The average 60-year-old typically takes around 15 prescription drugs a year. While some individuals may take fewer, others, particularly those with multiple chronic conditions, may take significantly more, even over 5 or more medications daily. This number can also increase with age, with older adults (80+) taking an average of 22 prescriptions filled per year. Chronic conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes often require ongoing medication, contributing to the increased use in older adults. But what are these medications doing in the body and do they interfere with nutrient absorption, or because of the biochemical pathways they impact, are they using up copious amounts of some nutrients? Let’s dive into some commonly prescribed medications and see what’s happening! (Please see the disclaimer at the bottom of this article.) | |
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High Blood Pressure Medication This is a BIG topic and I will discuss multiple areas of this topic. Hypertension is called the “Silent Killer” because you can have Sky-High blood pressure and not know that anything is wrong. You won’t feel any different than you always do. This is why it is super important to measure your blood pressure regularly. Guidelines for Measuring Blood Pressure • Get a good quality Blood Pressure machine and then take it to your local Fire-Department. Have a Fireman check your blood pressure with your machine and with their equipment. The numbers should be the same. If they are not, bring your unit back to the store and get a different brand, then have it checked for accuracy. You can get vastly different readings from different machines! • When you are checking your blood pressure at home, try your best to take it each day at noon. Your body has an internal clock. Scientists refer to it as your Circadian Rhythm. It is the natural inclination of your body to increase and decrease its internal metabolic functioning relative to the time of the day. If you take your Blood Pressure when your Circadian Rhythm is high (6:45 AM, 6:30 PM) then you will not know if it is high or if it was high due to bad timing. • In order for you to need Blood Pressure Medication you need to have 3 consecutive readings where each number is elevated above 140/90. If just one number is elevated, or if both numbers are elevated, but not all 3 times, then you are Borderline Hypertensive and are a candidate for natural therapies (discussed below.) • If you are seeing a doctor for hypertension, keep a log of your blood pressure taken at home. The number in the doctor’s office is irrelevant because they only take it once and at random times of the day. | |
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Beta Blockers Beta-blockers are incredibly common medications for simply calming the effects of the sympathetic nervous system mode, minimizing the stimulatory effects of epinephrine and norepinephrine, and are often prescribed for individuals who might be struggling with stress. But there are two critical nutrient depletions that you want to keep in mind. • CoQ10-This medication impairs the body’s synthesis of Coenzyme Q10, which is an absolutely critical cofactor in the electron transport chain and the mitochondria of our cells to make ATP to run the body. What is ATP? The energy produced by our cells that runs everything! • Coenzyme Q10 is also an essential antioxidant in the body. Both for the mitochondria themselves and also for protection of the cell membrane. This can be a real double whammy when individuals have different stages of metabolic syndrome (high blood glucose, high cholesterol, high blood pressure) or cardiovascular disease, where they may be using a beta blocker and a statin drug. Both of these medications impair the body’s synthesis of CoQ10. • Melatonin -Another key consideration for beta blockers is their impact on the production of melatonin. Melatonin is a critical hormone for sleep regulation. Being able to secrete ample amounts of melatonin in the middle of the night allows blood pressure to lower, and this allows for the healing of the precious endothelia lining of our blood vessels which is an essential part of reducing the downstream negative effects of elevated blood pressure and keeping the worsening of hypertension from occurring. Often beta-blockers are prescribed where there’s stress-mediated hypertension. Often those are the individuals who most need to have good, deep, restful sleep, as a way of protecting their body from the effects of all of that stress. • Potassium -Some Beta Blockers reduce potassium levels. It’s best to have this monitored in blood work. | |
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Diuretics While diuretics are a common medication prescribed for hypertension, they can have some pretty insidious effects with regard to interfering with electrolyte sufficiency in the body. For a long time, we believed that the electrolytes only had an effect primarily on sodium and water. However we know that electrolytes can actually have a dramatic impact on potassium and magnesium levels as well. Two electrolytes that are essential for helping us to have optimal blood pressure. One of the side effects of diuretics is“diuretic-mediated magnesium depletion”, which of course promotes hypertension! Kidney Health Another cause of Hypertension is a problem in the kidneys. The job of the kidneys is to filter “bad” stuff out of the blood and then excrete it from the body. Your urine is composed mostly of the “bad” stuff that the kidneys have removed from the blood. To filter the blood, the kidneys are jam-packed with hundreds of miles of sub-microscopic blood vessels. You can only see these blood vessels with an electron microscope – they are so small that only one blood cell at a time can pass through them. If these blood vessels become clogged, then trouble begins. When this happens, the kidneys secrete a biochemical called Renin. Renin travels through the blood and eventually gets to the liver. Once in the liver, it gets transformed into another biochemical called Angiotensin. Angiotensin causes the blood pressure to go up. The blood pressure rises because the body is trying to force the clog out of the blood vessel. The body is smart, it wants to live, but it’s not perfect. The increased blood pressure is inadequate to fix the cause. It simply cannot remove the clog. What causes the clog in the first place? Inflammation! So, to get to the root cause of why this happened we must lower inflammation. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are a class of drugs that treat high blood pressure and heart conditions. They work by relaxing blood vessels, which increases blood flow and lowers blood pressure. As you can see from the explanation above, that are preventing the body from making angiotensin in the liver. | |
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Natural Solutions for Hypertension Your body needs calcium, magnesium, and Omega-3 fatty acids to help your muscles constrict and relax. If you don’t have enough of these nutrients then muscles will constrict, but not relax. This is called a cramp or a spasm. The same mechanism is at play when you get muscle tics or twitches. You may find it interesting to realize that the arteries in your body contain muscles. (Your veins also too, but proportionally much less than arteries.) Arteries carry oxygen and nutrient-rich blood away from the heart to all of the tissues in your body. The muscles in the arteries constrict and relax to help the heart pump the blood to its destination. If the muscles in the arteries (and/or the veins) constrict but do not relax, then the blood pressure goes up. Speaking of magnesium, we know it’s an essential mineral, and one that is often less sufficient in many folks in part because it’s less prevalent in the soil, and minerals in our food come from the soil, and if it’s less available in the soil, of course, it’s going to be less available in our foods. On top of that, stress encourages not only the utilization of magnesium, for example, for the metabolism of stress hormones but stress also promotes increased loss of magnesium in the urine! Supplements I prefer broad-spectrum over individual supplements when it comes to minerals. There are over 72 trace minerals required by the body along with the BIG ones like calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium. For restoration of these minerals consider a full spectrum minerals supplement vs individual supplements. (See our Full Scripts dispensary for recommendations.) CoQ10 can be taken in a supplement form and if one is both on a high blood pressure medication and statins the recommended dosage is 200mg daily. If you do notice impaired sleep since you started a high blood pressure medication, you may consider trying melatonin, Start with a small dosage such as 2mg one hour before bed. If you do not stay asleep, look for an extended-release form. It’s my firm belief that much of the hypertension we see is caused by low minerals in the body. We are all a “study of one” so my recommendations are “general” and not individualized. I have had to use as much as 1,2000 mg of calcium (specific kind) along with 600mg of magnesium to help someone bring down their blood pressure. | |
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Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids It is well known that Omega 3’s can help lower inflammation in the body. As discussed above, the kidney vessels are so small that only one cell can pass through at a time. Omega 3 fat’s can help the blood remain “fluid” and allow the blood to flow more easily. Since they can help reduce inflammation they may prevent damage to the kidneys. The suggested dosage of EPA and DHA omega-3 fats daily is 1,000mg. If you are on a blood thinner you may want your doctor to monitor this. Getting Off Medication Please read the disclaimer below…. If you start on a holistic approach to high blood pressure you will want to monitor your blood pressure and follow the directions below. Directions Take your blood pressure with an accurate machine each day between 11 am and 1 pm. Take it 3 times in a row – only paying attention to the 3red and final reading. Write the numbers down on a note pad. When you see the numbers start to drop, go back to your MD and have the prescription meds reduced. Continue in this manner until you don’t need the meds anymore. Whew! That was just high blood pressure medications! Stay tuned for more information on how your medications may be depleting you of vital nutrients. In health, Chris Mckee Certified Nutritionist at Achieve Integrative Health |
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