How I controlled my blood pressure and lowered my lipids without medicine

 I began  with  literature search and devised my own diet plan to control blood pressure and lower lipids .

Most  of the literature emphasizes  salt restriction , diet, and exercise   as  important factors  in  controlling   blood pressure, and when it doesn’t  help, then there is no choice but regular intake of  medicine(1)

I decided to walk and not use elevators while working  in the hospital to burn some calories and joined a local gym , 5 days a week. I do simple workouts as my aim is not bodybuilding. 

Coming to salt restriction, the answer was  self cooking, and my goal was no salt and no oil .

How do I do it?

The first day cooking  appeared to be an uphill task  despite I had some training during my medical school days .

Invariably , our mess at  the Bemina Medical hostel would stop near the exam and a line of budding doctors could be seen near  one of the local grocery stores  at Chattabal Srinagar in the lane joining it to The  Khak Saria , a breeze that freshens my soul while I pen it down.

The first day, I cooked  red beans  . The proportions unfortunately went  inappropriately, and red  beans seemed to float separately  in the curry as if an unseen   line of control demarcated the two .

There was no choice but to take it happily .

In the evening, when I returned home, I found a pile of unwashed  utensils in the kitchen like a tiger with an open mouth , glancing at me .

After a busy  day’s toil with cramps in legs, it is certainly  an uphill task .

How did I tackle it ?

The first thing I did was that I  kept  only the required utensils in the kitchen and lifted all other utensils from the kitchen.

This helped me a lot during the following days .

I further  learnt that  washing utensils becomes  very easy when you rub the utensil while    listening   to  the music . It  did so.

Nevertheless ,one day, it so happened that I was rubbing the utensils with a scrubber under the flowing water from the tap, and water started overflowing .

Yes, you guessed  it correctly, the song playing in the queue  had opened the windows of memory lane, and the music had started  playing with the strings of my heart .

I shook myself from these eddies and closed the tap, and began  cooking.

Coming  to  my “self cooking”  menu

Every Friday, I purchase groccerry from. a local supermarket . Initially, my list used to be haphazard, but now it is perfect

I read that one of the secrets of weight loss was

 1. to keep healthy food items readily available at home

 2. Eat slowly to allow your satiety center to lower appetite so that one eats less and  eat on small plates.

So what do I keep readily available in  the kitchen?

1. Baby carrots : I keep these  peeled and washed in the refrigerator , ready to eat, so whenever I feel  hungry, I   take a few.

2. Pumpkin with curd  .(Dood-AAL)

It is very simple to make  , boil pumpkin  , mash it and add curd with zeera/ walnuts, and refrigerate  it .Keep it ready to eat in your refrigerator . Initially it would last for 4 days, then  I started making it on Saturday and wednesdays.

3. Fruit and leafy green vegetables:

4. Lemon cubes : crush lemon and freeze it s juice without adding sugar and water to it and keep it as lemon cubes.

So how do I organize  cooking without oil and salt?

I keep red beans and chickpeas soaked in the water every  Friday for 12 hrs and prepare them  on Saturday.

With one cup of red beans, I  mix 3 average size turnips and 4 tomatoes  in a pressure cooker .

I neither add   oil nor  salt .

The sodium content in turnip and tomatoes seems to be enough . However,  I add all spices to the mixture like turmeric , red chili , cardamom , garlic and ginger, etc. it becomes delicious.

While cooking  chickpeas, I add a few  baby potatoes to thicken its curry and a few onions  .It often reminds me of “TheChaman Mittahi wala.”

This used to be  a very busy Daba in one of the nooks at  Sopore chowk during my childhood .

So what is my breakfast?

I first take a fresh glass of water  and a medium-sized bowl  of red beans or  chickpeas, which I prepare as above. American College of Oncology recommends beans and legumes with every meal 365 days a year ( 2) .

I sprinkle olive oil over these few  lemon  cubes and it doesn’t require salt for taste.

 I  take a decaffeinated cup of coffee without sugar. I have stopped sugar intake for more than 12 years  now. I never miss it.

I occasionally take wheat products.

Wheat products are not healthy for the intestine, and in some, it manifests as celiac, and most of the people the damage is silent. Wheat products make intestines leaky and initiate inflammation  (3)

We often underestimate what we eat , actually, we are what we eat, so never underestimate what you eat.

According  to the latest literature, most metabolic disorders like coronary artery disease , fatty liver , diabetes etc begin with alteration of microbiota in our small bowel.

We host trillions of bacteria in our small bowel, which live in friendship with human beings, so anything which destroys or alters these affects our health.

We need to nourish these good bacteria by prebiotics found in  fruit and vegetables.

After inadvertent use of antibiotics, good bacteria are killed and don’t return to the gut for a long time. Bad bacteria overgrow and start a nasty cycle of inflammation .

Thus, always refrain from unnecessary antibiotics and save your healthy bacteria in small bowel

Carbohydrates  are  known to affect weight adversely, so  I take  rice only for  2 days in a week Instead, I have resorted to green leafy vegetables and fresh fruit, and it has helped me to lose weight .

Green leafy vegetable  recipe is simple . Wash thoroughly in hot water , boil  for a few minutes .

Cool it and add olive oil spray and enjoy the dish.

I treat myself  on Sundays as  I invariably prepare salmon fish , just fry it and eat it, and I also eat  rice on Sundays.

I add a teaspoon  of turmeric to  rice while it is boiling. It reminds me of “Yellow rice , Tahier.” We would often get at Govt. Sangrampora school from the adjoining homes at Sopore   during my  school days. Turmeric has a lot of health  benefits  (4)

Before every meal I take enough water .

I take an early dinner a bowl of vegetables , soup , fresh fruit, or leafy greens

After 7 pm, I stop eating till morning and take  only water or baby carrots or some fruit . This gives me intermittent fast

Intermittent fasting is known to help in weight reduction and regulation of the immune system .

Various fruits I prefer  to eat are apples, blueberries , grapes, strawberry bananas, and  pears .

Well, I am not sure how long I will be able to have this lifestyle, but now  I   have neither craving for salt nor for   oil .

It is just a matter of time when one gets used to this. It helps .

 I can assure you that my  belly is no more obtuse, and another  budding chin, which had  been in its infancy, is shrinking again. My weight is back to normal, and so is my lipid profile and blood pressure without medicine .

To conclude , try the above diet and write in the comments how much weight you lost and whether your blood pressure is back to normal .

References:

1. Whelton PK, Carey RM, Aronow WS, et al Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2018 May 15;71(19)

2.Zhang Y, Zhuang P, Wu F, He W, Mao L, Jia W, Zhang Y, Chen X, Jiao J. Cooking oil/fat consumption and deaths from cardiometabolic diseases and other causes: prospective analysis of 521,120 individuals. BMC Med. 2021 Apr 15;19(1):92.

3. Mudryj AN, Yu N, Aukema HM. Nutritional and health benefits of pulses. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2014 Nov;39(11):1197-204. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2013-0557. Epub 2014 Jun 13.

4. Yousefsani BS, Dadmehr M, Shirani K, Jamshidi A, Sathyapalan T, Sahebkar A. Health Benefits of Turmeric and Curcumin Against Food Contaminants. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2021;1328:171-197.

5.de Punder K, Pruimboom L. The dietary intake of wheat and other cereal grains and their role in inflammation. Nutrients. 2013 Mar 12;5(3):771-87.