The dangers of high blood pressure (hypertension) have been well publicized. It's been called the silent killer, hidden without symptoms until you've got congestive heart failure, dropped dead of a heart attack or suffered a stroke.

I would hardly call high blood pressure "silent" these days, because drug companies have spent millions of dollars over the past few decades to make sure everyone knows about it, and to make it so scary that you'll take their hypertension drugs at the first sign of a higher-than-normal reading.

While I'm in total agreement that extremely high blood pressure can be dangerous and that it should be treated aggressively, millions of North Americans with moderately high blood pressure are unnecessarily pushed by doctors into taking hypertension drugs without first making diet and lifestyle changes that will lower almost all high blood pressure.

Hypertension drugs will usually lower high blood pressure, but they have significant side effects and they treat the symptoms, not the underlying cause. When you take them, the symptom of high blood pressure will be suppressed and your numbers will look good for your HMO and insurance company, but your disease will continue to progress. Unless you're one of the few people who have high blood pressure caused purely by genetics or an illness such as kidney disease, your high blood pressure is caused by diet and lifestyle choices, and you can certainly do something about those. If you find you suddenly have high blood pressure, be sure to check with your doctor to rule out heavy metal posoning (i.e., lead, mercury, cadmium) and kidney disease.

If you're already on blood pressure lowering drugs, do not go off them suddenly. Work with an experienced health care professional to lower your blood pressure naturally while you wean yourself off these drugs.

If you are overweight the first and most important step in lowering blood pressure, even if it is genetic, is to lose weight. People with high blood pressure weigh an average of 29 pounds more than people with normal blood pressure. For every two pounds of weight you drop, your blood pressure will drop at least one point in both the systolic and diastolic readings.

The natural partner of weight loss is exercise, which also improves circulation. If you exercise you are 34 percent less likely to develop hypertension than if you're a couch potato. Just a brisk half-hour walk three or four times a week can lower blood pressure from three to 15 points in three months. Exercise will also help reduce stress, an important component of hypertension.

When you are treating hypertension, it's especially important to keep your antioxidant levels high, to eat plenty of fiber-filled vegetables and whole grains, and drink plenty of water. Nutritional supplements and herbs you can take to reduce your blood pressure are listed below.

For about 30 percent of the population, reducing salt in the diet will help lower blood pressure naturally. I encourage you to keep your salt intake moderate regardless, at 2,000 to 3,000 mg per day. An extremely low sodium diet causesmore problems than it solves, so don't overdo it.

Reducing your salt intake won't be effective unless your potassium levels are normal, yet diuretic drugs used to treat hypertension can actually deplete your potassium! Signs of depletion can include muscle cramps, weakness and an irregular heartbeat. Since potassium supplements can have problems of their own, including diarrhea and nausea, eating a potassium-rich diet (bananas, apples, avocados, lima beans, oranges, potatoes, tomatoes, peaches, cantaloupes, apricots, fish and meat) is the best way to maintain healthy potassuim levels.

Magnesium plays a key role, with sodium and potassium, in maintaining fluid balance in the cells and regulating how much water the cells hold. When your cells hold on to water your blood pressure can go up. Be sure you get at least 500 mg of magnesium daily.

I also want you to cut back on sugar and refined carbohydrates (white flour). The insulin and adrenaline released when your blood sugar spikes cause the body to retain sodium and hold water, which raises blood pressure.

Coffee also stimulates the release of adrenal hormones and can cause a rise in blood pressure. Decaf coffee is better, but if you have seriously high blood pressure, I recommend you avoid it altogether.

If you do all of the above, and your blood pressure is still high, take a good look at the stress in your life, and take steps to manage it better. The adrenal hormones released when you're under stress automatically raise blood pressure, so if you're chronically stressed you may have chronic hypertension.

Most of you can reduce stress if you cut back on commitments, get rest and make more time for recreation. Stress can be managed better with meditation, relaxation exercises or heart-to-hearts with a friend or therapist.

Hundreds of drugs can raise blood pressure; some of the most common include NS AIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin, acetaminophen and ibuprofen), corticosteroids (prednisone), etidronate (used to treat osteoporosis), bronchodilators such as epinephrine and ephedrine, nasal decongestants (phenylpropanolamine), the migraine drug sumatriptan (Imitrex), the benzodiazepine drugs (Valium) the antidepressants, especially venlafaxine (Effexor) and the MAO inhibitors (Nardil, Parnate).

Nearly all of the studies showing that antihypertensive drugs do more harm than good were done with a placebo, meaning the group that did better did nothing to improve their blood pressure. Now imagine how bad the drugs would look if they were measured against these natural methods:

1. Maintain a healthy weight. 2. Get some moderate exercise at least 30 minutes every day or 45 minutes three to four times a week. 3. Eat a low-fat, low-soduim, low-sugar diet that emphasizes whole, fresh foods, especially vegetables and plenty of fiber. Avoid refined and processed foods. 4. Limit alcohol consumption to two drinks per day or less. 5. Avoid coffee and tobacco. 6. Avoid drugs that raise blood pressure. 7. Drink plenty of water.

Daily Vitamins to Lower Your Blood Pressure

Add these to your plan: Magnesium, 500 mg; Coenzyme Q10, 30 to 90 mg daily, C arnitine, up to 1,000 mg, three to four times daily, between meals.

Herbs to Lower Your Blood Pressure

You can take these herbs alone or in a formula that combines them. They may come as tablets, capsules or in a liquid tincture: Cayenne; Ginkgo biloba (improves blood flow to the extremities); Dandelion (acts as a diuretic); Gins eng; Dong Quai; Hawthorn (strengthens the heart); Garlic (eat fresh or take the odorless pills three times a day).

Foods to Lower Your Blood Pressure

Fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh celery (only four stalks a day has been known to significantly reduce blood pressure), olive oil (instead of vegetable oils or butter), cold water, deep sea dish (cod, mackerel, sardines, salmon, herring).

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