"Essential" Hypertension And Appreciating It For What It Really Is

[yerrag]

I spent this past weekend reading up some more and then I wracked my brain trying to see how I should resume my quest to fix my hypertensive condition. Since my premise has evolved as to the cause of my condition, my approach has also changed. I was so sure in the beginning that it was lead toxicity causing it, and I hit a wall. I then suspected a chronic bacterial infection from periodontitis, yet after that conditio was resolved, my hypertensive condition remains. This does not mean that these two conditions don't cause the hypertension in me, it could mean that there are other causes, as I had mentioned in the previous post.

Instead of putting in essay form my strategy, I'd like to give you a snapshot of it in a visual form. I can explain later. It is short on explaining the basis for it, but if this approach should work, I'll put more detail into it. Otherwise, it will just be a useless exercise explaining something that won't work anyway. Here goes:

 

[yerrag]

I had some blood tests 3 days ago. My urine sodium results indicate that I'm not hypovolemic. So, my high blood pressure is not related to hypovolemia. Although it wasn't necessary, I got the serum aldosterone test and the results show that my aldosterone levels are in the middle of range, and so it is normal, and this further confirms that I'm not hypovolemic. Since aldosterone is tied in with the angiotensin-renin system, it may also indicate that my hypertension is not at all related to angiotensin II levels being high, and this also means that taking ACE inhibitors or ARBs (angiotensin receptor blockers) would not be of any help. With this in mind, I've decided to put the idea of taking these drugs on the shelf, and pursue other avenues.

I'm awaiting the results of my serum EPO test, which I'll receive this coming Monday. I'm going to bet that my serum EPO levels are high, and that this is the cause of my having high RBC, HGB, and HCT values. And if so, this would confirm that the hypertension is driven by hypoxia. The kidneys increase EPO production to compensate for hypoxia. Because hypovolemia has been ruled out, the case for high serum EPO as the cause for high serum RBC becomes stronger as well.

I'm now fingering hypoxia as a cause for my hypertensive condition.

Doing some more research, I've come to realize that hypoxia may be caused by chronic bacterial infection from my recently resolved periodontal condition. Since the periodontal condition was latent, I had no idea of its existence and was pursuing other causes. Now I consider it to be the chief cause of my hypertension. At least it was the origin of it. Now that the periodontal condition is no more, its after-effects linger on. This is because the longstanding hypoxic condition has caused the kidneys to adapt and this has led to fibrosis in the kidneys. Since the fibrosis is structural, it stays even when the pathological condition that led to it is already gone.

Fibrosis can be glomerular, tubular, or vascular. I think that it is glomerular, based on the the fact that my GFR rate is only bordering the flow rate associated with Chronic Kidney Disease. Were the fibrosis tubular or vascular, the GFR would already be lower. I was tempted to take additional serum tests such as serum RBP (retionol binding protein) or B2MG, to find out whether the fibrosis extends to the tubular level. But it's not money well spent as it makes no difference as to how I would treat the fibrosis.

I had an ultrasound of my kidneys as well. While the ultrasound isn't capable of detecting fibrosis, it showed that my kidneys' size is normal, and at worst it only says that I'm in the very beginning stage of CKD.

I have 4 ways to destroy the fibrotic mess in the extracellular matrix:

• fasting - still not sure which to use: dry, water, or fruit fasting
• carbon dioxide bath therapy - *
• proteolytic enzyme therapy - likely to order 3 months of Dr. Wong's Zymessence
• urine therapy - last and hopefully the least; if other methods work, I won't use this

Incidentally, I got somewhat of a boost recently when I discovered that I was able to keep myself from waking up to urinate at night. Without trying. It's serendipitous that I had to move to another room while the home was being renovated. This room was cursed with not being accessible by the cordless DECT phone signal nor WiFi signals. Now I have to change that from cursed to blessed. Why is RF (radio frequency) radiation affecting my nightly urination pattern? I believe the signals are disturbing the effect of vasopressin, or antidiuretic hormone, on my kidneys' ability to reabsorb water. This would make me have to urge to urinate and interrupt my sleep. More so, it would also cause me to get dehydrated during the night. This may explain why I would wake up with a higher blood pressure.

Recent blood and urine test results:

Serum aldosterone (supine) - 244 pg/mL ; range: 25.2- 292
Random urine albumin - 5.95 mg/dL; range <3.70
Random urine creatinine- 42.94 mg/dL; range 40.00-277.98
Albumin Creatinine Ratio - 138.56; range < 30
Random urine sodium - 88 mmol/L; range 30-90

Some references:

Hypoxia determines survival outcomes of bacterial infection through HIF-1alpha dependent re-programming of leukocyte metabolism
Urinary Retinol Binding Protein Is a Marker of the Extent of Interstitial Kidney Fibrosis
Renal Interstitial Fibrosis: Mechanisms and Evaluation In: Current Opinion in Nephrology and Hypertension
Progression and regression in renal vascular and glomerular fibrosis
HIF-1 mediates adaptation to hypoxia by actively downregulating mitochondrial oxygen consumption. - PubMed - NCBI

* The absence of carbon dioxide bound to a protein is likely to have an effect on the protein's structure and function, but the presence of a relatively large sugar molecule, in a site normally occupied by carbon dioxide, will have drastic effects on the protein, including tending to solublize it, and to cause it to associate with its environment in other abnormal ways. In general, the presence or absence of carbon dioxide involves relatively quick and subtle changes in structure and function, analogous to the phosphorylation of proteins, but possibly competitive with it, while the presence and absence of sugars, as glycated or glycosylated proteins, tends to be relatively permanent, and to require enzymes to restore the original state. Carbon dioxide's regulatory effects have been studied in only a few enzymes and hormones, but there is enough evidence to show that its reactions with proteins and peptides constitute a major regulatory system. Energy, Structure, And Carbon Dioxide: A Realistic View

 

[yerrag]

I forgot to mention this:

My serum LDH has always been above range, at around 220. Now I know why. It's because of hypoxia in my kidneys. In a hypoxic state, metabolism would favor anaerobic glycolysis, and the LDH enzyme is needed. It also explains why even with LDH being high, in this case it shouldn't be associated with tissue destruction. This is why my serum ESR and hsCRP test values fail to confirm inflammation.

 

[yerrag]

I'm awaiting the results of my serum EPO test, which I'll receive this coming Monday. I'm going to bet that my serum EPO levels are high, and that this is the cause of my having high RBC, HGB, and HCT values. And if so, this would confirm that the hypertension is driven by hypoxia. The kidneys increase EPO production to compensate for hypoxia. Because hypovolemia has been ruled out, the case for high serum EPO as the cause for high serum RBC becomes stronger as well.

I just got my EPO results and my EPO is normal: 9.70 mIU/mL (Ref 2.59 - 18.50)

This doesn't make stronger the case that my kidneys are hypoxic. My uric acid levels being high is the only data I have that would point to me being hypoxic.

I still have to think things through, and see what my next steps are.

 

[yerrag]

I have 4 ways to destroy the fibrotic mess in the extracellular matrix:

• fasting - still not sure which to use: dry, water, or fruit fasting
• carbon dioxide bath therapy - *
• proteolytic enzyme therapy - likely to order 3 months of Dr. Wong's Zymessence
• urine therapy - last and hopefully the least; if other methods work, I won't use this

Aside from the above, I'll continue with my WiFi-free sleeping as during this WiFi-free time I saw improvements in my blood pressure.

But during this time, I can't discount the possibility that I had unintentionally been taking plenty of proteolytic enzynes. It's guava season, and for the past two weeks I had been helping myself to fresh fruit juices of guava. It was easy to have faster transit times, as too rich guava content, being high on proteolytic enzymes, on juice taken in between meals could easily lead to loose bowels. If the juice is high on guava content, I make sure to take it before meals. And in between meals, the guava juice has to be diluted with water or juice from other fruits that are not high in proteolytic enzymes. The first week I had guava-pineapple juice, which is very potent in proteolytic enzymes. The second week I had guave-cantaloupe juice. Needless to say, I had more trips to the bathroom during the first week.

It may be that just the heavy intake of proteolytic-enzyme rich fruit juices has helped in improving my nocturnic condition, if not my blood pressure. So, with this in mind, I'll begin to take in plenty of juice that's heavy in proteolytic enzymes. This would intake guava, pineapple, raw papaya, and mango. I know that raw papaya is richer in enzymes, but it's harder to juice. So I'll be eating plenty of Thai papaya salad then. I'm not sure if the same applies to the other fruits. In any case, I could easily take to eating green mangoes, as that's somethig I already do. But I'll be sure to get a fruit juice cocktail of guava, pineapple, and mango for the succeeding weeks.

And since my one day dry fast did improve my blood pressure, I may still do dry fasting at least one day a week. But I'll also incorporate other days of juice fasting using enzyme-rich fruits. To keep myself from having too many trips to the loo, I'll have to mix the juice of enzyme-rich fruits with enzyme-poor fruits. It would be interesting to find out if fruit enzymes alone would help improve my hypertensive condition. And also, it would help to know if coupling it with an enzyme-rich fruit juice fast would give it a more potent one-two knockout punch.

In summary, I'll start with the ff:

• Continue sleeping with no WiFi
• Taking proteolytic enzyme-rich fruit juices on regular non-fasting days (perhaps 4 days a week)
• Taking fruits juices that are a mix of enzyme-rich and enzyme-poor fruit juices during fruit juice fasting days (2 days a week)
• Dry fasting (once a week, in between the fruit juice fasting days)

This way, I can find out if I still needed to order Dr. Wong's ZymEssence enzymes, and I can also hold off on carbon dioxide bath therapy as well as urine therapy. I still have to order overseas ZymEssence, and it's not cheap, the product and the shipping. As for CO2 bath therapy, although I have the equipment and I've been talking about it for a while, it's just hard to get going with the original design of the bath that I bought from Steve of Carbogenetics. I still have to get somebody to tend to me while I'm at it. He's trying out a design that's like a spacesuit where you can still move around and not be lying down helpless while on the CO2 bath. On urine therapy, that's my fall back when everything else fails and I haven't got a prayer.

 

[Ella]

I just got my EPO results and my EPO is normal: 9.70 mIU/mL (Ref 2.59 - 18.50)

This doesn't make stronger the case that my kidneys are hypoxic. My uric acid levels being high is the only data I have that would point to me being hypoxic.

I still have to think things through, and see what my next steps are.

Does the normal EPO correlate with Vitamin B supplementation? I recalled you stopped supplementation. Was the high EPO result taken when supplementing?

I think fruit fast as per Kempnar diet would be the best way to tackle blood pressure. Remember, the diet was originally designed for malignant hypertension. He controlled sodium in preference for higher potassium from fruit. The diet did not just reverse hypertension but also reversed kidney disease, obesity and diabetes. Fruit is also rich in minerals, fructose and phytonutrients which are powerful at cleaning out debris from tissue sites. Maintaining the calcium to phosphate ratio is important for kidney function and health. Fruit high in fructose helps to remove excess phosphate from high meat, grain and legume diets and finally fructose powerfully replenishes liver glycogen stores.

 

[yerrag]

Does the normal EPO correlate with Vitamin B supplementation? I recalled you stopped supplementation. Was the high EPO result taken when supplementing?

This was the first time I took an EPO test, so I had to past to compare to. But I've been off supplementation since Feb 17, as things got a little crazy around the house with renovation going on. Prior to that, I was taking b1, b2 -about 3 mg a day, and b3- around 1500mg a day (for a month duration), as well as b6 (120mg a day). I think I should resume the b supps but lower the b3 to just 100mg/day, and resume magnesium and calcium supps at maintenance mode (400/1600mg). Magnesium with b6 will help with calcification. I'll probably go with magnesium and calcium acetate as acetate has de-scaling effects as well. Drinking tea (such as oo-long) will helps as well as the tannins also can de-scale. I use the term de-scaling to differentiate it from decalcification, as scales form inside blood vessels while calcification forms inside cells. But this is the process/plant engineer in me from my past speaking I hope I'm making sense.

I think fruit fast as per Kempnar diet would be the best way to tackle blood pressure. Remember, the diet was originally designed for malignant hypertension. He controlled sodium in preference for higher potassium from fruit. The diet did not just reverse hypertension but also reversed kidney disease, obesity and diabetes. Fruit is also rich in minerals, fructose and phytonutrients which are powerful at cleaning out debris from tissue sites. Maintaining the calcium to phosphate ratio is important for kidney function and health. Fruit high in fructose helps to remove excess phosphate from high meat, grain and legume diets and finally fructose powerfully replenishes liver glycogen stores.

Nice to have both calcium and fructose to counter phosphate. The use of acetate will also counter phosphate. Hope this trifecta won't be too much. Thanks Ella!

 

[Ella]

Riboflavin will be your limiting B. B2 is required to activate the rest. Riboflavin has been shown to reduce high blood pressure which is easily lost.

If kidney filtration is slow, you need to be careful with supplementation as they can build up as you are not able to excrete excess efficiently. You should test to see which ones you are low in as you may be placing more stress on kidney function. This applies to the fat-soluble vitamins also, as Grant of "Poison A" fame (another engineer) found out. It seems he was not aware, supplementation and poor kidney function would be problematic.

When we think about descaling, the crud may be redistributed to other tissue sites, like the brain causing more damage. Potassium and sodium unlike descalers have excellent disolving properties. They keep calcium and magnesium in ionised state instead of rock state.

Potassium like sodium has a single electrical charge making them good electrical conductors making them very water-soluble. The monovalent elements (potassium & sodium) are the body’s solvents; less important than sodium, potassium also functions to dissolve many chemical compounds in the blood as witnessed by @Jennifer and @charlie in their pee.
Fruit extract hydroxycitric acid (HCA)
has been shown (by another engineer) to dissolve kidney stones; fruit and its juices (citrus family) along with many others come with the benefits of potassium. Sun-ripened juicy fruits provide more than just HCA. They are high in potassium, structured-water, sugar; rich in minerals in ionised state and Vitamin C. Potassium also sensitises the cells to thyroid hormone by removing calcium inside the cells, causing them to become more permeable to thyroid hormone in particular and other hormones such as insulin.
https://nutritionreview.org/2016/08...ssolve-kidney-stones-prevent-stone-formation/
Hydroxycitric acid (HCA) - The Source Natural Foods

 

[TeaRex14]

I only read your OP, I didn't want to go through 7 pages of comments so just nevermind me if I mention something already tried. But your problem could be serotonin related, it would make sense too, because conventional doctors and most naturopathic doctors alike believe serotonin is crucial for mood. Not to many people outside of Peat land think serotonin has potential toxic effects. So I could see how they could overlook this and simply miss the diagnoses. I would give l-theanine and cyproheptadine a try. Theanine would be therapeutic at around 600mgs. Cypro anywhere between 0.5-2mgs. Taurine and Inositol could also be beneficial for blood pressure. Fruit based diets, because of their potassium, is hugely beneficial as well.

 

[yerrag]

Thanks for the ideas. I will revisit them once the protocol I've outlined doesn't work. I've been supplementing fully for a while now and I've reached a point of supplementation fatigue as it's easy to get to that point, with the many ideas that this forum can offer. With the many possibilities and permutations of supplements, it can leave me exhausted and none to show for it. So, rather than spend so much on tests and a slew of supplements, I have to ask myself where I need to focus on and what is practical for my situation.

Hypertension is a very challenging condition to overcome, as I am constantly reminded of that. It's no longer something I would wake up to say "finally it will be solved." Too many corners that are "just around." I'm finding also that what makes it complicated is that it's not something that is caused by one factor. This makes problem-solving by finding the root cause not viable. There could be an original root cause, which would spawn other causes, as a result of the. body's adaptation to the original cause. So you end up having many fronts to attack without knowing it until one cause has been fixed only to be vexed that the symptom has not been relieved.
I have to apologize that I won't be able to take in all the recommendations. My goal post remains lowering my blood pressure to normal levels. The means to do so have changed. I have moved on from lead detox when I no longer sense improvements, and later on realized that it was a latent periodontal infection that would be discovered and resolved that would be my next hope. I was disappointed that this hope didn't actualize. Then I would realize that it's the kidneys' adaptation mechanism through fibrosis that would be the next hurdle to overcome.

I am forced to limit the scope, and from this I have to make assumptions that involve eliminating consideration of some causal factors. I also would have to make assumptions that I am not deficient on nutrients, and with these I have to take a step back on further supplementation. I think it's more important to stay focused and centered than going through the motions of taking an endless array of supplementation. This is not to say supps are useless, but I have to decide why this or that would help. I have tried many, but rather than try more, I am left to just be sane and simply go back to eating whole foods that leave me with no deficiency, and then proceed on the assumption that I am not deficient.

Having unburdened of that load, I can proceed with some clarity on my next steps.

p.s. A lot of thanks for your comments and suggestions. I really appreciate you all making the effort to help. One way or another, they are helpful whether or not I use the advice immediately or not. I know you'd understand that with each new piece of information, no matter how helpful and relevant it is, it still requires one to process and filter. With being vexed by the persistency of my condition, it can become a burden. It's already like a full-time job in itself, with a lot of unpaid overtimes. I know I'm not the only one with such persistent conditions, and I would be in similar situations where I would help and would be disappointed if my efforts are not appreciated. I'm not pushing back on your ideas. A solution, when it comes, will be my distillation of all the ideas that you all have provided. The distillation is through the vessel through which the elixir will be put back though.

 

[yerrag]

Riboflavin will be your limiting B. B2 is required to activate the rest. Riboflavin has been shown to reduce high blood pressure which is easily lost.

If kidney filtration is slow, you need to be careful with supplementation as they can build up as you are not able to excrete excess efficiently. You should test to see which ones you are low in as you may be placing more stress on kidney function. This applies to the fat-soluble vitamins also, as Grant of "Poison A" fame (another engineer) found out. It seems he was not aware, supplementation and poor kidney function would be problematic.

When we think about descaling, the crud may be redistributed to other tissue sites, like the brain causing more damage. Potassium and sodium unlike descalers have excellent disolving properties. They keep calcium and magnesium in ionised state instead of rock state.

Potassium like sodium has a single electrical charge making them good electrical conductors making them very water-soluble. The monovalent elements (potassium & sodium) are the body’s solvents; less important than sodium, potassium also functions to dissolve many chemical compounds in the blood as witnessed by @Jennifer and @charlie in their pee.
Fruit extract hydroxycitric acid (HCA)
has been shown (by another engineer) to dissolve kidney stones; fruit and its juices (citrus family) along with many others come with the benefits of potassium. Sun-ripened juicy fruits provide more than just HCA. They are high in potassium, structured-water, sugar; rich in minerals in ionised state and Vitamin C. Potassium also sensitises the cells to thyroid hormone by removing calcium inside the cells, causing them to become more permeable to thyroid hormone in particular and other hormones such as insulin.
https://nutritionreview.org/2016/08...ssolve-kidney-stones-prevent-stone-formation/
Hydroxycitric acid (HCA) - The Source Natural Foods

Riboflavin will be your limiting B. B2 is required to activate the rest. Riboflavin has been shown to reduce high blood pressure which is easily lost.

I only read your OP, I didn't want to go through 7 pages of comments so just nevermind me if I mention something already tried. But your problem could be serotonin related, it would make sense too, because conventional doctors and most naturopathic doctors alike believe serotonin is crucial for mood. Not to many people outside of Peat land think serotonin has potential toxic effects. So I could see how they could overlook this and simply miss the diagnoses. I would give l-theanine and cyproheptadine a try. Theanine would be therapeutic at around 600mgs. Cypro anywhere between 0.5-2mgs. Taurine and Inositol could also be beneficial for blood pressure. Fruit based diets, because of their potassium, is hugely beneficial as well.

Thanks for the suggestions. I've tried Cypro and taurine. I'd have to look p inositol and and l-theanine. Prior to getting a good handle on my condition, I would get be disappointed that each supplement I tried failed in further lowering my blood pressure. The only supplementation that worked were magnesium (and I found the bicarbonate anion more helpful) and ascorbic acid, working in tandem. But they only lowered to a certain point, and plateaued.

Now, as I get to understand the mechanism behind my high blood pressure, I'm more convinced that I should ditch all thoughts of trying out more supplements. It's because I'm no longer dealing with the original cause of my hypertension (periodontal infection- resolved 3 months ago), but the structural adaptation of the kidneys in response to it. So, my focus would be to reverse this adaptation, so that the effects of this adaptation can be corrected.

From High Serum LDH But Low CRP

Now I've arrived at a hypothesis for what ails me, and what's vexed me is because it involves a vicious cycle. Hypoxia causes high lactate (anaerobic glycolysis, evidenced by high serum LDH). High lactate at the proximal tubule of kidneys interferes with renal excretion of uric acid. With low renal UA excretion, serum uric acid increases. High uric acid causes low nitric oxide, and low nitric oxide causes vasoconstriction, and this leads to hypoxia.

This cycle would explain why my serum LDH is high (just high enough to be above range), but since it does not involve inflammation, my hsCRP and ESR stays low.

I also don't think the hypoxia is from fibrosis. This is because my serum EPO tests normal, and this would not indicate that HIF-1a levels are high, and since HIF-1a levels are low, this would make the chances for fibrosis to develop to be less likely. With low HIF-1a, VEGF is likely low as well, as this makes angiogenesis less likely to occur. If fibrosis is less likely, then hypoxia is less likely to originate from fibrosis.

This leaves me to focus on pinning down the vicious cycle outlined above as the cause of hypoxia that leads to hypertension.

When I did one day of dry fasting, I noticed my heart rate increasing significantly (from 70 to 91) and my blood pressure going down (from 201/121 to 181/123). While one day doesn't make a trend, it makes me wonder if the increased heart rate is the result of the hypoxic condition being ameliorated, as hypoxia would cause the downregulation of mitochondrial oxygen consumption. The lower blood pressure may also indicate less hypoxia and increased NO. During the fast, was it possible that uric acid production was downregulated, such that uric acid levels went down?

HIF-1 mediates adaptation to hypoxia by actively downregulating mitochondrial oxygen consumption. - PubMed - NCBI
High Altitude Renal Syndrome (HARS)
Inactivation of Nitric Oxide by Uric Acid

Tomorrow, I'll get results from random urine uric acid test, and if it is low, it would strengthen the case that high serum uric acid is caused by the low excretion rate of uric acid in urine. Then, I would have to find ways of lowering serum uric acid. With lower serum uric acid, I hope that the hypoxic condition in my kidneys would be relieved, as higher NO levels would allow kidney arterioles to dilate. Blood pressure would then be lowered.

If the effects don't materialize, I would then work on these two things: 1. descaling the atherosclerotic plaque that may be lining the arteriole walls, and 2. dismantling the fibrotic extracellular matrix that could be constricting the arterioles.

Ways to lower serum uric acid:

• fasting
• intake of therapeutic levels of thiamine, in the hope that the lactate level in the endothelial cells would convert to pyruvate, so as to keep lactate from interfering with uric acid excretion
• avoiding high-purine foods to minimize uric acid production
• intake of the uric acid lowering drug allopurinol

 

[yerrag]

I've drawn up my protocols on curing my hypertensive condition, pinning it on hypoxia as manifested by elevated LDH. And here are the possible causes of it and how to approach each possible cause:

1. High uric acid (UA) - this causes low Nitric Oxide, which results in an inability to vasodilate, thus causing constriction of kidney arterioles.

• Mechanism of Action- Lactate inhibits urinary UA secretion; this leads to low NO levels and constricted arterioles, resulting in hypoxia. With low oxygenation, metabolic pathway in the kidney arterioles is anaerobic glycolysis. High lactate results, and this inhibits urinary UA secretion.
• Likelihood- High; A 1-day dry fast resulted in a significant increase in heart rate indicating that more oxygen is available and this upregulates mitochondrial oxygen consumption, and increases heart rate.
• Protocol-
  • Dry Fasting
  • Therapeutic thiamine intake to convert lactate to pyruvate; to lower lactate levels and result in higher UA excretion
  • Avoidance of high purine foods
  • Intake of Allopurinol, a prescription drug that lowers uric acid (a last resort)

2. Atherosclerosis in Glomerular Arterioles-

• Mechanism of Action - a result of 10+ years of chronic periodontal infection leading to plaque buildup from the remnants of calcium in biofilms and white blood cells (neutrophils and macrophages) and antioxidants (albumin) involved in inflammatory defense action
• Likelihood- High; Original cause of hypertension, and resolved only 4 months ago
• Protocol-
  • Intake of tannin-rich foods and drinks such as tea, coffee, wine, and chocolates. Also grapes and berries and apple cider (not available though); this serves as descalers of plaque @Ella I think there aren't very aggressive and wouldn't lead to embolism
  • Intake of acetic acid-containing substances or its salt for descaling action; examples are apple cider vinegar, acetate salts of magnesium or calcium or sodium

3. Glomerular Fibrosis-

• Mechanism of Action - Impingement of Arterioles; Constriction causing hypoxia
• Likelihood- Medium; Serum EPO is normal so it's likely to correlate with low values for markers of of fibrosis
• Protocol-
  
  • Fruit Fasting with proteolytic enzyme-rich fruits such as pineapple (bromelain), green papaya (papain), kiwis (actinidain), giner (zingibain), and honey
  • Intake of proteolytic enzyme supplements such as Dr. Wong's ZymEssence

 

[yerrag]

Tomorrow, I'll get results from random urine uric acid test, and if it is low, it would strengthen the case that high serum uric acid is caused by the low excretion rate of uric acid in urine. Then, I would have to find ways of lowering serum uric acid. With lower serum uric acid, I hope that the hypoxic condition in my kidneys would be relieved, as higher NO levels would allow kidney arterioles to dilate. Blood pressure would then be lowered.

I got my random urine uric acid results today. I had to go back twice as the urine was twice rejected. It goes to show that the lab wasn't used to doing urine uric acid tests, as doctors hardly use this test. They should though, because I read that most of the cases of high serum uric acid stems from insufficient renal excretion of uric acid.

My results: 18.16 mg/dL where reference range is 44 -109.50

I feel like this is a big big breakthrough! This says that my high serum uric acid level is caused by my kidneys excreting too little uric acid. I've already detailed why, and I'll proceed on working on fixing the cause of it. I'm very hopeful that this can lead to me getting back my normal blood pressure levels, and increasing my heart rate, and improving my metabolism. Will begin implementing the ideas I outlined in the last post!

 

[yerrag]

Day 1, yesterday, I was on a fruit fast, with fruits high on proteolytic enzyme. These fruits are pineapple, green mango, and guava. I also added honey. At 5 pm, my blood pressure was 192/115 and my heart rate was 59.

I thought there is something wrong here. And now, I've decided that fruit fasting isn't the right protocol for me. It's high in fructose, and fructose increases uric acid. This could explain the high blood pressure readings, and the low heart rate. My uric acid increase would lower NO, and this increases vasoconstriction, and increases hypoxia. This would lead to higher lactate, and lower the excretion of uric acid through urine. The lower oxygen availability causes downregulation of mitochondrial oxygen consumption, and lowers my heart rate.

With this, I'll have to stop my fruit fasting protocol. I'll have to replace fructose with foods that are only high in glucose, with little or no fructose. I would have to shift from juicing with fruits to juicing with vegetables. However, cognizant of vegetables being low in sugar, I would have to add some high-glucose sweetener to my vegetable juice to keep my blood sugar stable, as vegetable juice is high in potassium and low in sugar. Potassium increases tissue uptake of sugar, and this could lead to low blood sugar when not accompanied by glucose intake.

I'll also have to avoid intake of tea and coffee, as they are high in caffeine, which also increase uric acid production.

Also, niacinamide, inosine, saturated fat - to be avoided.

Spoiler: As per haidut post

Peat has written about uric acid and how important it is for proper metabolism. He has also written about how fructose raises levels of uric acid in the body and how people with high uric acid almost never get auto-immune conditions and/or cancer. Other compounds that raise uric acid are caffeine, niacinamide, inosine, saturated fat, etc.

Today, I'll begin the first day of a 2-day dry fast.

 

[jzeno]

@yerrag

I searched this thread, but I wasn't able to find out for sure: Have you simply tried cutting out added salt and eating lots of potassium?

Should we eat more potassium to better control blood pressure in hypertension? - PubMed - NCBI

>Abstract
Changes in lifestyle and nutrition are recommended as the first-step approach to the management of hypertension by all national and international guidelines. Today, when considering nutritional factors in hypertension, almost all the attention is focused on the reduction of salt intake to improve blood pressure (BP) control. Changes in potassium intake are only briefly evoked in guidelines. Few physicians actually think about proposing to eat more foods that are high in potassium (fruits, vegetables, nuts) to better control BP. Yet, during the last 40 years, increasing evidence has accumulated demonstrating that increasing potassium intake, either with food products or with supplements, is associated with significant reductions of both systolic and diastolic BP. The hypotensive effect of potassium is particularly marked in patients with hypertension and in subjects with a very high sodium intake, suggesting that potassium counterbalances the effects of sodium. In addition, several meta-analyses have now confirmed that high potassium intake reduces the risk of stroke by ∼ 25%. Finally, increasing potassium in the diet may perhaps be beneficial for some renal patients, as post hoc analyses have suggested that a high potassium intake may retard the decline of renal function in patients with early chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages. However, high potassium intake may be risky and sometimes even dangerous in hypertensive patients with CKD stages 3-5, specifically diabetics. In this context, however, as the level of evidence remains low, more prospective clinical studies are needed. The goal of this review is to discuss the actual evidence that supports the recommendation to eat more potassium in order to better control BP in essential hypertension and to review the restrictions in CKD patients with hypertension.

I noticed potassium and sodium being discussed in this thread several times but from the context of the posts I wasn't sure if you had tried this or not.

Forgive me if this has already been recommended and if you've already tried this.

 

[yerrag]

I cut short my dry fast to 1 day. I started to drink water, and felt better. The second day will be a water fast instead.

My blood pressure and heart rate was at 192/115 and 59 at 5 pm yesterday. Today it's at 180/116 at 94 at same time.

When I stopped my dry fast at 7pm, within the hour I drank 6 cups of water. At 8 pm, my blood pressure was 155/101, and heart rate at 94. Good night!

 

[rei]

Take it easy and eventually work up to easily managing 72hrs. Your preliminary readings are quite encouraging and i think you will find this experiment quite transformative.

 

[yerrag]

Take it easy and eventually work up to easily managing 72hrs. Your preliminary readings are quite encouraging and i think you will find this experiment quite transformative.

Thanks. I'm just kind of playing it by ear as I go through this.

Taking plain water last night and this morning upon waking made me feel light-headed.

I decided I should go for something with minerals and some sugar, and coconut water came in handy. So I took 1 liter of coconut water and at noon I have these readings:

Blood pressure - 175/117
Heart rate - 83
Blood sugar - 63 (throughout the dry fast it stayed stead at 74)
Urine pH - 5.8

I thought that I was getting low on blood sugar, and changed my drink to a potassium-sodium-maltose drink that mimics coconut water in potassium, sodium, and sugar content. The reason I chose maltose was that it is pure glucose. I took out fructose as fructose increases uric acid. At 5 pm, I got the following values:

Blood pressure - 162/105
Heart rate - 69
Blood sugar - 101
Urine pH - 5.8

I'm not able to draw any meaningful conclusions here, given that I changed from one drink to another in just one day. I was trying to find out if intake of a drink with fructose content would give me a higher blood pressure as compared to a drink with no fructose (pure glucose). It appears so. However, without fructose, my heart rate was lower, which may indicate that there was more sugar substrate to metabolize when taking in fructose. This is evidenced by the higher blood sugar of 101 when I was taking in pure glucose.

The higher blood pressure with fructose intake could be an indication that more uric acid is being produced, and that the higher uric acid levels would lower NO levels, and lower NO levels would cause my kidney arterioles to constrict and result in higher blood pressure.

Like I said, these are not meaningful conclusions. Maybe I'm just fitting conclusions to my scant data. Will have to do more tests in the near future.

 

[yerrag]

Have to add from yesterday, Friday (on potassium-sodium-maltose drink) , 7 pm :

Blood pressure 175/111
Heart rate: 61
Blood glucose: 75

On Saturday, drinking full-cream UHT milk, with maltose added (milk-maltose fast)

12pm-

Blood pressure 174/116
Heart rate 74

5 pm (100 mg thiamine added)

Blood pressure 166/118
Heart rate 88

7 pm (100 mg thiamine added)

Blood pressure 182/117
Heart rate 71

So I have changed to a milk fast today, where I drank 1.5 liter of full-cream milk. I would have preferred to take low-fat milk, as saturated fat is said to also increase uric acid production. Next week, I should try taking low-fat or skim milk, and see if this change would impact my blood pressure and heart rate. I would still mix it with maltose, and perhaps on the following day shift the sugar component to plain white cane sugar. Just to see the difference changing from glucose intake to sucrose intake would make, given that sucrose is half fructose and fructose is said to increase uric acid production.

I think what today's values show is that Peaty milk drinking isn't making my blood pressure go too high (compared to my higher bp values on normal meals) and isn't making heart rate go too low (reaching the 60s). But I'd like to know if drinking skim milk instead of full-cream milk would make an improvement. I'm hoping there would be, and it's because I believe it will lower uric acid production, and with this, my blood pressure will go lower and my heart rate will go higher.

On Sunday, I'll go back to eating regular meals: meat and rice and cooked leafy greens, as well as some fruits low on fructose (like green mangoes) and avoid internal organs and oysters that are high in purines. I'll avoid coffee and tea for the caffeine as well. And most certainly, white sugar.

 

[yerrag]

Sunday to Tuesday I'm on regular meals, but focused on minimizing uric acid production by minimizing intake of foods high in fructose and purines. After these 3 days, I'll go on another round of fasting. Here are my readings on Sunday:

12 pm-

Blood pressure 160/104
Heart rate 68

5 pm-

Blood pressure 174/109
Heart rate 66

8 pm-
Blood pressure 179/104
Heart rate 63

I'm encouraged by my systolic not hitting 180, and my diastolic not hitting 110. However, my heart rate has been below 70. Perhaps this is saying there is a higher level of hypoxia (hence the lower heart rate) and this is attributed to perhaps having a higher level of uric acid production in going back to eating a regular meal. That there's a focus on lowering fructose and purine intake helps to limit uric acid production, but not enough to cause blood pressure to jump way up.

One downside is that the past two nights (Friday and Saturday), I experienced cramps in the early morning as I woke up. This may be from lower potassium intakes during the fasts, and with my low consumption of fruits due to my avoidance of fructose. I may have to increase potassium intake thru vegetables juices and through potassium supplementation.