"All high blood-pressure medications are suspect."

Dr. Raymond Woosley

Blood Pressure Meds Are Fat Fertilizer

By Shane Ellison M. Sc.

Not all prescription drugs are bad. Some are really bad, like the drugs used to lower blood pressure. Among the top 10 drugs prescribed in the U.S, blood pressure (hypertension) medications ensnare millions into the prescription drug trap. That trap kills 200,000 and injures close to 2.2 million Americans every year. Fortunately, you can beat dangerous blood pressure levels by improving your lifestyle habits and turning to natural medicine.

Like Miracle Grow on plants, drugs such as Toprol-XL, Lopressor (metoprolol), Tenormin (atenolol), and Coreg (carvedilol) serve as fat fertilizer for the human body. A family of receptors - "beta-receptors" - activates your fat metabolism. Like a lock that has been broken, many blood pressure drugs jam beta-receptors and prevent them from responding to your own fat-burning molecules (the keys to the lock). Your body then begins to store fat and use carbohydrates (sugar) as fuel.

Once sugar becomes the primary source of fuel, your body begins screaming for it. Sugar addiction sets in. Fat gain ensues. And Type II diabetes follows. Patients who "follow doctor’s orders" and swallow beta-blockers and diuretics are at a 28 percent to 50 percent greater risk of suffering from Type II diabetes - the greatest health challenge of the 21st century. Diabetes can eliminate a whopping 11 to 20 years from your lifespan.

Unfortunately, taking blood pressure medications can lead to many other serious and even deadly side effects. For instance, calcium channel blockers such as Adalat, Procardia (nifedipine), and Norvasc (amlodipine) are not safe alternatives. By blocking calcium from entering the heart, users are at greater risk of dying from heart failure.

While your "numbers" might look good when you take these drugs, your heart is slowly weakening. Cancer is also a possibility. In 1996, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) warned: "Postmenopausal women who took calcium channel blockers had twice the risk of developing breast cancer than other women."

No diet, supplement, or lifestyle can save you from the deadly side effects of blood pressure meds. Fortunately, we don’t need them to avoid the dangers of "high" blood pressure.

The Fabricated Illness

High blood pressure - as defined by the drug industry and medical doctors - is not an instant death sentence. The goal of maintaining a blood pressure at or near 140/80 (or, more recently, 115/75) is based on drug company hype, not science. These numbers are designed to sell drugs by converting healthy people into patients.

Rising blood pressure is a normal process of aging and does not require drug intervention - even when it reaches 140/80. Medical literature shows that blood pressure rises slightly as we age - probably to accommodate an increased need for oxygen and nutrients. And this increase does not put us at any risk of early death.

If high blood pressure were dangerous, then lowering it with hypertension drugs would increase lifespan. Yet, clinical trials involving hypertension medication show no increased lifespan among users when compared to non-users.

Sugar and eliminating artificial flavours are two of the best things you can do to maintain a relatively normal blood pressure. Replacing carbohydrate (bread, pasta, desserts, and excess fruit) consumption with healthy fats (such as coconut oil, eggs, grass-fed beef, wild salmon, avocados, seeds, and nuts) will also help control your blood pressure… plus, it can eliminate unsightly belly fat. And, finally, interval training one to three times per week is vital for a healthy cardiovascular system.

Stopping Heart Disease With Artery-Preserving Molecules

Blood pressure can rise to temporary extremes in response to stress, infection, fasting, dehydration, or simply from the anxiety of walking into a doctor’s office. Of course, these temporary instances of high blood pressure do not rationalize a lifetime of drug use.

It’s prudent to be concerned should you experience chronic high blood pressure - which can be dangerous. This usually occurs when blood vessels become stiff due to hardening of the arteries (heart disease), causing your blood pressure to skyrocket to 200/100. Fortunately, you don’t need blood pressure drugs to handle even these worrisome levels.

In situations where high blood pressure might become life threatening, cardiovascular nutrients such as L-arginine, magnesium aspartate, and a 95 percent grape seed extract can be potent natural remedies based on Nobel Prize-winning science. These nutrients increase the production of nitric oxide, a molecule that allows for the dilation and relaxation of arteries. Using them can prevent heart attack and stroke that may result from impeded blood flow or inflammation caused by rising blood pressure.

Blood pressure medications are made to sell, not heal. They cater to fear rather than health. If you understand this, you’ll avoid the deadly prescription drug trap and keep yourself safe and healthy.

[Ed. Note: Shane "The People’s Chemist" Ellison is an internationally recognized authority on therapeutic nutrition and the author of The People’s Chemist Foundational Health Education program. Save 10 percent and learn how to beat heart disease, obesity, and diabetes naturally by clicking here. You can also read Shane’s insights into what you can do to lead a healthier life by signing up for ETR’s FREE natural health e-letter here.]

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