypertension do not seem to get much calcium in the form of dairy products.
The two essential nutrients seem to help the body throw off excess sodium and are involved in important functions which control the working of the vascular system. Potassium is found in abundance in fruits and vegetables and calcium in dairy products.
The patient of hypertension should follow a plan of a well-balanced diet in which the constituents of food should be approximately in the following proportion : carbohydrate twenty per cent, protein ten to fifteen per cent, fat five per cent and fruits and vegetable sixty to sixty-five percent.
In this plan, one main meal should be based on raw foods while the second main meal may consist of cooked foods. Meals should be taken slowly and in a relaxed atmosphere. Food should be well masticated as the process of digestion begins in the mouth. The dinner should not normally be taken late.