Understanding hypertension in the light of Ayurveda

Hypertension has become one of the most prevalent health problems. Diet, stress and sedentary life style are some of the most important causes.

Imagine you are throwing a bucket full of water above your head to the direction of the sky. You will have to put lot of pressure to your body parts to do such an action compared to pouring water in the downward direction.

Similarly, it is easy for our heart to pump blood down to all the organs, but for pumping bllod to the brain is very tough and applies lot of pressure. Brain eats up lot of energy when we think thoughts. When we are actively thinking more blood is pumped by the heart to the brain to supply both glucose energy and oxygen for burning it. This is known as stress and one of the causes for increase in blood pressure.

So the logical approach is to help to reduce stressful thoughts in the brian to effectively reduce the blood pressure. It is interesting that thoughts and breathing has a good connection. Though breathing is an involuntary action (not controlled by us), if voluntarily controlled has a tremendous influence on thinking and blod pressure. This is why when we laugh we feel relaxed, because we change our breathing mode (see laughing therapy).

Another effective method of breathing is Pranayama or regulating breathing pattern.This can be done even at office or work place. If you take a break for 2 minutes every one hour and do this simple breathing exercise, you will see your blood pressure geting normal within a few weeks. (write a note in your computer screen or keep an alarm to remind you).

Guided Relaxation: Doing guided Pancha Bhoota Relaxation and Meditation is also good. Before going to bed ask your partner to gently press and rub the from head to toe with both the hands as a gesture of relaxating the body. The hand touch also has a good influence on reducing stress and gives a sound sleep. You can also listen to the relaxation CD and fall asleep. We have received many testimonails on the effectiveness of this guided relaxation on quality of sleep and on blood pressure.

Oil bath: Applying sesame oil or coconut oil on head everyday or atleast on week end will give a cooling sesnation to the head and reduces blood pressure. Actually self massaging the oil on all the parts of the body as an act of relaxaing also has good influence on  blood pressure.

 We have helped effectively to reduce hypertension in many patients. We recommend to do Pancha bhoota healing at all the five elements level to bring the blood pressure to normal. This includes changes in your diet too. 

Try to avoid the highly processed and additivies rich breakfast cereals. there are quick fast breakfast recipes given here. Eat healthy foods that are whole foods and minimum processed foods. visit the Uni5 Sakthi Kitchen section.

    Detoxification through diet, pranayama, yoga and relaxation will facilitate the healing better. Reducing refined foods and eating natural foods is the best approach for hypertension. Juicing is one of the best way to reduce pressure. Here are some suggestions.

Salt:Salt prepared by chemical methods that is used for cooking is not healthy. Rock salt is the best because it is rich in other minerals that are vital to the body. Chemical salt that is commonly used in modern times has an imbalance of sodium to chlorine ration compared to rock salt contributing to blood pressure and other high salt intake disease conditions.

For Breakfast: Grains are the best. These are ancient approaches for Hypertension.

• Bajra and oats (flakes) : It is effective for high blood pressure.
• Barley : Barley gruel with butter milk and lime juice is a good diuretic carbohydrate-liquid-food suitable for all the invalids suffering from high blood pressure. Ragi (millet) is a tonic for high blood pressure.
• You get oat flakes, barley flakes, wheat flakes and rice flakes in market. Use them as cereals regularly for breakfast. See for other recipes in recipes section.
  

Gut Bacteria:

 Modern research shows that Gut bacteria can reduce hypertension and heart attaks by changing the intestinal bacteria. In anicent cultures like in India, feremented rice (Palaya saadam) was routintely used which was more in carbohydrates. We recommend first to do a castor oil cleansing and then eat  home made Yogurt (Indian bacterial culture has a better strain of lacto-bacillus). This makes the intestines to harbor good bacteria.

Herbs for heart Diseases

Fruit and Vegetable Juices

One fruit and vegetable juice a day. Either the vegetable juice in the morning and fruit juices in the evening or vice versa , according to your convenience.

Note: In making above juices, tomato , cucumber and carrot are added to hide the raw tastes of leaves. So you can make juices of leaves with any combination which you like.

Vegetable juices. Make initially half cup and then increase to one cup after a couple of weeks. (one a day)

• Bitter sweet and tomato juice : Put one piece of bitter gourd and one big ripe tomato in a blender and make a juice and drink.
• Coriander juice : Use ten to 20 leaves of coriander and one piece of cucumber and make a juice.
• Beet juice: Put one piece of beet root and a big piece of carrot in a blender and make a juice.
• Spinach: Put three leaves of spinach and one big tomato and make a juice.
• Drumstick leaves : Put 5 to ten leaves of drumstick leaves with carrot and make a juice.
• Fenugreek (methi) leaves. Use 10 to 15 leaves and make a juice with cucumber.
• Amaranth Juice: Take 5 to 10 amaranth leaves and mix with tomato and make juice.
• Capsicum (green or yellow or one each time) juice mixed with one of the three - carrot , cucumber or tomato. If you add with tomato then adding a pinch of salt, a teaspoon of lime juice and pepper powder would be good to taste.
• Celery juice with any one of the three - carrot, cucumber or tomato.

Fruit juices:

Make Juices of fruits (plain) or with soy milk or with water.

• Apple
• Papaya
• Grape
• Orange
• Water melon with seeds
• Guava
• Pineapple
• Banana
• Mango

Juice fasting: 

Whole day. (You can use any fruits and vegetables of your choice, but the bottom one is the excellent combination)

• 8.00: Start the fasting by drinking apple and cranberries juice.
• 10.00 fresh cucumber juice with radish along with its leaf
• 12.00 fresh orange , pear and water melon juice.
• 2.00 fresh mixed carrot, beet juice.
• 4.00 fresh grape, papaya, strawberry or blueberry juice with a pinch of nutmeg powder.
• 6.00 fresh cucumber, carrot juice and a handful of drumstick leaves.
• 8.00 fresh water melon with seeds.
• 10.00 fresh carrot and celery juice.

Click here to know more about Juice fasting 

Castor Oil cleansing: Castor oil cleansing is very good for hypertension because it tends to cleanse the liver and the intestines and reduce the salt in the body

Click here to know more about Castor Oil Cleansing

Castor Oil Cleansing

Fire Therapy : Yoga exercises. Do the yoga steps which are comfortable. Don’t strain. When yoga done, feel that the toxins like excess salts in the body are removed and the body is healed. Self accupressure is a very healing yoga method. 

Yoga is very good especiallySurya Namaskar given in fire section. It helps in good lymphatic circulation.

Exercise and Lymphatic circulation

Pancha Bhoota Surya Namaskar

AirTherapy: Pranayama is good to reduce blood pressure.  Taking a long breath and relaxes every now and then reduces stress in the body and prevents hyper tension. Click here to know more about Air Therapy.

Air Therapy

     Every now and then throughout the day, keep taking long breaths to relax. Listening to chants that balances the breath significantly decreases blood pressure. Many of our friends have reported that after listening to the tape of Vishnu Sahasranamam, when they measured their blood pressure , found to have reduced significantly. 

Space Therapy: Relaxing the mind is the key to reduce blood pressure. There are many ways. Doing guided Pancha Bhoota Relaxation and Meditation is also good.

Pancha Bhoota Yoga

To order click here.