>Apparently there is probably more to it than that. My previously vegan >boyfriend (now he's paleo) did not spend "a lifetime" eating processed food. >He ate whole food almost exclusively--a very high fiber, low-processed-food >diet. He's also normal weight and very fit--works out almost every day. And >yet he has high blood pressure. For a while he needed two medications to >control it. Since shifting to a paleo diet and cutting out added salt (both >in cooking and at the table), his blood pressure is down enough that he can >maintain on one medication. Well, a vegan diet is almost worse than a "normal" processed food diet for causing insulin release, because there is almost no protein in the diet to keep blood sugar stabilized. It has nothing to do with being "fit" and having a normal weight. A constant release of insulin from eating high carbohydrate foods - whether they are plucked from the ground or processed by Frito-Lay, causes hardening of the arteries and forces the blood pressure up just to get it where it needs to go past the constricted and hardened arteries. My father is fit as a fiddle and of normal (even thin) weight, yet battles with his blood pressure constantly because he refuses to give up his diet of a constant intake of high carbohydrate foods. He too eats good, natural food - it's just all starch and sugar - even if it is natural starch and sugar. The one thing that HAS helped him bring it down a few points is increasing the amount of potassium, magnesium and calcium to balance any sodium he might be eating. My boyfriend was also on two types of medication for his blood pressure - and after going strict low-carbohydrate and losing 35 pounds he was able to completely stop the medication. As soon as he started eating high (or even worse - OFTEN) carbohydrate, his blood pressure went up again - even though he had not gained any weight back. So, I must clarify my earlier statement - it is not so much a diet of "processed" foods that causes high blood pressure - although by paleo standards any grains or legumes that need to ground, threshed and baked to be eaten are "processed" - it's the constant and relentless exposure of the arterial walls to insulin - which is released upon the consumption of high carbohydrate foods. This is ONE of the factors that causes hypertension, and one of the easiest to repair. And there is just as much danger in hypotension as well, and there ARE a class of people (such as myself) who suffer side effects from low blood pressure and need to consume salt in quantity just to provide enough blood pressure to keep from fainting, to keep their extremities at a comfortable temperature, and to keep their cells alive and oxygenated. I have actually had to sit and lick potassium & sodium out of my hand to keep from fainting and keep my body core temperature up. Yes - it's all sort of weird. And the truth is, everyone is different and has different requirements. Fawn New here