Wait! Don't ever throw away those bones! Learn how to get valuable nutrients and make delicious foods from them! Not a paleo cookbook,...
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Melissa McEwen
This blog is about the intersection between evolutionary biology and food. But also about practical applications, sustainable agriculture, and general tasty things. I originally started eating this way to heal from chronic health problems and...it worked!
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Feel Better
Once again I'd like to thank everyone who commented with kind words on this blog, sent me emails, and even took me out to dinner when I was down. Yes, I am feeling better both physically and mentally. My job situation is looking better and I also have some answers about my health.
So apparently my blood pressure is very very low, sometimes dangerously so. It's genetic, but it's definitely exacerbated by things like inactivity, staying up late, eating erratically, and general stress. My mother and grandmother have had issues with it as well. My doctor gave me a month to try to improve it myself or he said he'd have to put me on drugs. I thought that was ridiculous, so I'm working on it myself and we'll see what happens at my next exam.
Some things that are working:
- Exercise: an obvious one, but what seems to work particularly well are sprints punctuated with things like pushups, squats, and pull-ups
- Licorice and yerba mate tea in the morning. I quit coffee! Yay! Licorice is well-known to raise blood pressure.
- I am salting my food better, taking Natural Calm, and paying more attention in general to the mineral content of my diet.
- I am trying my hardest to eat more. If you had told me three years ago when I was chubby that this would be a struggle I would have laughed, but I'm not used to eating massive quantities of food. Despite what some people might tell you, fat actually is pretty damn satiating. So I'm eating lots of yams, but I find those pretty filling too. Unfortunately the only paleo foods I seem to be able to overeat are nuts :(
- I am spending lots of time relaxing on the grass in the park in the sun. Even if that means I fall asleep on my keys and they make a rather unpleasant mark on my stomach and I also end up bitten by several insects.
- A survey of the medical literature shows, dare I say it...that certain romantic activities are very important in the regulation of hormones related to blood pressure. Definitely jives with my experience, though I haven't decided how to apply this knowledge yet.
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You mention genetically low
You mention genetically low blood pressure -- I'm interested in what your b.p. numbers are because my wife and her mother and maternal grandmother both average 90-100 over 50-60 on a normal basis.
Could you elaborate on the genetic basis?
Those are about my numbers
Those are about my numbers too. This article has some info on genetic mutations causing low and high blood pressure. I've contacted that researcher hoping to get my family in his studies.
An anecdote on licorice. A
An anecdote on licorice. A friend of mine went to the doctor because she was feeling tired all the time and couldn't understand why. He ran some tests and discovered that she had an incredibly low potassium level -- so low that he told her to stop on the way home to buy supplements. During the consultation the two of them could not determine what exactly it was that had led to the deficiency, but she happened upon it through some googling: she had been drinking licorice tea all day long every day, and apparently there's something in there that can deplete potassium.
So I guess you can take that for what it's worth. Maybe just: don't get too hooked on the stuff.
Oh, though I should probably mention that the friend in question is a vegan. So maybe all bets are off.
Paul.
Haha, I only drink it in the
Haha, I only drink it in the morning. And I definitely wouldn't recommend it for people who have normal or high BP.
re: overdoing it on nuts.
re: overdoing it on nuts. you already know this, but i find that if I don't keep nuts at my office or apartment, i don't overdo them! a no-brainer, i guess. what i tend to do is buy a pack of TJ macadamias once a month and eat them all in a single day. that's 10 ounces. i don't worry too much about it because of the relatively low o-6 content and the fact that it's just once a month.
Hey Melissa! The licorice tea
Hey Melissa!
The licorice tea is a great idea. Licorice increases aldosterone, which is why it can raise blood pressure (if you've got low blood pressure AND adrenal fatigue, you've got low aldosterone;)
It also increases the half life of cortisol, which, in the case of adrenal fatigue, is low (and you wake up feeling like you've been hit by a truck!) In TCM, licorice is added to harmonize the function of other herbs.
You could add nettles to your tea blend to increase your minerals. I've found that nettles also offset the stimulating effects of the mate in a nice, balanced way. I make my brew at night so it's very strong in the morning!
Make sure you add a 1/4 tsp of salt (I like the Real Salt brand- waaaay cheaper than the fancy Himalayan!) to your tea and salt all your water so you aren't diluting your blood sodium when you drink water or tea!
PS- I'm finding that chyawanprash (an ayurvedic herbal paste with ghee and honey) is helping me get over my current adrenal hump. It's rather sweet, but I don't seem to be getting sugar spikes from it (it must be the ghee and blood sugar regulating herbs in it). I got the Nature's Formulary brand.
With regards to salt - I
With regards to salt - I suggest you get your own salt grinder and grind your own sea salt. We have plenty of sea salt for sale here in Hawaii...but in most mainland locales, I believe the only option you have is Celtic Sea Salt.
Unprocessed, natural sea salt is rich in a host of minerals that could help your BP problems.
Regular table salt is highly processed with heat (which destroys much of the mineral content) and than anti-caking chemicals are added so that they don't clog salt shakers.
EDIT - Apparently your spam filter won't allow linking, so just google this article:
"Natural Sea Salt Versus Table Salt, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly"
It's horrible your having
It's horrible your having problems lately it must be stressful. Then for someone to tell you to calm down is a bit redundant. I have realised lately though that I really need to start focusing on lifestyle factors such as getting to bed on time, not overworking myself, exercising, living in a happy and comfortable home (read clean), and this all with eating healthy.
I think before anyone starts seeking medical health these things need to be in order. Im very sorry to hear your troubles lately. Hang in there!!!!
Hi Melissa, I have also had
Hi Melissa,
I have also had times where I had dangerously low blood pressure. WHile I was in university, I fainted a number of times (for various reasons, including after the blood draw the doctor requested in order to see what was wrong with me--they removed something like ten vials of blood!). Finally, they just told me to eat more salt :S
Looking back, I was VERY stressed (school, a bad relationship, money and family worries) and had an irregular schedule. I also was eating garbage (pizza and cafeteria food with grain, vegetable oil, soy, etc.). Any benefits that may have resulted from "certain romantic activities" was cancelled out by everything else.
I did start eating more salt, but I think the two biggest factors for me were stress and bad food. I didn't drink coffee at the time, but was a heavy tea drinker. I quit all caffeine for several years around that time due to anxiety/panic attacks.
It's taken about 5 years but doctors are no longer shocked by my blood pressure readings. I attribute it to a) a reduction in overall stress; b) better stress management techniques; and c) eating better (paleo/primal) and exercising (CrossFit).
Best wishes!
--Angela
Glad to hear that you're
Glad to hear that you're bouncing back, Melissa! ;-)
The restorative powers of maté are pretty incredible, BTW. Aside from green tea, it's bar far the smoothest and most helpful of any infusion. I also think that some rather bland, "paleo-ish" root-veggie carbs will help tremendously as while a fat-based diet is ideal in a lot of ways, it can seriously potentiate a see-saw of dopamine sensitivity swings, perhaps almost as much as frequent contact with refined sugars. That can really make you feel anhedonic and run down. I've seen this in my own experience and a little bit of carb-ing up, especially following exercise (per Robb Wolf, I suppose) is more optimal than going low-carb indefinitely. I'm not sure how much weight to give it, as the jury still seems to be out, but throwing in a 10-day basal body temp. average every few weeks to see where your thyroid is at might not be a bad idea...
Cheers & best wishes!
I've been there before, its
I've been there before, its not a pleasant experience, i really hope things get better. When i first started going paleo/primal (high fat) my blood pressure plumeted i was avg 55, and i was getting terrible anxiety attacks and heart palpitations. I also realized that i was just not getting enough calories. I have the same problem with eating large quantities of food, i just can't, it makes me nauseous. Eventually i got the courage to try enzymes (i hate pills) and that did the trick also salting my food helped a lot. Also, there are certain times of the day when your appetite is at its best so take advantage of that window :) wish you the best!
Source the licorice
Source the licorice carefully. It can have gluten in it
I quite coffee a few months
I quite coffee a few months ago and I still really miss the ritual of it. I've tried black tea, hojicha, and matcha. Can you tell me about your experience with Yerba Mate? I've heard of it, but don't know much about it.
I'm so glad you're on the mend. I wanted to let you know how much I value your blog. You're a very intelligent, insightful, open writer. I admire that.
I'm pretty sure there is
I'm pretty sure there is plenty of empirical evidence to support that orgasms and sex do in fact have a positive effect on your hormones and make you feel good.
Sorry to hear about all this
Sorry to hear about all this - but it sounds like you're on the right track. Especially with the exercise. Throw in some burpees and you're set for life!
Good luck!