Hotter weather can lead to heat exhaustion.
It can be most alarming, in hot weather, when the blood pressure suddenly goes very high.
This is often a threefold occurrence.
Firstly, the lifestyle and diet would have set the stage for high blood pressure.
Secondly, an over-salty meal could have caused both the natural rise of blood pressure after a meal and be augmented by the rapid blood-pressure increase from salt as the body waterlogs the cells to dilute an excess of it.
Thirdly, losing potassium through exertion, sitting in a hot car or anything that causes much perspiration leaves the body unable to balance the excess sodium in a short time.
Sodium and potassium are two of the main nutrients that have an immediate effect on blood pressure, so potassium or even balanced homoeopathic cell salts taken in the right increments can remedy this quite rapidly.
The diet and lifestyle should be checked after such a wake-up call.
Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by the blood against the walls of the blood vessels.
If the amount of blood going through the vessels increases, then blood pressure will be higher, that is, more blood pushing against the walls, and less blood will make for less pressure.
If the internal diameter is decreased, blood pressure will be higher, and if it is increased blood pressure will lower.
Clogging of the blood vessel, or gradually making them narrower inside with layers of deposits, will increase blood pressure.
Blood pressure
Blood pressure forces oxygen and food (in plasma as sugar, amino acids, fatty acids vitamins and minerals) into tissues through tiny, porous capillaries.
When blood in capillary beds becomes concentrated from loss of plasma, the blood protein, albumin, attracts tissue fluids carrying wastes into the blood vessels, and so the quantity of blood stays fairly constant.
So, through the function of blood pressure, tissues are constantly bathed in nutrient-laden fluids and the waste products of the cells, performing their own functions, are removed.
When various tissues need more oxygen and nutrients, tiny muscles in artery walls come more into play and increase blood pressure to get food and oxygen more quickly to the cells.
When the needs are less, these tiny muscles relax and blood pressure comes down.
Corrective nutrition should take into account any other treatments.
If blood pressure is low, for example, and medications are used to correct it, and a nutritional regimen is also used, then a double correction can occur sending the blood pressure too high and the converse can happen with double corrections of high blood pressure.
It would be wise, and sometimes vital, to keep one’s health practitioner advised of the dietary measure taken; but it is well established that diet has a pronounced effect on blood pressure.
Low blood pressure
When nutrition is inadequate, the walls of the blood vessels can become overly relaxed, flabby or stretched and one can feel constantly tired, lose interest in sex, be more sensitive to temperature changes and quickly develop a rapid pulse on exertion.
It is worsened when occurring on top of natural blood pressure decreasing circumstances (like sleep) and so it would often make one feel more tired on waking than when going to sleep.
Low blood pressure was induced in volunteers only mildly lacking in certain nutrients: calories, protein, vitamin C and almost any of the B vitamins.
But lack of Vitamin B5 appeared to have the biggest effect. B5 deficiencies inhibit the production of adrenal hormones leading to excessive loss of salt and water and thus decreasing the volume of blood.
Diets correcting these deficiencies will usually correct low blood pressure.
Overall, observing the basics of sufficient protein (best taken as small regular meals); ensuring adequate B vitamins, and vitamin C (used to form collagen and keep tissue elastic rather than flabby or stretched) would help to guard against this.
A good sleep cycle and regular exercise would assist.
High blood pressure
Blood pressure increases rapidly when larger than usual amounts of water and sodium are held in the body, which almost always occurs when the body reacts with alarm to stress.
Blood pressure is also increased when tension causes artery muscles to contract when blood vessels are clogged with cholesterol, when blood vessels are compressed by external fat or when they shrink or harden as with scar tissue.
Dangers are that increased pressure causes the heart to pump against more resistance and that fine capillaries can burst.
The kidneys are especially prone to this due to the high pressure in capillary coils needed to form urine.
Blood vessel breaks can lead to clots and later scar tissue that worsens the situation.
As always, observing good nutritional basics will guard against high blood pressure.
Particularly, attention should be given to the key minerals (sodium and potassium in balance; and calcium and magnesium in balance); small regular protein meals can help to decrease stress levels. Adequate or even high vitamin C can help to lessen incidence of clogging of blood vessels; and most importantly attention should be given to good oil utilisation, taking balanced, cold-pressed oils with lecithin (contains choline for enzyme production and inositol to emulsify) and keeping vitamin E high to prevent oxidisation of fats in the body.
Vitamin C
As an aside from the Adelle Davis data given, there appears to be extreme controversy over vitamin C.
The controversy clearly exists not only between allopathic and naturopathic disciplines but also within the allopathic arena itself.
Pharmaceutically-funded studies claim mainly that it is fairly useless in dosages beyond RDAs on the order of 60 mg daily and causes side-effects like kidney stones and diarrhoea.
On the other hand researchers like Linus Pauling, Abram Hoffer, Fred Klenner, Thomas Levy, Robert Cathcart, have a lot to say about its benefits in large and even mega-doses, especially in the context of healthy blood vessels.
So we thought it fitting to make their overviews known and let the reader make his own decisions in conjunction with his or her own health practitioner.
Dr Robert Cathcart has an interesting article on vitamin C titration on the internet that negates diarrhoea as a side effect, but positions that rather as a temporary barrier to the body in learning or re-learning how to use vitamin C.
He and others refer to a “bowel tolerance level” where, if intelligently navigated, a single episode of short-lived diarrhoea may be experienced and then avoided while increasing daily levels to 10 or more grams daily.
Several researchers (and some of those mentioned earlier) state these dosages as being necessary to cope with environmental toxicity levels that have been growing since the onset of the industrial revolution.
They report a leap in bowel tolerance levels if one contracts something like a flu virus, often to four times the usual level that is usually slightly under 1000mg.
The Pauling Institute at the University of Oregon at some time reported daily dosages exceeding 100g as being successful in treating viruses of the Ebola class.
These researchers also generally negate that vitamin C causes kidney stones.
The following summation of the benefits of Vitamin C in relation to healthy blood vessels is drawn from their writings:
About a third of all body protein is collagen.
It is mainly a jelly-like substance that holds the cells together.
Some capillary walls are only one cell thick and inadequate collagen leaves blood vessels weak and more liable to burst.
When blood vessel walls are strained, the body will apparently rush in calcium to the area to bolster weaknesses and thus cause additional clogging.
When viamin C is adequate, even after extra consumption of it in combating environmentally originated toxins, any calcium built up in this way tends to dissipate.
The benefits of it in maintaining healthy blood vessels by these famous researchers certainly makes it seem like something to look into.
Feel free to contact us if you would like further links to any of the research mentioned.
Information provided by Helping Hands.
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