If and when your medical doctor finds that you have high blood pressure, you will be prescribed blood pressure medicine and/or diuretics to help manage your symptoms, and you should follow the medical guidelines without exception as these are important life-saving remedies without a doubt. However, with SV Ayurveda, we go beyond the symptoms to look for and address the root cause(s) or “hetu” of any ailment. I have consistently witnessed – in my clinical practice – how following some or all of the guidelines I am about to share with you allows patients to fully address and even reverse diagnosed chronic conditions. Remember that results always depend on individuals because Ayurveda is never a one-size-fits-all science as we all know; but there are so many things we can optimize and correct in our modern diets and lifestyles, that it has now become possible to give general ayurvedic recommendations to correct our culturally induced bad habits – for example, no one benefits from eating toxic ingredients (chemical preservatives or additives) and yet our foods are laden with them; no one should be or over-exerting their body and mind the way they do working long days long hours month after month and yet our lifestyles demand it. When the body shuts down because it can no longer tolerate it we try to flog it back to life with oral supplementation and vitamins further aggravating things by putting pressure on our digestive systems. What can you do? Specifically in the context of regulating your blood pressure?
There are several reasons why your blood pressure can go high (or low). But most important is to first isolate and address the causative factors. Let’s explore possible culturally induced causative factors as clarified and taught by Vaidya Ramakant Mishra.
The Physical Channels and your Diet
We’ve been conditioned to think that a tablet or supplement is all that’s needed to correct things, but ayurveda teaches us that diet should always be our first and foremost consideration. In this context, it is important to understand the idea of the physical channels and Vaidya taught us a great deal on this topic, revolutionizing our understanding and approach to so many health issues. This is a rarely addressed and frequently ignored aspect of ayurvedic healing in general. The arteries are considered one type of channel, amongst the various vessels that the blood flows through. If these channels shrink down, get clogged or inflamed then blood pressure will go up, much like a garden hose: if you step on it, the pressure will go up inside the hose. Vaidya taught us that there are many simple things we can do. For one, did you know that there are some foods you can avoid that shrink these channels? For example: the nightshade vegetables. This is a very large family of vegetables, and not all carry detrimental properties; however: eggplant, bell peppers, tomatoes and white potatoes that are all nightshades can be highly toxic and clogging to your physical channels when consumed daily regularly. In addition, they contain a molecule of nicotine which makes them highly addictive in addition to being heavy and clogging. They clog the body’s physical channels including the delicate blood vessels, causing blood pressure to rise.
There are other channel-clogging foods not part of the nightshades that you should also consider minimizing or altogether avoiding. Such as: chocolate; cacao; unfermented soy (tofu, soy milk, edamame); hard aged cheeses; nut butters (peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, almond butter, etc.); winter squashes (acorn, spaghetti, pumpkin); large bananas; mushrooms; and red heavy or processed meats (red meat, pork, sausage, bacon, pepperoni, bacon, for example).
Finally, avoid the foods which “burn” or acidify the channels, such as: onions, garlic and vinegar. Some apple cider vinegar used in conjunction with some ingredients and in balance is ok. If you desire a sour taste, use fresh squeezed lime on the food as it turns alkaline quickly once ingested. Or use fresh Thai tamarind pods.
Oils/Fats that Clog and Inflame the Arteries
In America, we have been sensitivised for decades to the so-called noxious role that fat and oils play in our body in general, ignoring the fact that the fats and oils we were being fed or pushed to consume were either highly processed or industrially manufactured and toxic. Most of us grew up on vegetable and other poor quality processed cooking oils such as: sunflower, safflower, canola, peanut oil, corn oil, margarine, and other processed fats. Did you know that when you heat these oils for cooking their molecular structure becomes resistent and indigestible much like a plastic molecule, and they easily become blocked and clog your arteries? When you also get calcium deposits on top of this situation, forming plaque, this not only further raises the blood pressure but the arteries get hardened as well. So you then have: inflammation, clogging, and hardening of the arteries.
We have several tools which can scrape this plaque out of the walls of the arteries but you should be under the care of one of Vaidya Mishra’s trained expert doctors to go through this. We have had several patients reverse their clogged arteries (as seen on a CT scan of the arteries called a “calcium score” using Vaidya’s tremendously effective therapies.
In addition to these remedies, switching to only home-made ghee (or Vaidya’s “Mom’s Ghee”) and olive oil will be the best thing you can do to get started.
Salt
Salt is a very important factor in the context of blood pressure as it has already been shown by modern science. Not least of all because like fats/oil, it’s another ingredient we ingest daily. However, usually the answer or solution has been to completely eliminate or significantly reduce the salt in the diet when there are irregularities with blood pressure. Ayurveda teaches us that the salty taste is one of the essential six tastes that we need to have on a daily basis for mental and physical balance, so eliminating salt completely is not really the solution even if it is necessary sometimes. But this is what we do need to understand and consider: the highly processed salt available to us in the modern diet is mainly composed of sodium and chloride, which increases the blood pressure over a lifetime. So it is not salt itself which is the culprit, but the kind of salt that you are using. Did you now that in ancient vedic culture, there were more than a dozen different salts to choose from? Vaidya Mishra brought us the best one and he called it “Soma Salt.” This type of salt collected from the Himalayan mountainous rocks is referred to as the “Queen of Salts” in ayurvedic texts. It contains many other minerals, besides sodium and chloride, which also aid in keeping your blood pressure low throughout your life. Soma Salt carries many beneficial properties, in addition to its unique taste. A little pinch is enough to flavor your food without imbalancing your body. My only caution is you do not opt for the pink Himalayan salt variety which is also gathered from the same source but carries different chemical make-up. Even though natural, it is high in sulfur content and may actually have adverse effects as Vaidya also explained. Monitoring your salt intake and switching to a better salt is another essential step towards your healthier regimen.
Obesity
Keeping healthy eating habits – by becoming aware and adopting some or all of the above points I mentioned - to keep your weight down is essential, as high body weight can cause high blood pressure almost automatically. The body and the heart have to work harder and more forcefully to address the extra weight, resulting in elevated pressure. Many of my patients’ blood pressure came down just by losing weight, without having to resort to any herbs or supplementation. Speaking of which, my next point is a central one once you’ve addressed all the dietary aspects.
Magnesium Transdermally: Cream & Roll-On
I have a one-hour free class on my website here . I invite you to listen to this in-depth explanation of the role magnesium plays in our bodies. You will understand why even mainstream medicine uses magnesium in hospitals and emergency rooms to lower blood pressure.
In a nutshell, here is how it goes. The arteries have muscles in one of their three layers to pump the blood through, and there is another layer containing elastin. This elastic layer is like a rubber band, which allows the artery to expand and contract as the blood is pumped through.
Magnesium resides in both layers, allowing the arterial muscles to both relax and then to expand as the heart beats. So we always want to keep our magnesium levels up. Stress, pharmaceuticals and other negative influences can deplete our bodies of magnesium, then the arteries lose their elasticity allowing the blood pressure to go up.
Magnesium sits on the outside of every cell, preventing calcium from entering. Calcium belongs in our teeth and bones, but not on the insides of our arteries. Once the magnesium goes low, calcium takes advantage and begins to accumulate on the inside of the arteries, creating hardening of the arteries, which is very easy to feel in one’s pulse. As one uses magnesium, the arteries soften up, causing more elasticity — this is very easy to feel in the pulse and very rewarding as you see your older patients develop the very soft arteries commonly seen in the younger patients.
Of course, we recommend the use of transdermal magnesium, either through creams, rolls-ons or oil massages since the skin will absorb what it needs. When taken orally it can sometimes go through the digestive tract too quickly preventing its absorption. Use the magnesium transdermally daily. Apply Magnesium Roll-on down the spine twice a day. The magnesium is very good for blood pressure, and it’s virtually non-existent in the diet. Again, you don’t want to take magnesium orally as it does not digest well. I would also recommend a Magnesium Oil massage daily — use Pitta Magnesium oil if there is some pitta there (right now at the end of pitta season specially, pitta has accumulated in all of us and it alone can create high blood pressure as the hot blood pounds against the walls of the arteries. As we get more into the colder weather, you can use the Vata Oil with Magnesium and Vitamin D. Magnesium can cool the blood and as I mentioned it will help soften up the stiffness in the arteries as well. Transmucosally, add the BP nectar drops — 10 drops in 1 cup room temp Fiji Water — drink it down and do that twice a day. If that doesn’t bring it down within the next two weeks, do this 3x a day. You can also do SVA marma therapy using the BP Cream.
Stress…
Last but never least, we all know how stress can elevate the blood pressure: when we’re stressed our adrenal glands secrete cortisol which shrinks down the channels, allowing the blood pressure to go up. This is why we use Ashwagandha, which prevents the release of too much cortisol when we’re under stress. Cortisol also dumps magnesium out of the body, causing the blood pressure to go up as the arteries lose their elasticity and harden. Again, best to use transdermal Ashwagandha as it is a heating herb as per SVA and Vaidya Mishra, and can backfire. Too many people are orally supplementing with large doses of ashwagandha and other ayurvedic spices and herbs (need I mention the harmful Turmeric capsule fad?) and either not getting results or making themselves more sick. They do not understand why they don’t get the results they are seeking or worse, end up more sick. This is exactly why Vaidya Mishra made the alternative herbal delivery products: transdermal and transmucosal. Transdermally as I said you cannot overdose. Transmucosally you will also get the benefits down to the deepest tissues safely and fast. Ashwagandha in drops or cream form is what I recommend. Otherwise, and this brings my to the final consideration, you will experience what we refer to as “dosha imbalance” in ayurveda. This will result from your intake of ayurvedic herbs/supplements in large doses or wrong combinations, or inability to digest properply. But that’s another topic altogether as well.
Vata/Pitta/Kapha Dosha in Relation to Your Arteries
Learning about vata, pitta and kapha and how these three doshas also play a major role in keeping our blood pressure down is key. High vata is identified as shrinkage in the channels; high pitta is identified as blood pounding against the walls of the arteries as the blood gets hotter and hotter; and high kapha, when left unchecked is the clogging in the arteries that also may cause high blood pressure. Of course, there are numerous ways to treat these doshas, including herbs, diet, daily routine and cleansing — you can listen to the lecture on my website which gives a thorough explanation on what these terms mean and how to keep them balanced using SVA protocols and methods.
So in short, these are just brief introductory foundational things you can do to help manage your blood pressure fluctuations. However, following these guidelines may give you additional benefits that you might not have expected, in other aspects of your overall health. Diet, as Vaidya Mishra always emphasized, is one of the most important pillars of Ayurveda, no matter which way we look at things. And with the refined knowledge of the SV ayurvedic diet and guidance, it becomes easier and encouraging to adopt better habits.
Dr. Marianne Teitelbaum
Cinnaminson, NJ
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