Nitrates are not our friends.
The past five days have been this triage attempt on my part to get my wayward blood pressure back down. Argh. After 18 months of success fighting this thing, it totally bounced WAY up.
I dunno, I think I've sorta stumbled over something important for me healthwise. Preservatives of all kinds seem to just do really bad things to me. I had a special treat Sunday evening -- my mom's style of bratwurst, cabbage, lots of mustard. And last Saturday I had something I don't normally allow -- bag of Doritos out of the machine. (Not specifically a treat -- what I think of as an ordinary but rare snack for me, right?)
Dude, Monday morning I had the worst godawful headache, and my BP was stratospheric. It's taken three days of extremely cautious eating, lots of rest, happy thoughts, to get this shit back down. This morning it's finally good, but DAMN was it ever not worth it.
Thing is, back pre-healthy eating, I couldn't tell when my BP was up. I mean, it was ALWAYS up, even on 8 pills a day, so I missed the signs. I didn't realize, for example, that the fact that I was always a little sweaty (diaphoretic) was not really due to my weight. It was my BP. But this time I had classic signs that I could actually recognize -- the pounding headache, diaphoresis, flushed face and neck, and bad ringing in my ears.
Glad to say that this morning all but the ringing has gone -- ringing is down to a faint whooshing. But DAMN.
Anyway. I've been thinking a LOT about this and the general benefits of eating not just low-calorie low-fat but healthily, organically. Haven't had a cold since I got over the pneumonia that start all this in Sept 05. Have generally been the healthiest I've been in ages. And it scares and impresses me that the nitrates and nitrites in a bratwurst could contribute so strongly to send my BP up FORTY POINTS. I mean, shit, that ain't peanuts.
I'm going to be really investigative for a while, starting now. Really examining if the foods I eat have any preservatives added, and if so, what kind -- I think it will be best to avoid those if at all possible. I am really shaken by the effects. I felt like SHIT this week, and it was all WHAT I ATE. That's crazy, but it makes a ton of sense, and I'm newly respectful here. I just...really don't want to pop up back into the BP numbers I used to have. I know that it's incredibly dangerous. I just.... yikes. NO.
Anyway. We'll see. Argh.
I dunno, I think I've sorta stumbled over something important for me healthwise. Preservatives of all kinds seem to just do really bad things to me. I had a special treat Sunday evening -- my mom's style of bratwurst, cabbage, lots of mustard. And last Saturday I had something I don't normally allow -- bag of Doritos out of the machine. (Not specifically a treat -- what I think of as an ordinary but rare snack for me, right?)
Dude, Monday morning I had the worst godawful headache, and my BP was stratospheric. It's taken three days of extremely cautious eating, lots of rest, happy thoughts, to get this shit back down. This morning it's finally good, but DAMN was it ever not worth it.
Thing is, back pre-healthy eating, I couldn't tell when my BP was up. I mean, it was ALWAYS up, even on 8 pills a day, so I missed the signs. I didn't realize, for example, that the fact that I was always a little sweaty (diaphoretic) was not really due to my weight. It was my BP. But this time I had classic signs that I could actually recognize -- the pounding headache, diaphoresis, flushed face and neck, and bad ringing in my ears.
Glad to say that this morning all but the ringing has gone -- ringing is down to a faint whooshing. But DAMN.
Anyway. I've been thinking a LOT about this and the general benefits of eating not just low-calorie low-fat but healthily, organically. Haven't had a cold since I got over the pneumonia that start all this in Sept 05. Have generally been the healthiest I've been in ages. And it scares and impresses me that the nitrates and nitrites in a bratwurst could contribute so strongly to send my BP up FORTY POINTS. I mean, shit, that ain't peanuts.
I'm going to be really investigative for a while, starting now. Really examining if the foods I eat have any preservatives added, and if so, what kind -- I think it will be best to avoid those if at all possible. I am really shaken by the effects. I felt like SHIT this week, and it was all WHAT I ATE. That's crazy, but it makes a ton of sense, and I'm newly respectful here. I just...really don't want to pop up back into the BP numbers I used to have. I know that it's incredibly dangerous. I just.... yikes. NO.
Anyway. We'll see. Argh.