When I am training and eating a really healthy diet - almost all plant based, no chocolate, no ice cream, low salt etc. My Blood pressure is fine, 120/70 is typical. When my diet slips and I drink , such as over Christmas period, my BP goes up over 140/80
I have been off BP medication for a couple of years, but notice that it is really related to diet. It seems strange to me that the advice from Dr is that once you are on medication for BP, you are on it for the rest if your life. Surely a better approach is to manage diet to keep BP down rather than medication
Frankly I think a lot of public just want a pill to fix their ills and not lifestyle changes that are admittedly hard to always stick to.
Apologies if thatâs a bit blunt, but your own experience shows itâs a healthier alternative to you. Also appreciate you are naturally fitter than most people!
My BP doesnât seem to change much with fitness. I had the same BP when I was very unfit as I had when I was very fit. The difference for me seems to be diet, probably alcohol, but could be something else
Somehow I donât like the idea of medicating for the rest of my life
This is the magic pill for everything but as you say no one wants to do that.
Type 2 diabetes - lifestyle change
Fatty liver - lifestyle change
Gout - lifestyle change
High BP - lifestyle change
All the diseases of the wealthy but they canât be bothered to invest in their own health
Definitely agree about lifestyle change. Iâm not sure that there is much healthy about some the endurance regimes we go through.
Nobody is healthier or fitter for running 100 miles but itâs better than a life in the sofa.
Mrs FP is incredibly healthy but not that fit ( at least by the standard on here) sheâs running 26 min 5kms.
Teeth , back, stomach, BP and cholesterol are all spot on though.
She had to go through a health assessment when she was pregnant due to age and all the specialists said she was off the charts in a good way.
I often think she has it right and I have it wrong. Although my BP is fine
Maybe I could have phrased this better⌠I donât like the idea of being on medication for the rest of my life, when I am able to make lifestyle changes that address the underlying issue
I agree that there are some health issues that are genetic or bad fortune, that we just cannot do anything about, and in these situations long term medication is litterally a life saver
I agree - and I should have expanded by saying that a lifestyle change âmightâ have stopped me having the AF and stroke. AF is a funny old condition and the causes are somewhat undefined but is common amongst alcohol drinkers (Iâve been a regular drinker since I was a teen) but also endurance athletes (which I have been). So if Iâd cut down on the booze or never done marathons or IM, who knows what may have happened.
conversely I donât have any blood pressure problems and even now Iâm a classic 120/80 person with very little variation.
I think that the health effects of extreme training, are not fully understood, I think that 15+ hours per week would be considered as extreme. There is certainly some evidence of some adverse health consequences, but also some positive. The concept that it is a U shaped curve, is not considered to be correct, the question is whether it is a J curve, where you reach a level of benefit from exercise at a moderate level, then no further benefit
I also feel that the media is quite happy to push the concept that over exercise is bad for you, because it makes fat couch potatoes feel better about their shit diet and lack of exercise. One guy I know is at least 20kg overweight, drinks too much and eats a crap diet, he had a go at me because I am apparently destroying my health
I had an operation a few years back and found my blood pressure was high as part of the tests before that. I hadnât trained for quite a few months before the op and had piled the weight on so it wasnât really that much of a surprise.
After the op they wanted to put me on medication for the blood pressure but I persuaded the doctor to give me 6 months to get back into training and lose some weight and see how it went. I got it back down within acceptable levels and that was the end of that but they would quite happily have stuck me on drugs for ever if I hadnât argued.
My dad (nearly 80) is in a similar position, the doctors keep trying to up his dosage despite him having no issues, saying itâs a preventative measure and heâs resisting it (rightly or wrongly)
I thin doctors prefer a pill because people are more likely to take it than change their habits. But they should be encouraged to change. Last time I spoke to a doctor about it they said bugger off and sort yourself out and it that doesnât work Iâll give you pills.
Two things that impact my BP are alcohol and being overweight. Caffeine doesnât seem to affect it, salt in my diet either.
Even losing a couple of kilos and stopping drinking mine has come down a chunk.
Agree but the either or argument is just click bait. The alternative to extreme exercise isnât no exercise but doesnât get views and clicks of course!
My level of exercise is low compared to yours but still viewed as extreme but those that know me who are not on here. I think itâs easy to forget how âout thereâ we are.
Iâd rather do what Iâm doing though than making an even bigger dent in the sofa!
Because we generally associate with other people and the same hobbies we generally see the other outliers and think itâs almost the norm. And the people we probably follow on Strava or see at races.
Then if you stop and consider a wider bunch you notice most do essentially no exercise other than walking.
But Iâd say your reps last night were totally normal, I think you just need to educate Mrs GB
The relationship between weight loss and BP is fascinating & I donât pretend to understand it fully. But when people are actually losing weight, their BP does sometimes seem to drop quickly. The most extreme examples I can think of are people who have had bariatric surgery such as gastric bypass. Often their weight will drop very rapidly, and they will go from being hypertensive on several meds to having to stop all meds or risk falling over when then stand up. All within a couple of weeks.
I was advised this a few years ago and put on a minimal dose of statins for I think 6 months, I made some dietary changes and got back down to a high but manageable level and they took me off again. Fast forward to now and I might need to go back on again.
I know it would be nice to think everyoneâs problems can be solved by dietary changes but I think that is just a part of the picture. If you can manage it through diet great, if you canât donât beat yourself up about it.
There are no medals handed out for the least medicated corpse.
