Looking for Financial Freedom?

Most people might say they aspire to having financial freedom. But the vast majority do not have sufficient understanding of the basic principles of how things work to know how to get there. In fact, they don’t even know how to begin to go about getting there.

Fortunately, there is someone who gave the matter some clear thought and ended up publishing many best-selling books on the subject. Robert T. Kiyosaki published the first book, generally called “Rich Dad Poor Dad” (Ref. 1) in 1997. He then followed that up with “Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant” (Ref. 2) in 1998. There have been reprints of both books. It is the concepts illustrated in the second one that I found particularly insightful.

Robert T. Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant”

FYI: The reference to “J.O.B.” generally gets translated to “just over broke.”

Those in the left column (E and S) represent about 95% of the population but have only about 5% of the wealth. On the other hand, those in the right column (B and I) represent about 5% of the population but have about 95% of the wealth. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be in the right column.

Employees

In this quadrant “you have a job.”

You are trading your time on the job for a specified amount of money per unit time. The amount of money usually reflects the training, skill and experience you contribute to your employer as you perform the tasks of your job.

One of the key needs being satisfied from being an employee is a sense of security. And for much of the twentieth century this employee need was being met by employers. But from about the 1980s onward this expectation of security and stability that a job represented started to falter.

Some things you need to remember when you have a job working for a business.

  • It is NOT “your job”! It is your employer’s job. They can fill it in any manner they choose, with compensation generally at any level they choose. And they can terminate your employment generally when they wish. (This is true even if it violates some government regulation. In that case they just pay the applicable penalty.)
  • Supply and demand principles apply to employee compensation. The more people in the job market with your skills/experience the lower value your employer places on you. Why? You can easily be replaced.
  • Automation reduces the demand for employees – and it’s only going to get worse. This puts a downward pressure on pay levels. And you can forget about the concept of job security.
  • As we saw with the Pandemic, businesses had to re-invent themselves to adapt or go out of business entirely. Those that survived became more efficient. And that usually meant making do with less people. Job security was always a myth. But now, anyone who plans their future on the basis of always being employed are being recklessly foolish. At a minimum, establish a second stream of income before trouble comes calling!

Self-employed

In this quadrant “you own a job.”

One of the key needs being satisfied from being self-employed is a sense of being in control. Nobody can do it better than you. When you’re really good at what you do you are something of a perfectionist. Being in a regular job would feel like being a square peg in a round hole, because you would be expected to do things “the company way.” This kind of person hates to delegate, because as far as they are concerned nobody else can do it better than they can.

You are “self-employed” when you offer some skill, knowledge or talent to someone who needs that – typically on a limited time or temporary project basis. The project could be for a few minutes (think a barber, hair stylist, dentist) or it could take hours (plumber, electrician), days, weeks or months. But it typically comes to an end when the service has been delivered. A customer may ask you to do something like that again in future. But that’s a separate project and there is no certainty that it will happen again. If it’s ongoing and for a single client, you are really an employee with a job.

Like the Employee, the Self-employed person is trading time for money. They are doing the job their way. And they may be getting paid very well for what they do. But they are limited in what they can earn by the number of hours they can work.

At the end of 2019 I ended a 50 year career in a particular specialty. I spent the last three decades of that career as a senior consultant, primarily to government organizations. What this Cash Flow Quadrant made clear was that I was deluding myself when I thought I was an entrepreneur and a business owner. The tax department said I was a business owner and I could deduct certain business expenses for tax purposes. I owned my own business; but my income was limited by the number of billable hours I could put in. I was frustrated that my income was not the huge amount I envisioned for being a successful business entrepreneur.

Those who consider themselves part of the “gig economy” trend are actually in the Self-employed category. The gig economy is driven by employers deciding it’s more cost effective to buy the skills they need only when they need them, rather than have them on staff with all of the overhead costs that involves, on top of their salary.

Business Owners

In this quadrant “you own a system and people work for you.”

True business owners like to surround themselves with smart people from all four quadrants. Their role is to think and lead. The doing is delegated.

That is the big difference between Business Owners and those on the left side of the quadrant. Leverage is in play here, specifically time leverage.

Let’s take a hypothetical example. Suppose the owner puts in 40 hours per week. (In truth they could work 20-80 hours per week or more but let’s keep things simple.) Now let’s presume they have 100 employees, each putting in 40 hours per week. But with his/her 40 hours of business owner effort, there is in fact 4,000 additional hours of work happening each week to generate income in some manner. That’s time leverage at work. The Self-employed person can’t hope to generate that kind of income even if they put in 60, 80 or 100 hours a week.

Investors

In this quadrant “money works for you.”

Investors make money with money. They don’t have to work because their money is working for them. In this quadrant, leverage is in play. But it’s the leverage of money not the leverage of time. The reality is that you need a fairly large pot of money in play for this to be effective.

“Regardless of which quadrant people make their money in, if people hope someday to be rich, ultimately they must come to the Investor quadrant. It’s in the ‘I’ quadrant that money becomes converted to wealth.”

Robert T. Kiyosaki, Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant (Ref. 2)

Possible Strategies for Moving Ahead

From my perspective, the big challenge is this: how can an employee or someone who is self-employed become a business owner, who is able to exercise leverage, without having a huge sum of money up front? As Robert Kiyosaki said, in the absence of money you have a mind and you have time. Use both to good effect.

So what can someone with a job do to transition to be a real business owner? I see a few options.

Buy or Set up a Traditional Business

A traditional business – manufacturing, services, retail – requires significant financial investment. Typically, if you had that kind of money you most likely wouldn’t be working in a job. The risk is high. Why? Because you have to invest a considerable amount of money up-front and if the business fails you lose it all or owe millions to the bank. This is probably not a viable strategy for an employee to pursue.

Supplement with Part-time Employment or Part-time Self-employment

As an employee you could take on another part-time job to supplement your income. Or in your spare time you could offer your services directly on a piecemeal basis, becoming self-employed part-time. But in either case, you are still trading time for money. There is no leverage. This is OK as a band-aid, but not a viable long term strategy.

Grow a Self-employed Business

A self-employed person could sell more work than they can handle by themselves, so they hire others to do the additional work for the project. If they can continue to sell more work than they can handle themselves, this arrangement becomes an ongoing business. Leverage is involved because they are getting more net income from the project than they could as a single individual. Their biggest challenge may be getting over their aversion to delegation.

This is how many small businesses begin. And some of them grow into large businesses. This is possibly a viable strategy. But it presumes you have some skill, knowledge or talent that you can offer people/organizations who need that kind of thing in volume and are prepared to pay for it.

Join a Network Marketing Company

In a network marketing business, you buy a distributorship which gives you the rights to sell the company’s products or services wherever the company is set up to do business. The way you do that is by approaching the people you know or meet in the course of living your life – your network of family, friends and acquaintances (both in-person and online). This is word of mouth advertising (which is the most effective marketing method known) and it got its name because you are approaching your network of contacts. You earn a commission on any sales you make, month after month. It is a very legitimate and effective business model.

The second aspect of a network marketing business is where leverage comes into play. As a distributor you can enroll others to be distributors in your team. Each of them is an independent business like you. Any sales they make results in them earning a commission, just like you. But also, their sales volume also contributes to your commission because you are the person who brought them into the business. (For a more fulsome explanation read Home Based Business? What You Need to Know.)

To understand the effect of the time leverage let’s use an example. You are working a part-time job so you can only devote about 20 hours per week to your network marketing business. But let’s assume you have been able to bring 10 distributors into the business. And let’s further assume that they are like you and are only able to work 20 hours per week. Using the formula similar to that for the traditional business owner we see that while you are putting in your 20 hours, your team has put in an additional 200 hours into the business to your benefit.

But it doesn’t end there. Each team member has personal incentive to grow their own business! Each of them can enroll additional distributors to their business just like you did. And the number of hours expands, even when you’re sleeping!

Advantages:

  • Low cost of entry means you can go directly from Employee to Business Owner without going through the Self-employed stage. Of course, a Self-employed person could do this as well.
  • You are able to work part time until you are making enough to go full-time, only then leaving your Employee role behind.
  • You are able to work from home or wherever there is an internet connection.

Challenges:

  • Because the business model is pretty simple many people make the erroneous assumption that it is easy. It is not. Like any business, it requires a lot of work. If you are not prepared to put in a lot of work, you will not succeed.
  • And running any business demands a different mindset from that of an employee. Anyone who is a new business owner has the challenge of holdovers from an “employee mindset.” If you are used to being paid for the time you put in, you may have difficulty now with not getting paid until you produce tangible results (e.g., sales that produce commissions).
  • These things lead to frustration and some people quit – but then they blame network marketing instead of their own limitations and inability to adapt, learn and grow. This tends to give network marketing a bad name.

This is a viable low-cost low-risk strategy. However, it requires determination, a willingness to learn (e.g., new skills, new ways of thinking), a commitment to work diligently and to develop a business management mindset that leaves the employee mindset behind.

Final Thoughts

Making a shift from where you are (e.g., Employee or Self-employed) to another quadrant (e.g., Business Owner) requires a significant shift of mindset. That is the greatest challenge. All the rest (knowledge, skills, etc.) can be learned.

There are some key questions to consider. Are you sufficiently dissatisfied with your current situation that you feel you MUST make the change? Are you prepared to accept the fact that, at least initially, things will be uncomfortable? You are going to fail at things. Are you willing to accept that this kind of failure is part of the learning process and it’s OK, despite the fact that your entire education to this point tended to punish you for failure?

On the other hand, when you make this shift and succeed, you will have become a completely different individual. This kind of change will cause you to grow as a person. It is a phenomenal self development opportunity.

References

Ref 1: Kiyosaki, Robert T., Rich Dad Poor Dad What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money – That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!. Scottsdale, AZ: Plata Publishing, LLC 2011

Ref 2: Kiyosaki, Robert T., Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant Guide to Financial Freedom. Scottsdale, AZ: Plata Publishing, LLC 2011

#workfromhome #entrepreneurship #networking #insight #entrepreneur #success

Wound Healing Experience

Some time ago I wrote an article about wound healing in the context of a surgical procedure (Are You Facing Surgery?). This time I’m going to tell you about something that happened to me that drove the message home very clearly.

Day +0

It was Friday, October 23, 2020 late in the afternoon. I was walking with my daughter across a parking lot toward a grocery store. I went to step up onto the walk in front to the store but didn’t raise my foot quite high enough. My toe caught on the curb and I tripped. My forward motion meant that my centre of mass was well in front of my feet, so I was about to fall on my face.

Fortunately (?) there was a concrete pillar just in front of me, so I put my hands out to the pillar to break my fall. That worked. Unfortunately, my head maintained its forward momentum and came in resounding contact with the corner of the pillar. I put my hand up to the point of impact on my forehead and it came away quite bloody. I tried to use a few facial tissues to staunch the flow but to no avail. Head wounds tend to bleed heavily as a matter or course. Add to that the blood thinner I was taking and things got messy very quickly.

My daughter asked a store staff person for some paper towels to use as a pressure bandage. Fortunately in her younger years she was a lifeguard and had extensive training in rescue and first aid. (She won several competitions as well.) When I asked if we could just put a band-aid on it and get on with things she told me no, the cut was too deep. (What she told me the next day was that she could see the scull bone! But she didn’t want to upset me so kept quiet at the time.)

She asked the same helpful staff person to get a chair for me to sit on. Then she proceeded to call Emergency Services and asked for a Paramedic unit to attend. When they arrived, first they put on their Covid protective equipment and then examined me. Apparently standard protocol for someone over 65 with a head injury is immediately to apply a neck brace. (I’m over 70.) Then they applied a pressure bandage. But because of the position of the wound on my forehead, they had to wrap my head to hold it in place. Then off to the Emergency Room at a local hospital.

I won’t go into all that happened during the six hours at the hospital. (I will tell you that Covid protocols mean everything takes longer.) The doctor who treated me had to apply 4 dissolving stitches deep in the wound and 8 regular stitches on the surface. She told me that due to gravity some of the excess blood in the wound area would drift down my face. I was to go to my regular doctor to get the stitches removed in seven days. The nurse later applied some antiseptic ointment and a bandage over the wound. They sent me on my way about midnight.

I recalled the wound healing study (peer reviewed and published in 2015) that demonstrated several benefits for wound healing by elevating glutathione levels. Because of my age I was already taking multiple doses of glutathione accelerators (Xxxxxxxxxx, XxxXxx, and XxxXXX). So as soon as I got home I started a program of increasing the amounts by 50% with the intent of continuing that for at least a couple of weeks.

Day +2

I decided to leave everything alone for a day. On the second day after the injury I took off the bandage so I could have a shower, clean the wound, apply some antiseptic ointment and put on another clean bandage.

There was still dried blood in my hair. And recalling the doctor’s warning about the blood drifting downward to my face, I can now positively confirm that my eye is part of my face. That’s ugly!

Given my age, I expected that I would have a very nasty “zipper” scar on my forehead. But the reports in the wound healing study gave me some hope for a better outcome.

Day +7

Managed to get an appointment with my doctor to have the surface stitches removed a week after the injury.

Most of the blood around my eye had dissipated.

The wound itself was looking better than I expected. But I still anticipated that evidence of the stitching job would be visible.

Day +14

Clearly the wound healing study has been validated in this human. The scar will always be there. But it looks like what I might expect if a 12 year old had a similar injury. But I am in my early 70s!


The range of benefits delivered by elevated glutathione levels continues to empress!

Update: Day +180

As noted earlier, for the two week period following the injury I increased my intake of glutathione accelerators by about 50%. Then I reverted to pre-injury levels. However, you should note that my usual level is over three times standard doses! This is due to my age (early 70s). Natural glutathione production drops as we age. Most people in their 30s and 40s need some level of supplementation. Those over 60 need even more.

When glutathione levels are raised in the body a wide variety of the body’s systems are impacted. Some of these improvements may happen within minutes, others over several hours, others over days or weeks. Whenever I recommend a glutathione accelerator, I ask the person to undertake a self-evaluation exercise to track the improvements they notice over time. (Ten criteria, self-evaluation, baseline assessment before they start, and then a fresh evaluation every week over a 12 week period.) What we have observed is that for middle-age people (those in their 40s and 50s) who have no significant health challenges, over 90% of them record noticeable benefits within three months (90 days). People with health challenges tend to notice improvements sooner.

So I thought it would be useful to track the progress of the healing of my wound over time as well. Here is the final photo taken six months after the injury.

Over the course of taking progress photos weekly for the first three months, I observed that the wound images were impacted by a couple of factors in addition to the healing itself. One was the characteristics of the lighting when the photo was taken. So I tried to take the photos in a fairly consistent setting. (Saturday late mornings, diffuse natural light coming in a North facing window, supplemented by a ceiling light fixture with CF bulbs. The natural light was impacted on different days by current weather conditions.)

The other thing I noticed at other times was that the redness of the wound would be impacted by my level of physical activity. Immediately following some of my workout routines the redness was more pronounced due to increased blood flow and temporarily higher blood pressure. I think this is to be expected.

Finally, over time the visible width of he scar seemed to diminish, but very slowly. The scar will never disappear. But given the original condition of the wound, I am both surprised and pleased with the impact that elevated glutathione levels had on the wound.

#glutathione #health #healthscience

Viral Infections and Immunity

As most people know, infections caused by a bacterium are different from those caused by a virus. Bacteria are living organisms that can grow and reproduce. Bacterial infections can be countered by a range of antibiotics. But lately we have begun to see some bacteria evolving to become resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotics have no impact on a virus.

A virus is a microorganism that is smaller than a bacterium and it cannot grow or reproduce apart from a living cell. A virus is not really alive. A virus particle is nothing but a fragment of DNA in a protective coat. The virus comes in contact with a cell, attaches itself to the cell wall and injects its DNA (and perhaps a few enzymes) into the cell. The DNA uses the machinery inside the living cell to reproduce new virus particles.

The Immune System

Viral and bacterial infections are by far the most common causes of illness for most people. They cause things like colds, influenza, measles, mumps, malaria, AIDS and so on. The job of your immune system is to protect your body from these infections. The immune system protects you in three different ways:

  • It creates a barrier that prevents bacteria and viruses from entering your body.
  • If a bacteria or virus does get into the body, the immune system tries to detect and eliminate it before it can make itself at home and reproduce.
  • If the bacteria or virus is able to reproduce and start causing problems, your immune system is in charge of eliminating it.

There are many diseases that, if you catch them once, you will never catch again. Measles is a good example. What happens with these diseases is that they make it into your body and start reproducing. The immune system gears up to eliminate them. It produces antibodies designed to eliminate the specific disease.

A vaccine is a weakened form of a disease. It is either a killed form of the disease, or it is a similar but less virulent strain. Once inside your body your immune system mounts the same defence as it would for the real thing, but because the disease is different or weaker you get few or no symptoms of the disease. Later, when the real disease invades your body, your body is able to eliminate it immediately because the antibodies are already there.

In the absence of a vaccine administered in advance, the body is largely dependent on the strength of its immune system to fight off an initial viral attack. There is nothing similar to an antibiotic to help the way there is for a bacterial infection.

Key Health Resilience Indicator

Glutathione is a tripeptide produced on demand in each cell in the body. Glutathione levels tend to be lower in the elderly and in those suffering health challenges. In these trying times, this is a significant fact.

Glutathione is necessary for the proper functioning of the immune system. If glutathione levels are low, the body may be sluggish in trying to defend itself against a bacterial or viral attack.

Glutathione is key to keeping you healthy overall. Not only is glutathione vital for the immune system, it plays a variety of other important roles in the body as well. (Refer to the article Why Does Your Health Depend on Glutathione). They include:

  • Master antioxidant in each cell
  • Only antioxidant that can recycle itself
  • Helps recycle certain other antioxidants
  • Primary synthesizing agent for other antioxidants
  • Critical for the production of ATP to provide energy to each cell
  • Major synthesizing agent to allow proteins to be used by the body
  • Major anti-inflammatory in each cell
  • Master detoxifier of chemical toxins in each cell
  • Primary chelator of heavy metals, removing them from the body
  • Transforms hemoglobin into its reduced state, enabling it to carry oxygen and transport that to the cells
  • Major protector of mitochondrial DNA against radiation damage
  • Enhances the body’s immune system
  • Enhances the body’s ability to heal wounds
  • Lowers “bad cholesterol” by lowering LDL, Lp(a) and oxidised lipid concentrations

The level of glutathione is a key indicator of the body’s resilience against health threats. Raising blood serum glutathione levels is helpful; but what is critical is raising intracellular glutathione levels, particularly in the organs.

Resources: For more detailed information about the immune system look at How Your Immune System Works.

#immunesystem #glutathione #wellness #health #holistichealth #healthscience #socialdistancing

Are You Facing Surgery?


I tell this to everyone facing any kind of surgery.

A wound healing study was completed in 2014 and subsequently peer reviewed and published in March of 2015 in the American Journal Of Surgery (Reference 1). It clearly showed that raising glutathione levels before surgery (a surgical incision is considered a wound in medicine) and keeping the level elevated after surgery dramatically reduced the healing time, increased the strength of the healed wound, and significantly reduced any resulting scar.

It was an animal based study that involved genetically identical rodents. This was necessary since the animals would be dissected to understand what healing was happening below the skin.

A friend of mine, Fran, had a double knee replacement done about three years ago. (On a side note, I told her I thought she was nuts trying to have both knees done at the same time. I was thinking of practical things like getting down onto and up from the toilet. Although her surgeon was originally resistant, she convinced him. Clearly a very determined woman.) She was aware of the study and listened to my related recommendations. For a month before the surgery she took a set of supplements aimed at increasing her intracellular glutathione levels. She continued for a month after the surgery, then gradually went back to her normal levels.

At her 10 day followup visit, her doctor was amazed at how completely she had healed and couldn’t figure it out. Well she explained it to him and referred him to the study. But according to the rules he operates under he is unable to tell any of his patients about it. Such is the world of modern medicine.

She conformed religiously to the required post-surgery physiotherapy regimen. And not long after she was walking normally with no pain.

References

Reference 1: Saltman, Adam E., d-ribose-l-cysteine supplementation enhances wound healing in a rodent model, American Journal Of Surgery. (March 2015)

#surgery #glutathione #health #healthscience

You CAN Prevent High Blood Pressure

Persistent uncontrolled high blood pressure is a significant risk factor for a number of potentially fatal health conditions including heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and kidney failure.

Measuring Blood Pressure

Blood is pumped through the body’s blood vessels by the beating of your heart. Each beat represents a contraction of your heart muscles that pushes the blood through your arteries. That push exerts pressure on the walls of the blood vessels as a wave of blood is moved along. Between beats the heart is not actively pushing the blood and so, for that period of time, there is less pressure exerted on the walls of the blood vessels.

A device is used to measure the pressure exerted on the walls of the blood vessels. The result of the measurement produces two numbers that are usually written as a fraction like 116/78. This is usually read as “one sixteen over seventy-eight.” The top number represents the pressure resulting from the heart contraction and is referred to as the “systolic” pressure. The bottom number represents the lower pressure between beats and is called the “diastolic” pressure.

Physical Factors Affecting Blood Pressure

There are essentially two physical factors that impact blood pressure: the force with which the heart muscle pumps the blood into the arteries and the elasticity or flexibility of the walls of the blood vessels. Blood pressure may also be impacted if there is material stuck to the walls of the blood vessel which would constrain the flow and thus increase the pressure.

For the most part, the heart pumps blood with a fairly consistent force. In a high stress situation, where the body has dumped adrenaline into your system in a “fight or flight” response, the heart muscles might pump more vigorously and thus increase the pressure. But this is typically a short-lived phenomenon. If such a situation persists over a protracted period, the heart itself might incur some damage.

On the other hand, the heart may not have sufficient strength to pump the blood into the arteries at an adequate pressure level. This situation is known as heart failure. There are several physiological conditions that may lead to heart failure (including protracted periods of high stress which overloads the heart muscles) and there are varying degrees of heart failure.

However, the biggest factor affecting blood pressure is the flexibility of the blood vessel walls, followed closely by the extent to which a blood vessel may have deposits that constrain blood flow. It is this constraint on the flow of the blood through the blood vessels, whether by blockage or blood vessel inflexibility, that represents a significant health risk and is identified by high blood pressure readings. Healthy blood vessels are very flexible and can accommodate the surges of blood flow by easily expanding as a blood pressure wave moves through. Unhealthy blood vessels are more rigid or are blocked to some extent, resulting in a higher systolic pressure reading.

What Constitutes High Blood Pressure?

It might be easier to assert what constitutes “normal” blood pressure. According to the American Heart Association, normal blood pressure has a systolic reading of less than 120 and a diastolic reading of less than 80. Higher readings for either or both of these values represents risk, with higher numbers representing higher risk. Refer to the accompanying chart.

Preventing High Blood Pressure

The focus of most high blood pressure prevention strategies is to reduce any blockages of the blood vessels and to maintain the flexibility of the blood vessel walls. This maximizes the flow of oxygen to the cells throughout the body by maximizing blood flow.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a United Nations body, there are six things you can do to prevent high blood pressure.

  • Reduce Salt Intake

WHO recommends a daily maximum of five grams (5000mg). However, most other authorities recommend less than half of that, with some stating that 2300mg should be the maximum while other authorities set the bar at 1200-1500mg (and some much lower than that).

Salt is essential to certain body functions. However, excess amounts have a negative impact. Too much salt causes the body to retain excess fluid which increases the pressure on blood vessels and other organs in the body.

  • Eat Fruits and Vegetables Regularly

In addition to providing necessary nutrients, fruits and vegetables provide a natural source of fiber. This helps remove toxins from the body and aids in the stabilization of blood sugar levels. All of these things together promote healthy blood vessel maintenance.

  • Avoid Saturated Fats and Trans Fats

Trans Fats are not a natural material and are considered by the body to be a harmful toxin. Trans fats interfere with a variety of the body’s natural functions.

Some saturated fat is used by the body to maintain good health. However, excess amounts of saturated fats can lead to the significant production of “bad” cholesterol in the blood stream. This “bad” cholesterol can get deposited on the walls of the blood vessels and, over time, can cause a buildup that constrains blood flow. This pushes up the blood pressure readings.

  • Avoid Tobacco Smoking

Tobacco smoke contains a nasty combination of chemical toxins. This interferes with the transfer of oxygen from the lungs to the red blood cells. This means that the body has to work harder to get the necessary volume of oxygen carrying red blood cells to the cells of the body. Higher blood pressure can result from this extra effort to push blood through the system.

In addition, the body’s glutathione reserves are used to try to remove these toxins from the body. Lower glutathione levels can lead to problems as described below.

  • Reduce Alcohol Consumption

As with tobacco smoke, the body considers alcohol to be a toxin. Processing significant amounts of toxins reduces glutathione levels and puts stress on the body, including the circulatory system. Again, lower glutathione levels can lead to problems as described below.

  • Be Physically Active Every Day

Vigorous physical activity exercises not only your major muscle groups, it also exercises the heart muscle. This in turn causes the blood vessels to expand and contract more frequently which enhances flexibility in the vessel walls. Flexibility is a healthy desirable condition for your blood vessels.

And I would add two more:

  • Reduce Excess Body Fat

Some body fat is necessary. However, excess body fat exerts additional pressure on not only the various vital organs of the body but also puts additional pressure on the blood vessels, reducing their natural flexibility. There is a reason that we see a high correlation between high body fat levels and high blood pressure.

  • Increase Intracellular Glutathione Levels

Studies have shown that abundant glutathione in the cells can reduce the levels of Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL), also called the “bad” cholesterol. This kind of cholesterol is known for attaching itself to blood vessel walls. The resulting build-up can increase blood pressure. Increasing intracellular glutathione is a drug-free way to reduce LDL and thereby promote healthy blood pressure levels.

Summary

High blood pressure is a significant risk factor associated with a number of potentially serious (even fatal) health conditions. There are things you can do to prevent high blood pressure and thereby avoid this real risk to your wellbeing and your life. Most of these things are lifestyle choices that are well within your control.

#health #heartdisease #highbloodpressure