High blood pressure is known as a “silent killer.” That’s because there are few symptoms, no pain, and you can have it for years unaware. But all the while, it’s damaging blood vessels and possibly the heart. That’s why it’s worth doing everything you can to keep blood pressure at healthful levels.
Medical historians believe that high blood pressure was rare among Native Americans. They did virtually everything that doctors today recommend to their patients. They kept lean and were physically active. They ate plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and almost no salt—and, they were at peace with themselves and their environment.
As a bonus, many of the herbs they used all the time, such as black cohosh, garlic, onions, ginseng, plantain, purslane, saw palmetto, corn, honeysuckle, hawthorn, and yarrow, are now known to lower blood pressure. When blood pressure is low, the risk for heart disease and stroke is lowered, too.
High blood pressure is always serious, so you’ll need to check with your doctor before treating yourself with herbs. If you get the green light, and in most cases you will, you can try any and all of these herbs. Some, like garlic, onions, purslane, and corn, are tasty foods that you can simply eat more of. Others you may want to take in supplement form—or you can brew herbal teas, drinking one to three cups a day. You may see measurable results in as little as a few months.
Also keep in mind the Native American low-pressure lifestyle. Current research has shown that lifestyle factors play an enormous role in causing, or reversing, high blood pressure. Among the most important things you can do are to keep your weight in a healthy range, stay physically active, limit the amount of salt in your diet, and discover how to control emotional stress.
It sounds like a rigorous program, but only because we’re not used to thinking this way. For the Native Americans, who lived naturally and simply, it was very easy indeed.
“Free yourself,” advises Robert Blackwolf Jones, a Native American psychotherapist. “Find the courage to be yourself, not a clone, not an expectation, not a programmed robot. A deer in the woods does not stare at the bear and wish it were a bear. It is fully content being itself.”
This how do i lower my blood pressure article is taken from :
Healing Secrets of the Native Americans - Porter Shimer
