Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Wheat and Blood Pressure

I have, thus far, not done truly anything food-wise or exercise-wise to deal with my increase in blood pressure. I do check here and there when I'm at a pharmacy and it's still like it was before I met the last time with my doctor. I have been thinking a lot about how I've been eating, if I'm eating differently than I had been up until the past year or so (I had BP readings of 110/70-120/80 for as long as I can remember). It's possible I'm consuming more salt and junk the past while than I previously did. Something to tackle.

But a thought hit me the other day when I could tell my body was reacting to having more wheat than usual and then this morning, when I had my first nosebleed in sometime (I was getting them fairly often for a while): could wheat be affecting my blood pressure?

A quick research online reveals the answer to be: YES. And it could be more than that and full out gluten, not just wheat.

It makes sense as my mind rests on the idea. Any kind of food sensitivity creates inflammation in the body. While my inflammation has typically been in my gut, who says that wheat isn't now affecting my blood pressure?

My daughter has been complaining of her wheat belly lately; she's back to full out wheat, too, since she's not having the bad symptoms she had been having for a while. Before she left for a teen camp this week, I told her my plan was to get back into wheat-free next week. I shake my head how each time, it feels like such a daunting task, but once we've been in it for a week or two, it's not that big of a deal anymore.

And me, I'll be checking my blood pressure regularly while wheat-free to see if just that change makes a difference.

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