Lower Your Blood Pressure with Positive Emotions, Not Drugs

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Dr. Mercola

November 09 2006

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Lower Your Blood Pressure with Positive Emotions, Not Drugs

Blood Pressure

A study of more than 2,600 Hispanic seniors, evenly divided among the sexes, showed that the higher a person scored on a questionnaire measuring positive emotions, the lower his or her blood pressure was.

The effect was strongest among people who were not taking any drugs to lower their blood pressure.

All of the subjects completed a questionnaire that ranked their degree of positive emotions on a scale of 0 to 12. Higher scores directly translated into lower blood pressure readings.

Many studies have shown that positive emotions can help keep a person's chemical and neural responses in balance, and help people handle stress better. These latest findings suggest that improving people's emotional well-being could be an effective way to help control their blood pressure as well.

Sources:

Psychosomatic Medicine September-October 2006; 68(5): 727-733

CNN.com October 18, 2006

All Headline News October 18, 2006

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Despite what the so-called experts might say about the pursuit of happiness being no more than a shallow, trivial pursuit, a positive attitude certainly does wonders for your health. The link between emotions and health is well established. Research shows, and I believe, that happier people are also both healthier and more productive.

Most people with hypertension requiring drug therapy respond quite well to the options listed below. However, I have seen a number of people that tried these methods and failed to lower their blood pressure.

Typically this was due to a chronic source of anxiety. In those cases most seem to favorably respond to energy psychology techniques, like EFT, which are profoundly effective at permanently addressing the underlying cause of the anxiety.

As mentioned, treating your emotions is only one of the important ways to normalize your blood pressure, safely and naturally. Other key treatments that have nothing to do with a drug:

Start an exercise plan today; this is a vital element of lowering your insulin levels.

Get the right amount of sunshine on unclothed skin as vitamin D has been well documented to help normalize blood pressure.

Reduce, with the plan of eliminating, grains and sugars from your daily diet, as this will help to lower your insulin levels -- one of the primary physical drivers of elevated blood pressures.

Related Articles:

How to Treat Blood Pressure WIthout Drugs

Learn to Handle Stress to Avoid High Blood Pressure

Protecting Your Heart With Happiness

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