Monday, April 28, 2008

Oh yeah...

I thought I'd mention something that is pretty amazing to me.

In the Good Calories, Bad Calories book, Taubes talks about how high blood pressure can be blamed on excessive carbohydrate consumption. In the past month or so, I've been eating fewer and fewer carbohydrates, with the exception of one meal on Saturday evening, when I eat whatever I feel like eating. I've been especially diligent with sugar, flour, and potatoes.

My blood pressure has been higher than optimal for years, although not high enough that my doctor has ever suggested treating it. He did ask me to buy a home BP monitor and keep track of my BP over time.

Typically, I see numbers in the 125/85 range, occasionally 130/90 at the high end, and 120/80 on the low end. But, my past few readings have averaged 112/63, a huge improvement from a month ago.

Maybe this year, when I get my BP checked at Western States check-in, I won't have to convince them that my BP is normally much lower than they are getting. My doctor frequently gets numbers in the 145/95 range when I see him, but I never see those numbers at home. But, I get numbers like that at races too. Hopefully, the lower BP readings are not a coincidence and I'll have a normal reading at WS this year.

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