Is high blood pressure your friend, not your enemy?

High blood pressure and its causes have often been misdiagnosed. What if it turned out that high blood pressure is your friend rather than your enemy?

Strange? Give me five minutes and I’ll explain.

What is high blood pressure? It’s a sign that your heart is being told it needs to work harder. It’s a sign that your circulatory system It’s running at full throttle. No, that’s not good, but it’s a sign. And as Paulo Coelho says in his book *The Alchemist*, you have to be able to read and recognise signs – then the signs, which in this case are high blood pressure He’s your friend. 

Do you remember the film *There Once Was Life*?

High blood pressure means that blood flows through the blood vessels at too high a pressure. Heart has to pump harder, and the walls arteries are constantly overloaded.

In the video, you can see the “pipes” getting tighter and tighter – blood vessels. Blood presses against the walls of your blood vessels; your heart works beyond its limits and wears itself out, shortening your life. 

In accelerated time, it is not only the following that may be damaged heart, as well as brain and above all 

to everyone kidneys. 

Why the kidneys? 

And why are they so incredibly important that the Creator gave us as many as two of them? 

Because The kidneys regulate the amount of fluid circulating in the body, and consequently blood volume and blood pressure.

The kidneys function through two main mechanisms:

• When the kidneys do not excrete enough sodium and water, more fluid remains in the body. There is more blood in the blood vessels, so blood pressure rises.
• When the kidneys detect that they are not receiving enough blood, they secrete renin. It triggers a mechanism that constricts the blood vessels and causes the body to retain salt and water. This also raises blood pressure.

To put it simply: The heart is a pump, the blood vessels are tubes, and the kidneys regulate the amount of fluid in the whole system. If too much of it is being retained, the pump has to work against higher pressure.

A vicious circle also arises: Poor kidney function raises blood pressure, and high blood pressure in turn damages the kidneys. The kidneys act as a filter and function in the presence of water. Dehydration always has a negative effect on the kidneys. 

Your brain needs not only glucose, but also oxygen. Blood A river is a conduit for water containing nutrients. Cerebral hypoxia It is an alarm signal that triggers a defence mechanism. The brain It sends a signal for more oxygen. The heart beats faster and the blood vessels constrict – blood pressure rises – why? More blood and oxygen need to reach the brain, but mind you, this has to happen quickly – after all, how long can you last without oxygen? 

They are responsible for everything kidneys – They activate the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system: they cause fluid retention water and sodium and raise blood pressure.

If hypoxia occurs chronically, e.g. in cases of obesity or as a result of it sleep apnoea, the body may remain in this „alert mode” and high blood pressure becomes entrenched. And this really takes its toll on your body – it’s as if you were driving a rally car at full throttle all the time, running on poor-quality fuel and with overheated oil. 

A vicious circle develops:

hypoxia → increased pressure → damage to the small blood vessels in the brain → reduced blood flow → further hypoxia.

Nowadays, people say, ‘The devil is in the detail”

 Few people know that in the old days people used to say: “God is in the details”, because the details make all the difference. 

In this case, the details in question are your weight and sodium intake. 

Being overweight raises blood pressure in several ways at once:

1. A larger body needs more blood – the heart has to pump harder and more frequently.
2. Adipose tissue, particularly abdominal adipose tissue, is hormonally active – stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, which keeps the body in a state akin to having your foot on the accelerator in a car.
3. The kidneys retain more sodium and water – blood volume increases, and consequently so does the pressure in the blood vessels.
4. Insulin resistance and inflammation are on the rise – the blood vessels dilate less easily and become stiffer.
5. Being overweight increases the risk of sleep apnoea – Night-time hypoxia triggers the release of adrenaline and further raises blood pressure.

So the whole mechanism works like this:

excess body fat → increased workload on the heart + water retention + vasoconstriction + hypoxia during sleep → high blood pressure.

That is why even 6 kg more It can have a noticeable effect on how you feel and on your blood pressure, particularly if the weight has been gained quickly, mainly around the tummy, and has coincided with stress and poor sleep. On average, losing one kilogramme of weight can lower your blood pressure by around 1 mmHg, although the response depends on more than just weight. This is great news, as it means you can stay healthy and live longer with minimal effort. 

Will you be returning to your Genetic Potential Should it be carried out in stages?

Do you have the potential to be healthy? Think back to when you were 18. The age of rebellion, parties and fast food. Your circulatory system was young and fit, but nothing lasts forever. At the same time, there are ways to get back to that state. You just need to know how. 

1. Since you know that the kidneys retain sodium – particularly when there is inflammation – start with the simplest and cheapest change. Stop using white table salt and switch to Kłodawa salt. It costs 2 zł. 
2. At the same time, limit your salt intake across your entire diet to 5 gr per day 
3. Drink more water with a pH close to 7 
4. Go for a walk – it really is the simplest habit that can help you live longer. 
5. Use a functional supplement containing vitamin E, L-arginine, hawthorn fruit and grapeseed extract. 
6. Cut out processed food – it causes inflammation, and inflammation requires more water, which the kidneys then retain.
7. The most important thing: lose weight

Krzysztof Reinhard – Founder and CEO of Wellclinic, a leader in modern aesthetic medicine in Poland. Polish bodybuilding champion and an expert in combining health, aesthetics and technology. For over 20 years, he has been helping people achieve better fitness and wellbeing. Creator of an innovative concept for clinics that integrate fitness with medicine, a speaker, mentor and author of guidebooks. His motto: „Health always wins” It inspires people to live in harmony with their bodies and their health.