I got my blood pressure down from 140/90+ to easily below 128/80 and my LDL from a high of 139 down to 104 in five months by doing the following:
1) Vigorous aerobic exercise four times a week running roughly 50 minutes on treadmill or outdoors averaging 8.50 minute miles over roughly 6 miles. This has helped with energy too.
2) No caffeine.
3) Good protein (salmon, chicken breast, lean pork chops, eggs, no-fat milk), Good fat (almonds, cashews, olive oil for cooking and cold first press olive oil on stuff I eat, avocados, almond milk, low saturated foods.
4) Carbohydrates of fruit, veggies (preferably green ones like broccoli, brussel sprouts, and spinach), and whole grain breads, oatmeal, bran shredded wheat cereals, etc.
5) NO sugar of any kind.
6) LOW LOW LOW sodium for the blood pressure.
I have not been this healthy in years and I’m 56.
The toughest thing to do was getting my daily sodium intake down to around 500 mg or about half of the daily recommended amounts due to high blood pressure. EVERYTHING has WAY TOO MUCH SALT in it.
My treat are cashews, peanut butter (Smuckers All Natural Chunky), fibre crackers, Anjou pears, hard and crisp red delicious apples, etc.
For sweetener, I use Truvia and it works well.
No caffeine? Nevah!!!
Hold the gains now.
Well I’m well past 56....eat what I want when I want...lots of coffee....excersize with daily activity called living life......and have no health issues.
The toughest thing to do was getting my daily sodium intake down to around 500 mg or about half of the daily recommended amounts due to high blood pressure. EVERYTHING has WAY TOO MUCH SALT in it.
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Careful with reducing salt/sodium. I don’t eat processed food much but had bought into the “salt=bad” mindset many years ago AND drinking TOO MUCH water(can land you in the ER due to sodium washout). About 10 years ago, at age 55, my blood work showed slightly low sodium levels. Staying at that level or going lower can have BAD results(https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hyponatremia/expert-answers/low-blood-sodium/faq-20058465)
so I started ADDING salt to my mostly carnivorous, dairy(eggs), and vegetable diet. Sodium levels stay in the “good” range now since doing that.
You have infinitely more self-discipline than me. I’ve never been able to change one food item in one meal. Or exercise more than one day in a row. And no colonoscopies or other invasive procedures. Waist 33 or 34. But my mom lived until 102 without doing anything special and only expired then because of a fall so I hope to be around for a while longer than my current 66.
cograts on your achievements.
I noticed you wrote”5) NO sugar of any kind.”
yet you list a nmber of sugary items.
i wish peope would post clearly so no confusion that they mean no processed suagr or only naturally occuring sugar in fruits and veg. also your suagr substitute cntains regular sugar so again it’s misleading to say “5) NO sugar of any kind.”
"...hard and crisp red delicious apples..."
Those only exist in your memory. Those disappeared in the 90s and were replaced by the mushy black mildew mealy.