Raw Diet and High Blood Pressure

[ftwashraw]

I've been on a Raw Food Diet for 10 days and have great results so far. I lost 14 pounds and feel great. I stopped taking all medication when I started but tested my blood pressure this morning. Blood pressure was high 172/118. I took my pills and within three hours it was normal at 121/81. A primary reason for diet is to eliminate all the medications I take (Simivastatin for Cholesterol and 3 medicines for blood pressure (carvedilol,amlodipine, benazepril). Also hydrochlorothiazide. Anyone who has similar experience or could offer input your comments would be appreciated.

[secrets0stolen]

have you eliminated salt?

[ftwashraw]

Yes, the only salt I get is from the raw fruit and vegetables I eat. Sodium intake has gone from over 3500 mg per day to less than 500 mg.

[votoshka]

Is your blood pressure the same as it normally is (without medication) or has it changed since going raw? If it's gone down a bit then that's a good thing, if not... you may just need to spend more time on the raw diet, as 10 days really isn't long enough for enormous health changes to occur.

Also, do you do enough exercise? It's great to eat well, but you need to exercise too. And while losing 14lbs is also fantastic, do you have more weight to lose?

I think you need to think in terms of months (or weeks) rather than days for improving your health vastly and removing all medications. I am absolutely positive that your body will heal with the raw diet given time, but I don't think 10 days is really long enough to make any solid judgements. Keep going for a month... try reducing your medication rather than eliminating it and see how you go.

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by ftwashraw

I've been on a Raw Food Diet for 10 days and have great results so far. I lost 14 pounds and feel great.

You may actually want to try eating more to slow down your weight loss to a pound or two per week in order to maintain muscle mass and overall health, so that the weight will stay off.

I know from experience raw fruits and veggies have so much bulk it's easy to feel full on very few calories. In my mid teens I went from 155 to 128 pounds in under 3 weeks eating as much fruit as I wanted, not trying to lose weight, and not realizing I was only getting a few hundred calories per day. It's more of a fast than a sustainable diet at that rate.

Look at some of Steve's recipes to see how much he eats. Had I come across articles like his 10 years ago when I was trying my own raw fruit diet I might have stuck with it. Maybe I'll give it another chance sometime.

[Nameless One]

You've already proven you can go at least 10 days without meds, so it sounds like you're 90% of the way there. The body miight still be used to them though, but in time the body's homeostasis should recalibrate