How Natural Vitamin D Improved My Battle With High Blood Pressure

I am a relatively healthy female in my really late 40’s. Unfortunately, I have had an approximate 2-year-long history of hypertension (high blood pressure). This condition has been quite surprising since I exercise regularly (30 minutes a day/5–6 days a week) and have pretty decent eating habits.

To be clear, when I say “decent eating habits,” I am referring to the fact that at the time of this writing, I had resorted to only consuming fish as my protein of choice over the past 30-days. And, the fish is almost always baked.

Besides my current pescatarian lifestyle, I also no longer consume bread regularly, which means I probably partake in eating this flour-laden craving about once a week. As for drinks, I consume mostly water, homemade lemonade sweetened with monk fruit, matcha green tea, and cacao powder mixed in hot water or heated coconut milk. These are my regular go-to drinks.

My history with hypertension.

The first few times that my blood pressure (bp) readings were high, which was about three years ago, we (myself and my primary care physician {PCP} at the time) attributed it to random, high readings. She would usually retake my bp and find that it was close enough to a “normal” range.

Well, fast forward a few years, and a new primary care physician visit later, and my blood pressure is still seriously high. It was so high that the PCP ordered an EKG to ensure that my heart was healthy and that I didn’t have any issues that leaned towards heart disease. The EKG found that my heart and all its faculties were in good working order.

How does someone such as myself continuously have this issue? Unfortunately, genetics play quite a large role. I am an American female of African descent whose parents are both currently on medication for hypertension. Given the family history, I am probably predestined to have this condition.

Findings from a hypertension study.

According to a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a study of hypertension in adults in 2017–2018, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), age played a huge role in hypertension prevalence. In this study, the rate of hypertension amongst adults aged 40–59 was 59.4%, while the rate amongst adults aged 18–39 was only 22.4%. This number increased significantly to 74.5% for those aged 60 and over.

I’m sure activity levels played a role in these numbers (my conclusion) since most of the population tends to become less active as they age. On the topic of my genetic exposure to hypertension, the study further found that ethnicity also significantly impacted the results. Non-Hispanic Americans of African descent had a higher prevalence of hypertension at a rate of 57.1%. In comparison, non-Hispanic whites and Hispanic adults had a rate of 43.6% and 43.7%, respectively.

Personal details and additional thoughts to ponder.

When I told my new PCP that I wasn’t going to take any medication for this issue, she looked at me as if I had told her I was the daughter of Satan. I informed her that my pressure always tends to be on the high side, even though I’m a relatively healthy person.

The doctor went on to inform me that having this condition puts me at risk for heart disease and stroke. She exited the exam room once she had clearly heard enough from me. The nurse returned to the exam room and informed me that the doctor wanted me to consider purchasing a device to regularly check my blood pressure. To this, I would wholeheartedly agree.

Since I am a huge fan of research, I decided to observe those times when my pressure was high and when it was low. I also suffer from bouts of depression, so I found it quite interesting that my bp was always seriously high (151/102–165/104 range) whenever I felt good about myself and wasn’t experiencing any depression.

On the days when depression reared its hideous head, my blood pressure was much lower (133/90–145/92), although still not within a normal range. This seriously bothered me because there was no way in heck that I would be content with being depressed just to keep my blood pressure within a lower range.

What’s also interesting about all of this is that my husband doesn’t have high blood pressure, even though we eat the same meals (prepared by me) for breakfast and dinner. Furthermore, I exercise far more than he does. Also, I’m a lot more discerning when it comes to eating habits. During his workday, he will sometimes partake in sugary treats (courtesy of his coworkers), allowing him to indulge in unhealthy foods more frequently than I do.

The day that changed my life.

One Saturday afternoon, I checked my bp before lunch (as I usually do). For the first time since I started self-checking my bp, which was a little more than 3 months prior, I had my very first normal blood pressure reading. It registered a perfect 100/70. Concluding that this measurement was incorrect, I rechecked it about 8 minutes later. The second reading was 104/71 — still uncharacteristically low for me, and in a normal range.

Side note, according to the American Heart Association, normal blood pressure measurements are less than 120 (Systolic blood pressure — the first number) and less than 80 (Diastolic blood pressure — the second number). Hypertension stage 1 is between 130–139 (Systolic) or 80–89 (Diastolic). Hypertension stage 2 is a systolic measurement above 140 or a diastolic reading above 90.

So what happened? How did my bp drop so drastically, when just the day before, it was within its normal “hypertension stage 2” range of 145/80. And actually, it was within varying hypertension 2 ranges the entire week prior.

The only difference in my regular routine was that I had spent about 2 hours working outside in our front yard, in the late morning on a bright, sunny day. Could that really have been it? Natural Vitamin D? Well, I was mostly convinced since that was the only thing I had done differently during the past 100 plus days of self-checking my bp.

Let me also give you some additional background. I rarely spend a great deal of time outside since my day job requires that I sit at a computer all day, whether in my home office or at work. I am, therefore, indoors for most of the workday. The only time I would venture outside to enjoy the sun would be during my two 15-minute breaks — once in the morning and then in the afternoon. And since I also suffer from periodic depression, you will typically find me indoors on the weekends.

I had a theory to test.

It was now time to put this hypothesis to the test and ensure that it was indeed the sun’s rays that were helping to lower my blood pressure. I usually check my bp three times a day — in the morning before my workout or before breakfast, in the afternoon before lunch, and in the evening before dinner.

When I checked my pressure on the morning of this particular day, it was 135/85. Although this was a Monday, I had the day off, so I decided to spend time outside in my backyard. Unsure whether it was a combination of the sun and the physical activity of shoveling dirt, I figured during this testing moment, I would just relax in the backyard and soak up the sun.

I remained outside for about 45 minutes, although I didn’t engage in much physical activity. The gist of my physical movement was standing in front of my iPad checking and responding to emails, and doing some lite reading of articles on Medium.

It was now time for lunch and time to recheck my bp. This was pretty exciting because consistently having hypertension was seriously bothering me. And now, there might be a slight chance that I had a natural remedy to what could be a severe and ongoing condition.

I sat down at our kitchen table, strapped the device to my left arm, and pushed the start button. When the measurement was complete, it registered 127/85. Although this is still considered high (hypertension 1), I felt that there really was a positive correlation between more time in the sun and a significant decrease in blood pressure.

Being the curious person that I am, I decided to do two more tests. After lunch, my Yorkshire terrier and I returned to the backyard for more natural vitamin D. We spent about 75 minutes in the backyard. I stood up the entire time while writing the beginning of this article.

I went back inside, completed a few simple household tasks, and then rechecked my blood pressure. Well, what do you think happened? My bp was now 115/72. That would be the second time that I recorded a normal bp reading within these 100 days.

For the third test, I decided to stay outside for about 90 minutes. However, this time I sat and wrote more of this article. When I returned to the table and checked my pressure, it had returned to its hypertension 2 range of 144/94. This particular test gave me the missing piece to the puzzle. It demonstrated that in addition to the sunlight, I also needed to stay active and not sedentary.

All of this was now starting to make sense. Two years ago, I decided to do a career transition, which took me from spending about one-third of my workdays outside, to 100% of these days indoors. As I recall, I received my first diagnosis of hypertension shortly after this career transition.

Natural sunlight helped me so that I didn’t have to rely on prescription medication.

Now that I’m convinced of the sun’s importance, coupled with simple physical activity, I’d say that a change in my workday is in order so that my normal bp readings can outweigh my readings that indicate hypertension. Perhaps I will also spend my lunch hour outside, and continue taking my breaks in the sunshine.

If these changes aren’t enough, I think it may be time for another career change — one that allows me the flexibility to work from home or anywhere. I most certainly cannot absorb sufficient natural sunlight in my cubicle at work. Nor am I very mobile while sitting at my desk in that cubicle.

As humans, it is natural for us to move about regularly throughout the day. Constantly sitting for 2–3 hours is very unhealthy. According to The dangers of sitting: why sitting is the new smoking, by the Better Health Channel, “Sitting or lying down for too long increases your risk of chronic health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes and some cancers.” The article goes on to discuss how humans are made for standing up straight. I’m no doctor, but I wholeheartedly agree.

The article also mentions that living a sedentary lifestyle is actually dangerous, as it can lead to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and experiences of anxiety and depression. All of these illnesses are quite serious but generally preventable with a few lifestyle enhancements.

A prescription I can handle.

I can safely conclude that incorporating more sunshine and movement into my days is a recipe for better health. And if you or someone you know is experiencing hypertension, daily time in the sun along with simple, physical activities might be worth testing out.

It appears as though I have just provided a daily prescription for improving my health. All it requires is a few hours in God’s beautiful sunlight, coupled with simple, random movements to keep my blood flowing, and my heart pumping a little more smoothly.

Now that’s one change I’m willing to make, and a prescription I am thrilled to take.