>> why the frig are they always talking about red wine rather than grapes?
Because a moderate amount of alcohol is apparently good for the heart given no other conflicting abnormalities. A low carb beverage is preferred.
That said, my blood pressure has recently dropped from the 130s/90s to about 105/72.
I used to have high triglycerides and LDL, but diet and exercise took care of that. But somewhere along the line my BP inched up and stayed up. My Doc is as conventional as it goes and I knew that he would prescribe drugs. I don't want to take drugs, though I appreciate that there are at least two reasonable views on that topic. Vigorous exercise the day of the test is good enough to drive down BP and fool the doc.
I've spent more than a year trying to bring down my BP “naturally.” I gave it the whole kitchen sink. So now, I don't know what is working. One of my most recent changes is to up my dose of vitamin D3, to 6000 IUs a day. Dr. Jonathan Wright argues that if you don't have enough D, more ACE is created, thereby elevating BP.