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Hello from Australia

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 6:57 am
by sunflower
Hello. Long time lurker first time poster.

I have been Vegan for around a year, and vegetarian for around 12 years prior. I went Vegan purely for ethical reasons. I did not eat a very healthy vegetarian diet, but have been more health conscious eating a Vegan diet (I was initially scared to go Vegan for a while due to believing it was somewhat deficient). I wanted to make sure I was getting everything I need, and the book Vegan for Life (Jack Norris and Ginny Messina) has been really helpful.

I feel really good on a Vegan diet. There is just one health problem that is still lingering and that is a problem with elevated blood pressure (125/95). When I started eating more healthfully my cholesterol went down (from 5.8 to 4.1 mmol/l). I have a BMI of 19 (I have always been on the lean side). I do have a family history of high blood pressure though.

Just want to know whether there is anything in the diet that could exacerbate the problem? I try my best to following the eating style from the Vegan for life book. I would love to avoid medication.

Any tips would be great. Cheers

Re: Hello from Australia

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 10:48 pm
by brimstoneSalad
Welcome! That's a tough question.

If you're eating a balanced vegan diet with lots of fiber and exercising, there may not be much else you can do. I assume you don't drink or smoke?

You can see some reduction by lowering sodium intake; something not necessary for most people, but in high risk cases it can make sense. The trouble is in that making food bland it might drive you to less healthy foods and sweets to avoid salt... so it doesn't always work in the long term.

Caffeine may have an effect, but that's less clear. Might be worth dropping it if you use it and it's not difficult for you and seeing if it helps. There might be some foods you can eat to lower blood pressure and reduce risk, as in herbal/food medicine (garlic), but that's a bit more speculative. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4266250/

Re: Hello from Australia

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 11:04 pm
by Red
Hey Sunflower! I think you'll find plenty of useful dietary information here.

Stay on the Vegan Road!

Re: Hello from Australia

Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 1:30 am
by sunflower
Hi

Thanks for the welcome! No, I don't drink or smoke, but I do have high stress levels (which is known to be associated with high blood pressure). I do what I can in terms of yoga and exercise to minimise the stress. I also try to eat less than 2000mg of sodium per day (I really do hate reducing salt but I do the best I can). I only have coffee in the morning and I am addicted. Tried to go decaf for a while but I found it hard to concentrate on my work. Thanks for providing that paper, I do love garlic and garlic oil. This may be an excuse to use more of it in my cooking.

Just sucks to have a problem that is commonly associated with a poor diet. My doctor wants to put me on medication. I am only 35 :(