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Have been on paleo for 17 days now, and feeling pretty good. Energy levels are consistant throughout the day, and the weight is coming off at a steady pace. Before beginning paleo i had a blood pressure reading of 150-96. Scary to say the least. After 7 days on paleo i had another check up, and to my suprise the reading was a very different one. My doctor was perplexed. 136-84.

Does anyone else have a similar story? Would love to hear from others that have had high blood pressure readings that have been lowered due to a paleo way of eating.

Thanx.

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In the past, when I got up after sitting on my butt for a long while, I usually couldn't see anything for a short while. My brother still has that (he often faints when getting up). In the past 5 months, I haven't had it once. I think it is caused by a low blood pressure, right? – Bruno Feb 8 2012 at 13:23
Fainting yes, not seeing anything, never heard that before, but plausible. – James Feb 8 2012 at 19:12
Single point measurements aren't reliable. Only the trend counts. Were you checking your BP regularly before (always at the same time?) Have you checked it regularly since? – Stephen Feb 29 2012 at 21:36

14 Answers

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my bp went down dramatically since going paleo. I was on the verge of going on medication. (there is a history of hypertension in the family)

typical readings were 160/95, sometimes higher. Now 120/65 seems to be the norm, and I'm not paying much attention to sodium intake.

I've been paleo since May 2011, and won't be going back to my old ways!

cheers.

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my low BP (115/70) went down too (105/65). 33 year old male, 5'10" 165lbs.

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I think this is near ideal BP. HGs had BP of 90/60 or some that range. I think linderbergs book had kitavan blood pressures measured. I dont have the book with me now but close to your values anyway :) – Jan Feb 8 2012 at 13:52
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My husband had high bp despite being a healthy weight, active, and on daily BP meds. Hypertentsion runs in his family. Since going paleo he now has normal BP readings and is off all medication.

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Mine is near perfect, 95/60 to 105/66. Used to be like 130/80. I think the reduction of stress made it drop more than just the diet. But we have a family burden of high blood pressure. Almost everybody over 50 are on BP meds. Even my mother who is very active and no stress and with good diet, altho not paloe but more like WAPF type.

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I'm 23 and my BP has been 135/85 since I was 19. I've been paleo for about 7 months w/ no change. Doctors don't know what it is; could just be genetic. Sometimes diet can't solve everything. I've always been active - ran varsity cross-country in college, run adventure races and do lots of lifting/hiking now.

Glad to hear all the success stories.

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Don't feel too bad -- I have a renal arterial stricture, so I have persistant hypertension that goes along with that (it's a structural/genetic issue, not diet related). However, I do feel better, even WITH hypertension, when I stick to an anthropologically-aware diet. – Firestorm Feb 8 2012 at 18:29
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My BP didn't go down much, still in the 130-140/80-90 range. But that's better than the 165/100 I had back when I was eating a lot of sugar. I am more primal/archevore than paleo (I eat 2-3 pieces of fruit a day). I'm not overweight (5'11" 145 lbs), never have been, but I think it runs in the family as well. I also think it's stress-related.

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Years ago I was on "water pills" for a while because my bp was pretty high. When I retired, it went down enough to get off pills but was still at the upper edge of normal.

When I read your question, for fun I took my bp. Despite eating salt to taste yesterday and being just about done with my second mug of coffee today, my bp is 133/70.

So yes, ancestral eating definitely has a positive impact on bp results despite continuing my coffee habit. The new info for me, however, is that I accidentally discovered that my bp goes in lock-step with my bg. If I eat mixed meals of fruit, greens and cooked meat/vegs both readings are great. If I eat a large quantity of just fruit, both go out of whack and it takes a while to settle back into healthy readings.

I don't think I've seen articles about the 2 readings moving together, but during recent testing mine changed together in such similar fashion that I stopped testing bp--bg said it all.

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Can't believe the response. Lol. Thanx so much to everyone for their input. Extremely helpful and motivating. – Nick Feb 8 2012 at 19:44
that's interesting Nance. I'm going to test my bp after different meals to see if there's any difference. I've been kind of discouraged about it. – gydle Feb 8 2012 at 21:10
Awesome nance. My heart rate tracks well with my BG. My BP on the other hand is low due to adrenal issues and I take 1/4 to 1/2 tsp real Utah salt to maintain the adrenals – grace Feb 8 2012 at 23:37
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my BP went from normal 120/80 to 95/65. don't know what that really means, but since i feel good i don't think too much about the values :-)

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  • 36 yr old male pre paleo blood pressure: 160/100 Stage 1 Hypertension post paleo blood pressure: 105/65 Athlete Level

I was always fearful of going to the doctors because of my blood pressure. Every time I would go the doctors would take it twice because of how high it was that it couldn't possibly be correct. I should have been on meds for it but always avoided it by saying I was stressed at work and its not usually that high. A few times when I got angry or stressed, my blood pressure would sky rocket to levels that saw my eyes flutter, massive migranes and I felt like I was about to pass out. That changed permanently with going Paleo. I cut out salt in the beginning but now use pink salt without fear. Just with food and no meds has my once shockingly high blood pressure now gone to athlete levels. Took less then 3 months for the change.

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Frank Sabia Jr That is unbelievable mate. Congrats also. Mine was not far off at all. And within 7 days it dropped dramatically. Thanx again for your story. Very motivating – Nick Feb 12 2012 at 9:04
Thanks Nick. I was shocked myself by my blood pressure drop. I feel so much better now and believe this to be the main reason why. I am no longer afraid to have my BP taken at doctors!! – Frank Sabia Jr Feb 14 2012 at 1:56
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i believe it was 100/70 when i got looked at last week.

19 y/o female

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I hate to buck the trend, but mine has been consistanly high even with olmetec plus, I've been paleo for about 2 years and my BP is usually 140/90 with meds. At one point about 6 mo ago I was normalish, maybe even too low. I was experimenting with potassium, magnesium, beet juice and walking alot. The problem is I never realyy tracked anything and so now I have a hard time getting the combo right again. Any tips?

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I had a diagnosis of pre-hypertension from my doc

Was 150/80 . Now 110/65

He declard that I 'should keep doing whatever I'm doing' but was uncomfortable hearing the paleo details.

Also, my on and off asthma since childhood has cleared, and the doc did a respiration test and said that I'm totally clean and clear now.

Why would I ever stop doing what works so well for me?!?!

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My top number has gone up 10-12 points. Bottom number the same.

I was eating a vegan diet beforehand and my BP was consistently around 115/75 and now it's about 125/75. Give or take.

I don't really care, but that's the truth of the matter. For all I know this could be chalked up to the fact that I'm a couple of years older. I doubt it, but who knows? I'm good with it.

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Hubby's was 204/122 @ the dentist and they refused to extract a tooth; he has always been borderline high but that was intense. He went on 100% Paleo and every day it came down - 170, 160, one night it was 128, but the last two nights it's been 140's/90's - and did I mention? it's only been 9 days. I expect it will continue to drop. He was a huge sugar addict and BP will rise with your insulin levels -

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