The force exerted by the blood against the walls of the blood vessels is the blood pressure, and it is similar to the pushing of water against the sides of a garden hose. Decreasing the water in a hose or replacing a small hose with a large one and keeping the amount of water the same reduces the force against the walls, simulating low blood pressure. Conversely, if the amount of water in a hose is increased or a standard hose is replaced by a small one, the pressure against the walls is raised, as in hypertension. In atherosclerosis, arteries normally large enough to slip a little finger into may be so plugged with fatty substances that a match can scarcely be inserted; when most of the arteries are thus clogged, the blood is squeezed into a relatively little space, and the blood pressure naturally becomes high.

It is the blood pressure which forces oxygen and food, or plasma carrying sugar, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals, into the tissues through porous microscopic capillary walls; hence normal blood pressure is vital to the nutrition of the cells. When the blood in the capillary beds becomes concentrated from the loss of plasma, the blood protein, albumin, attracts tissue fluids carrying wastes into the vessels, causing the quantity of blood to remain remarkably constant. Thus by virtue of the blood pressure, all tissues are constantly bathed in fresh, nutrient-laden fluid and the breakdown products from worn-out cells are removed. When larger amounts of oxygen and nutrients are needed, the contraction of tiny muscles in the arterial walls causes the pressure to increase and supplies to be pushed more quickly to the cells. Conversely, if few nutrients are required, these muscles relax, the pressure decreases, and food is conserved. When I was doing graduate work, a medical student showed our physiology class a graph of his wife's blood pressure which he had taken at hourly intervals throughout a day, starting before she awoke. Since few nutrients are needed during sleep, the first reading was low. Each meal, particularly a large dinner, caused a marked rise to supply plasma required to produce quarts of digestive juices; this pressure gradually dropped. It soared during a game of tennis, fell when she read, and reached a peak after a quarrel over a bridge game. Such normal fluctuations occur in all of us from birth to death.

With each heartbeat, a fresh spurt of blood is forced into the arteries, temporarily increasing the pressure against their walls. This pressure, spoken of as systolic, is normally 120 to 130 millimeters when measured by a standard column of mercury. The pressure, naturally lower when taken while the heart is resting, or dilated, is known as diastolic and is normally 80 to 90 millimeters.

Increasing Low Blood Pressure

Faulty nutrition allows the tissues forming the walls of the blood vessels to become overly relaxed and perhaps flabby or stretched; hence less oxygen and nutrients are supplied the tissues. As a result, the person with low blood pressure suffers needlessly from fatigue, usually lacks endurance, is sensitive to cold and heat, requires more sleep than healthy individuals, develops a rapid pulse on exertion, and often has little interest in sex. These symptoms become worse when superimposed on normal decreases in blood pressure. Such people usually feel more tired when they get up in the morning than before they went to bed.

Low blood pressure has been produced in volunteers by diets only mildly deficient in calories, protein, vitamin C, or almost anyone of the B vitamins. Of all nutrients, however, a lack of pantothenic acid most quickly causes low blood pressure. Since an under supply of this vitamin inhibits the production of adrenal hormones, excessive amounts of salt and water are excreted and the amount of blood--the volume--actually decreases. Adrenal exhaustion brought on by prolonged stress, which greatly increases the need for pantothenic acid, is invariably accompanied by low blood pressure. Obtaining sufficient pantothenic acid alone often raises the blood pressure to normal.

An adequate diet which emphasizes complete proteins, the B vitamins, the anti-stress factors, and particularly the nutrients that stimulate adrenal production quickly normalizes low blood pressure. For several years I planned diets for all the patients of three obstetricians, hundreds of whom had low blood pressure; usually it was corrected in two or three weeks. Until the blood pressure reaches normal, however, salty foods and/or ½ teaspoon of salt in water should be taken daily. Since vitamin E reduces the need for oxygen, it is especially helpful in relieving the fatigue that results when the tissues are oxygen starved.

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David Crawford is the CEO and owner of a Best Male Enhancement company known as Male Enhancement Group which is dedicated to researching and comparing male enhancement products in order to determine which male enhancement product is safer and more effective than other products on the market. Copyright 2010 David Crawford of Male Enhancement Pills This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.