Tag: high blood pressure

Stroke, Part III, Invite Health Blog

Stroke, Part III, Invite Health Blog

Written by Dr.Claire Arcidiacono, ND For further questions or concerns email me at [email protected]† In this final part on strokes, I wanted to review the most common symptoms that can indicate a stroke. One point I would like to emphasize is that we are all individuals. 

CIRCULATION SOLUTIONS & TIPS FOR HEALTHY VESSELS, INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 646

CIRCULATION SOLUTIONS & TIPS FOR HEALTHY VESSELS, INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 646

Subscribe Today! Please see below for a complete transcript of this episode. CIRCULATION SOLUTIONS & TIPS FOR HEALTHY VESSELS, INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 646 Hosted by Amanda Williams, MD, MPH *Intro Music* InViteⓇ Health Podcast Intro: [00:00:04] Welcome to the InViteⓇ Health Podcast, where our 

Helpful Tips for Health Blood Pressure, Invite Health Podcast, Episode 643

Helpful Tips for Health Blood Pressure, Invite Health Podcast, Episode 643


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Please see below for a complete transcript of this episode.

HELPFUL TIPS FOR HEALTHY BLOOD PRESSURE, INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 643

Hosted by Amanda Williams, MD, MPH

*Intro Music*

InViteⓇ Health Podcast Intro: [00:00:04] Welcome to the InViteⓇ Health Podcast, where our degreed health care professionals are excited to offer you the most important health and wellness information you need to make informed choices about your health. You can learn more about the products discussed in each of these episodes and all that Invite Health has to offer at, www.invitehealth.com/podcast. First time customers can use promo code podcast at checkout for an additional 15% off your first purchase. Let’s get started. † [00:00:34]

*Intro Music*

Amanda Williams MD, MPH: [00:00:40] We know that when it comes to hypertension, this is a big problem for so many folks and it’s usually not until someone experiences incredibly high blood pressure that they will go into their doctor, go into urgent care and are told, yeah, you’ve got hypertension, and usually the first line of defense is to get you on a blood pressure medication, which unfortunately then usually leads to the addition of other blood pressure medications. It’s a rare thing that I see someone who’s just taking one high blood pressure medication. It’s usually 2 to 3, if not even more than that, which is why I want to zero in on just a couple of tips when it comes to regulation of blood pressure in a healthy way. I’m Dr. Amanda Williams, scientific director at Invite Health. You know, you always have to look at the root cause. Why is it that the blood pressure itself is so high? You know, is it an issue when it comes to stress? Is it a problem with diet? Is there a problem with, you know, sleep? You know, sleep apnea is a very common cause for hypertension. Is it, you know, I said just lifestyle? Are you not getting an adequate exercise? Are you overweight? We can look at a lot of different factors that can lead into this, and as you can see, so many of these are modifiable factors, you know, if you’re overweight. If you’re not getting right sleep, if you’re not eating the right foods, if you’re not exercising. I mean, clearly, these are things that we have in control of, and this is a better alternative is to work on those lifestyle modifications as opposed to being on multiple medications to regulate your blood pressure. Because as we know, so many of those drugs come with secondary side effects and they can lower your CoQ10 level, which we know that the beta blockers do, for example. That can be very problematic to your sleep cycle, to your energy levels. So, you just don’t even want to go down that road if you don’t need to. Now, there are times where, you know, maybe you’re doing everything right, you’re exercising, you’re eating right and you’re still experiencing issues with hypertension, then, you know, certainly it can be warranted that those medications would be needed. But I always say you always want to try to look at those modifications that you can control, because that’s going to be a much more significant impact for you. But clearly, we can see that when it comes to hypertension, these impacts so many individuals, and this is why, you know, we really need to take better control over what we are doing every single day because we know that hypertension is kind of that precursor to further destruction of the cardiovascular system leading to heart disease. So, looking at hypertension and the co-morbid conditions that go along with that diabetes, kidney disease, for example, we know are definitely factors that have to be considered. So, some of the diabetic, you know, having good control over your blood sugar is going to take you a lot further when it comes to regulating your blood pressure. So, everything is inter-related and to test your blood pressure at home. † [00:04:08]

[00:04:09] More and more research continue to come out to impress upon the fact that the better you do at testing your blood pressure at home, the better control you will actually have over your blood pressure. Everybody’s heard of white coat hypertension, which is when your blood pressure goes higher than it normally would be in the setting of a hospital or you’re at your doctor’s. office, and because of that stress or anxiety, the blood pressure can be higher than you normally are. Well, that’s a problem because if your blood pressure is usually, you know, running fairly stable. But you go to your doctor and the blood pressure is really high, they could end up putting you on a medication that perhaps you don’t need. So the more that you are consistent with testing your blood pressure at home, the less likely you’re going to experience those issues of white coat hypertension outside of your home, but many people, I mean, they get white coat hypertension in their own home. I’ve worked with so many people who have hypertension, and as I say, you know, do test your blood pressure home. Oh, no, I don’t like to, I don’t like to do that. I don’t,I don’t want to know. I get nervous and it’s like, well, you need to you know, you need to start to train the brain that, you know, okay, at this time of the day, I’m going to test my blood pressure. And then you keep a log of that and you’ll start to see a steadying of your blood pressure. The more consistent you are with testing your blood pressure at home, so, that is, you know, hands down, if you do have hypertension, you need to be testing your blood pressure at home at least two times a day. If you don’t have high blood pressure, you should still, you know, monitor your pressure check, test your pressure after you’re incredibly stressed out. You know, maybe you just had a really bad commute home. Check your blood pressure when you get home and see the impact, because the more you know about how your body is responding to stressful situations, the better off you can do with managing that, so it’s really key. † [00:06:04]

ICYMI: POWER UP YOUR HEART WITH GRAPE SEED EXTRACT, INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 641>>LISTEN NOW

[00:06:05] Now we think about the basic nutrients when it comes to cardiovascular function. Clearly, we know things such as coenzyme Q10, omega three fatty acids, fish oil, krill, oil, certainly very impactful. Key minerals, magnesium in particular, we know is kind of that, number one, go to mineral for those who deal with blood pressure or are looking to help to better regulate their blood pressure, because we know that it helps with the endothelial function, it helps that vasodilation. Then we can look at amino acids and understanding how taurine, for example, does a wonderful job for not only helping to regulate the excitable tissue cells within the heart and the vascular system, but it also actually works as an antioxidant as well, which is key because we never want damage done from free radicals within the heart muscles or within the vascular system. So, the Cardio Hx, this contains the taurine, the magnesium plus as one added nutrient, which is hawthorn extract. Hawthorn extract to this day is still used in many European countries for supporting healthy heart rhythm. Hawthorn has a finite ability to help the cardiac contractility, so the way that the heart muscles contract or pump and if your heart is trying to work too hard, that’s a problem because then it can get enlarged. No one ever wants to have an enlarged heart or an enlarged left ventricle, for example. So, we can recognize how Hawthorn Extract, this powerful extract, which has so many wonderful antioxidant properties to it, really works as what they consider to be a cardio tonic. So, it helps with that contractility taking much of that workload off the heart. Which is why, as I mentioned, it’s still prescribed as a treatment for even heart failure in many European countries. Because you think about heart failure, what’s happening, the heart is really struggling to effectively pump. So, Hawthorn extract as in the Cardio Hx, such a wonderful blend having the hawthorn, the taurine plus that magnesium which is why to this day it’s one of our most popular formulations because when people start to utilize this, they can see that difference. They can start to look at their blood pressure and see more optimal levels that are occurring. Now how do you take it? Generally speaking, this is when you would want to talk to one of the Invite nutritionists based off of what your particular health concerns are. Are you already on a high blood pressure medication? All of these factors come into play. For many folks, they’ll find that taking two caps or two tabs in the morning and then two tabs later in the afternoon or just around dinner time is going to be the most supportive. But each person’s different in terms of how your blood pressure fluctuates throughout the day, which is why it’s so key to test your blood pressure at home. So, the Cardio Hx, having that magnesium, which has been shown how most Americans are deficient in magnesium. So, getting the magnesium from this formulation is kind of that first step to creating that balance. So now the vascular system has access to that magnesium to better regulate the vasodilation that allows for the relaxation of the muscles of the blood vessels, which is key. But it also does a wonderful job for the electrical conduction system of the heart. So, even when you think about heart irregular rhythms or arrhythmias, oftentimes the lack of magnesium that’s available to the cardiovascular system can lead to an abnormal heart rhythm. So, through the use of Cardio Hx, having that taurine which we know taurine is very specific to excitable tissues. What’s a very excitable tissue? Your heart. Along with that magnesium can do a wonderful job when it comes to the rhythmic support of the heart. So, it’s a wonderful, wonderful formulation. † [00:10:39]

[00:10:40] And like I said, it’s always best to speak with one of the Invite nutritionists, so, you have the best information as to how you should use this formulation, when you should be taking it, how many you need to be taking throughout the day. All of these things really can make a big difference, just through lifestyle modifications, stress management, sleeping better, of course, adherence to a Mediterranean style way of eating, incorporating in powerful nutrients such as the Cardio Hx, with that blend of the taurine, that incredibly heart important amino acid combined with that. magnesium, the mineral of the heart and that hawthorn extract, and of course, monitoring your blood pressure at home will lead to better blood pressure regulation. So, there are so many other things I can talk about on the topic of high blood pressure and management of high blood pressure. But that’s all I wanted to cover for today. And I want to thank you so much for tuning in to the InViteⓇ Health Podcast. Remember, you can find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting, invitehealth.com/podcast. Do make sure that you subscribe, and you leave us a review. You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Invite Health. We will see you next time for another episode of the InViteⓇ Health Podcast. † [00:10:40]

*Exit Music*

 

A little Cocoa goes a long way, Invite Health Podcast, Episode 622

A little Cocoa goes a long way, Invite Health Podcast, Episode 622

Subscribe Today! Please see below for a complete transcript of this episode. A LITTLE COCOA GOES A LONG WAY, INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 622 Hosted by Amanda Williams, MD, MPH. *Intro Music* InViteⓇ Health Podcast Intro: [00:00:04] Welcome to the InViteⓇ Health Podcast, where our 

Want to know about an Arrythmia? Invite Health Podcast, Episode 618

Want to know about an Arrythmia? Invite Health Podcast, Episode 618

Subscribe Today! Please see below for a complete transcript of this episode. WANT TO KNOW ABOUT AN ARRYTHMIA? INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 618 Hosted by Amanda Williams, MD, MPH.   *Intro Music* InViteⓇ Health Podcast Intro: [00:00:04] Welcome to the InViteⓇ Health Podcast, where our 

Metabolic Syndrome: Take 2!

Metabolic Syndrome: Take 2!

Written by: Claire Arcidiacono, ND

For further questions or concerns email me at [email protected]

Last week I wrote about the individual parts of metabolic syndrome. But today we are going to take a step back and look at metabolic syndrome as a whole. As I previously said metabolic syndrome is diagnosed when 3 of the following chronic health concerns are present: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and low HDL. (1) In the prior blog I listed all the risk factors for each individual component of metabolic syndrome. Since these risk factors were discussed in the last blog I won’t list them again however I did want to say that they do increase the likelihood of ending up developing metabolic syndrome. The general risk factors for metabolic syndrome include dietary factors, most importantly a high sugar diet including sugar-laden beverages. A western style diet that contains highly processed foods as well as foods high in trans fats is also a risk factor.

LIFESTYLE IMPACTS METABOLIC SYNDROME

Lifestyle concerns that increase the risk of metabolic syndrome include being sedentary/ having low physical activity, excessive alcohol intake, as well as poor sleep/ and high stress levels. Increased age has also been found to be a risk factor for metabolic syndrome.

INFLAMMATION

There is also evidence that the presence of inflammation which is indicated by the presence of inflammation markers such as C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, interleukin 6, TNF alpha are signs that the individual has a higher risk of metabolic syndrome.

AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES

Certain autoimmune disease’s such as psoriasis and psoriasis arthritis are associated with metabolic syndrome. In those with chronic pulmonary disease (COPD) metabolic syndrome is found in up to 50% of patients. More research is needed to determine if the metabolic syndrome caused the COPD or if the COPD lead to the metabolic syndrome. Genetics also appear to be a risk factor. (2)

COMPLICATIONS

Metabolic syndrome potentially has all the complications of its individual components. Specifically it also has its own severe complications. These complications can include type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, strokes, kidney disease, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Other potential complications can include hyperuricemia or increased uric acid, PCOS, erectile dysfunction and acanthosis. (3)
As I have previous stated the diagnosis criteria for metabolic syndrome is the presence of any 3 of the 5 preexisting conditions. For the diagnosis criteria for each of the 5 medical conditions please see my prior blog.

MANAGEMENT

Management of metabolic syndrome requires a multi fascinated approach. Some of the preexisting conditions require treatment that works rapidly. For example in the case of high blood pressure side effects of extremely high blood pressure can include stroke. In this case while supplements can be helpful to work with medications they do not replace needed proscription medications. Diet, lifestyle and even certain medications a long with the following medications can all help manage metabolic syndrome.

ICYMI: METABOLIC SYNDROME>>READ NOW!

SOLUTIONS & SUPPORT 

A Mediterranean diet has been found in studies to help with the different aspects of metabolic syndrome including high blood pressure, high triglycerides, obesity and high blood sugar. (4)
Lifestyle changes that can help with metabolic syndrome include reducing alcohol intake, reducing sugar intake, increasing activity. (5)
Reducing stress is also helpful! L-theanine (6) and Hemp (7) have both been found to help reduce stress levels as well as help with sleep! Phosphatidylserine has been found to reduce cortisol levels which as we all know is the stress hormone. (8). for these products please see Invite’s L theanine, Phosphatidylserine and our varied Hemp/CBD products!
Reducing high blood pressure is very important.
Studies show that Hawthorne is effective at lowering blood pressure after 12 weeks. (9) In addition to helping with blood sugar (see my prior article on diabetes type 2) Magnesium is proving its worth as it also helps with blood pressure! Studies find it to be very helpful in lowering blood pressure. (10) Very similar to magnesium in that according to studies is found to help both blood sugar and high blood pressure is grape seed! (11) In studies both cocoa (12) and beets (13) have been found to help lower blood pressure! For these products please look at Invite’s Cardio Hx, Normo-Tensive, Grape Seed Extract, and Daily Multivitamin with Grape Seed, Cocoa Hx, Beets Hx and our extensive line of magnesium products!
Abdominal obesity is mostly addressed with diet however there are things that can be helpful! Studies have found green tea to be helpful with combating abdominal obesity. (14) Additionally since Phosphatidylserine helps lower cortisol hypothetically it can help abdominal obesity. (8) See Invite’s Green Tea TX, Green Tea Hx and Green Tea Fat Burner!
Triglycerides can be lowered by both omega 3s (15) and reducing sugar in the diet. (16) See Invite’s fish oil and Krill oil!
In addition to lowering triglycerides omega 3s can also increase HDL! (17)
Please see my diabetes type 2 blog for helpful hints on managing type 2 diabetes!

DIABETES TYPE 2>>READ NOW!

Next week we will delve into other forms of high blood sugar such as gestational diabetes, stress induced high blood sugar, “type 3 diabetes” and lastly drug induced high blood sugar.

REFERENCES

1.”Metabolic syndrome”. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved 10 Sep 2020.
2.Chan SM, Selemidis S, Bozinovski S, Vlahos R (June 2019). “Pathobiological mechanisms underlying metabolic syndrome (MetS) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): clinical significance and therapeutic strategies”. Pharmacol Ther. 198: 160–188. doi:10.1016/j.pharmthera.2019.02.013. PMC 7112632. PMID 30822464.
3.”Metabolic Syndrome: Risk Factors, Diagnosis, and More”. Healthline. 2022-01-28. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
4.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5352455/
5.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5377429/
6.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6836118/
7.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6326553/
8.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2503954/
9.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212958817301106
10.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22051430/
11.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5370781/
12.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28439881/
13.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6316347/
14.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8910422/
15.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33720044/
16.https://www.wellrx.com/news/reducing-sugar-to-control-triglycerides-and-cholesterol-levels/
17.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5827911/#:~:text=Omega%2D3%20PUFAs%2C%20especially%20DHA,and%20VLDL%2C%20and%20increases%20HDL.