Vegan Diet & High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is a major concern in countries all over the world. Many people experience serious health problems caused by high blood pressure, and most don't realize the amount of control they have over their own health. Learning more about what you can do to reduce your blood pressure and improve your overall health and well-being is a simple way to live a longer, healthier life.

The Facts

Two of the main contributors to heart disease are high blood pressure and high cholesterol. In many cases, these symptoms occur together, and they are difficult to treat with medication. Taking multiple medications to treat the symptoms of both high blood pressure and high cholesterol causes various health problems, and the side effects often become difficult for some patients to handle. Luckily, there is a way to treat these symptoms without the use of drugs: the vegan diet.

Significance

According to Dr. T. Colin Campbell, former senior science advisor to the American Institute for Cancer Research and current director of the Cornell-China-Oxford Project on Nutrition, Health and Environment, "The vast majority of all cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and other forms of degenerative illnesses can be prevented simply by adopting a plant-based diet." High blood pressure is no exception. Animal products are the only source of cholesterol in your diet, and they account for the majority of saturated fat. Vegetarians typically avoid such foods, but vegans choose not to eat any meat, dairy, or eggs, eliminating cholesterol from their diets altogether and greatly decreasing their chances of high blood pressure.

Benefits

Approximately 90 percent of Americans suffer from high blood pressure, a major contributor to heart disease. It's estimated that 1.56 billion people will suffer from high blood pressure by 2025, according to Dr. Ed Zimney, of EverydayHealth. Most people have control over their symptoms and don't even know it. The main causes of high blood pressure are poor nutrition, lack of exercise, and too much stress. Incorporating exercise into your normal routine and practicing relaxation techniques can help lower your blood pressure, but nothing works quite like a change in diet. Most people underestimate how much the food they put into their bodies affects their health. According to Dr. William Castelli of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, "A low-fat plant-based diet would not only lower the heart attack rate about 85 percent, but would lower the cancer rate 60 percent."

Time Frame

Typically, the positive effects of a vegan diet are noticeable after just a few weeks. A study done by the Journal of the American College of Nutrition revealed that most people can lower blood pressure and lead healthier lifestyles by adopting a vegan diet. In fact, the average reduction of cholesterol levels in study participants was 11 percent after just 12 days.

Potential

John Robbins, Pulitzer Prize nominee for his work Diet for a New America, believes that the potential health benefits of a vegan diet are enormous. He found that blood cholesterol levels in vegetarians were 14 percent lower than meat eaters, and the blood cholesterol levels of vegans were an astronomical 35 percent lower. Additionally, he found that adopting a vegetarian diet cuts your risk of dying from heart disease in half. Be wary of those who claim poultry is a healthy alternative to red meat. According to John Robbins, "Chicken has about as much cholesterol as beef. There is no escaping the correlation between meat consumption and cholesterol levels." To truly take control of your health and your life, your best bet is to adopt a vegan diet.

Prevention/Solution

The solution to your high blood pressure may be as simple as adopting a vegan or vegetarian diet. If you have high blood pressure, you are more likely to suffer a stroke, die of congested heart failure or have a heart attack. John Robbins found that the "incidence of high blood pressure among senior citizens in countries eating traditional low-fat plant-based diets [is] virtually none." If you choose to adopt a vegetarian diet, your chances of seeing a significant decrease in blood pressure are an unprecedented 30 percent to 75 percent. A simple change in diet can and will help you live a longer, healthier life.