Hi. I just recently got my husband into low carbing with me. His only health issue is (and has been for a number of years) high blood pressure. He did last year lower the dosage of his medication, but is still taking Lotrel. We really would like to try to get him off the medication completely 1) Just so he is healthy and 2) We have private insurance & the meds are MUCH more expensive.

Has anyone gotten off of bp meds here? I really believe he can do this & he is committed to eating LC as a WOE for life. BTW, he is 41 years old.

Dr Davis of the Heartscanblog is convinced that taking around 5000iu/d VITAMIN D3 reduces blood pressure. as there are many other good reasons for taking vitamin d, this is just another.

See also his post on melatonin and bp

Is he overweight at all? My blood pressure went up a bit after I started the Pill. I have gotten it down finally to normal range after losing more weight. Exercise is very helpful, but if his BP is so high despite being healthy otherwise, maybe there is a strong genetic component?

We are planning to start a D3 regimen. We are living in Alaska & the days are going to be getting short before long.

He was a good bit overweight when he started on the meds (he is 5'8" and was around 255), and now he is down to about 220 from 238 a couple of months ago. He has a very stocky build, and honestly isn't carrying all that much extra weight at 220...probably will lose another 20.

His family does tend to have high bp (I think), but he did start to have high bp in a high stress environment where he was eating more poorly & not exercising. Now he is eating LC rather strictly & we both just joined a gym, plus have been doing some hiking. I did find it encouraging that he dropped the dosage on the Lotrel, and didn't want to give up hope to get him off the meds entirely, which is what he wants as well.

It sounds like it's totally doable if he keeps up a healthy lifestyle - if that's what does it for him. There are so many on this forum who have dropped BP medication - it's really inspiring. I freaked when mine jumped to 130 over 80 from my normal of 110 over 60 when I started the Pill, even though it was not so bad. It's so great that you guys are doing this together. My husband and I both eat LC, him lower carb than me for his health. It's just so great eating on the same page, so to speak.

It has been very helpful to have him join me on LC. I actually probably keep lower carbs than him...he seems to be able to lose with a little more than me. I am actually going to a have hydrostatic test tomorrow to see what my BF% is. I know it will be HIGH, but it is information that would be good to have & at $25 for the test, it is too good to pass up.

I was really lucky, my BP dropped even before I lost much weight. For me my high BP was totally caused by carbs.

Has he eliminated all grains? I think that might be a biggie.

No, we haven't eliminated all grains, but I have talked with him about it. I guess our biggie has been eating the LC tortillas, and hubby has a piece of lower carb bread for breakfast, or half a sandwich for lunch sometimes. I need to read more about what this will do to help.

Thanks for the suggestion!

My bp was 149/95 before I started low carbing. I have low carbed for about a year and a half. Now my bp is more like 101/62...about what it was in high school. I am TOTALLY off grains.

Just see if you can't try grain-free for a couple of weeks. That should be enough time to see if it works.

Despite advances in the prevention and treatment of hypertension over the past decade, hypertension remains an important public health challenge. Recent efforts to reduce the prevalence of hypertension have focused on nonpharmacologic means, specifically diet. An increased intake of minerals such as potassium, magnesium, and calcium by dietary means has been shown in some but not all studies to reduce blood pressure in patients with hypertension. This review will discuss the roles of potassium, magnesium, and calcium in the prevention and treatment of essential hypertension with specific emphasis on clinical trial evidence, mechanism of action, and recommendations for dietary intake of these minerals. A high intake of these minerals through increased consumption of fruits and vegetables may improve blood pressure levels and reduce coronary heart disease and stroke.

Unfortunately I can't get the full text of this paper. If anyone else get the full text I'd be pleased to hear a few more details.

The important thing to understand is that Vitamin D3 status is the leading factor in calcium absorption. Without 80nmol/l of circulating 25(OH)D you cannot maximise calcium absorption and that also influences magnesium/potassium balance. I have read a paper that explains the complicated relationship but it's too complex for me to explain here. The World's Healthiest Foods is quite a good resource for finding best food sources of magnesium/potassium/calcium. Correcting D3 status first means calcium supplementation will probably be unnecessary as food sources of calcium are abundant and better used by your body.

Oh, that's true about the magenesium at least. I remember someone here took some epsom salt baths and found her BP had dropped a lot the next day. Apparently you must absorb some through the skin.

I had high blood pressure and was being monitored for a year before they were going to put me on meds. Low Carb and excerise and my BP has never been better!

You may find Magnesium Chloride is cheaper than Epsom Salts for bathing in. Magnesium Salts information here including instructions for have a bath in Dead Sea Salts UK readers may like to know the Outdoor/countrywide stores that sell supplies for horsey types and small farmers stock it in 25kg bags for around a £6ish. It's put in the water supply to calm animals, it enables humans to deal better with stress as well. Particularly useful for people who grind their teeth (bruxism)

What dosage of D3 is good to take? I know some people take large amounts, but the stores tend to carry 400-2000 IU. As for magnesium, we do supplement that in a chelated capsule. Does taking elemental magnesium, like magnesium chloride provide the same benefit, or does it need to be chelated to provide the benefit (chelated is hard to find in the store). I don't think there's much chance of me getting hubby to use the foot bath too often!