This Mineral Deficiency is Causing Strokes — Transcript

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1. 0:00Strokes are one of the leading causes of
2. 0:01death worldwide. But when I talk to my
3. 0:03patients at the clinic about how to
4. 0:04protect themselves from a stroke,
5. 0:06they're often surprised by a significant
6. 0:07yet overlooked risk factor that's really
7. 0:09easy to fix. And they're even more
8. 0:10intrigued when I tell them that it's to
9. 0:12do with a mineral deficiency. So, let me
10. 0:14explain and then I'll show you how to
11. 0:15fix it. So, strokes come in two forms.
12. 0:17We've got eskeemic strokes, which occur
13. 0:19when blood flow to the brain is blocked.
14. 0:21So, this blockage is usually caused by
15. 0:22plaque that's broken loose or a blood
16. 0:25clot. So, about 87% of strokes are
17. 0:27eskeemic. Then there are hemorrhagic
18. 0:29strokes. So this is when a blood vessel
19. 0:30in the brain it bursts and when this
20. 0:32happen blood leaks out it causes the
21. 0:34brain tissues to swell and this
22. 0:36increased pressure can damage the brain
23. 0:37cells. So why do strokes happen? Well
24. 0:39when it comes to es schemic strokes the
25. 0:41key mechanism relates to
26. 0:42atherosclerosis. So that's the buildup
27. 0:44of plaque in the arteries and this
28. 0:46process is complex but it's basically
29. 0:48about the body trying to cope with
30. 0:49chronic damage and inflammation in the
31. 0:51walls of the arteries. So think of
32. 0:53plaque a bit like a scab over a wound.
33. 0:55So plaque can lead to an eskeemic stroke
34. 0:57when a piece of it breaks free. It can
35. 0:59also do so when it ruptures and that's
36. 1:01what can lead to a blood clot. But with
37. 1:02hemorrhagic strokes sometimes it can be
38. 1:04caused because the blood vessels in the
39. 1:06brain they haven't formed properly. But
40. 1:08another key risk factor is high blood
41. 1:09pressure. This elevated pressure puts
42. 1:11needless stress on the blood vessels in
43. 1:13the brain and it inflames them. And as
44. 1:15we saw that's a key driver of buildup of
45. 1:17plaque in the arteries. And high blood
46. 1:19pressure is one of the most important
47. 1:20controllable risk factors for strokes.
48. 1:22So it's estimated that about 51% of all
49. 1:24strokes are linked to high blood
50. 1:26pressure. And the research numbers here
51. 1:28are sobering. So for example, consider
52. 1:29the Framingham study. It's a cohort
53. 1:31study in Great Britain and it's been
54. 1:33running for decades. And it data showed
55. 1:35that people with high blood pressure had
56. 1:36an incidence of strokes five to over 30
57. 1:39times higher than those with lower blood
58. 1:41pressures. And in a meta analysis,
59. 1:42including 61 trials of over 1 million
60. 1:45people, it found that the risk of dying
61. 1:47from a stroke, it doubled for every 20
62. 1:49point rise in blood pressure. And before
63. 1:51I've shared those sobering statistics
64. 1:52with my patients in the clinic, most of
65. 1:54them aren't aware about how critical
66. 1:56blood pressure is for stroke risk. But
67. 1:57here's the good news. There's a simple
68. 1:59fix to do with a mineral deficiency that
69. 2:01can often make a significant difference
70. 2:02when it comes to blood pressure. So
71. 2:04what's the deficient nutrient? It's
72. 2:06potassium. But that doesn't mean loading
73. 2:07up on potassium pills. So I'll explain
74. 2:09how to correct this deficiency shortly.
75. 2:11The point here, though, is that before
76. 2:13going on to blood pressure medications,
77. 2:14it's critical to get potassium right
78. 2:16because you might not need medications.
79. 2:18But how big of an impact can potassium
80. 2:20really make? Well, one study looked at
81. 2:22what happens when we lower potassium
82. 2:24intake. So, men with a normal blood
83. 2:26pressure participated. They were divided
84. 2:28into two groups. One got a normal amount
85. 2:30of potassium per day, and the other
86. 2:31group had a very low intake. So, blood
87. 2:33pressure didn't change for the group
88. 2:34with a normal potassium intake. But the
89. 2:36group with a low intake saw their blood
90. 2:38pressure rise significantly after only 9
91. 2:40days of the study. Other studies have
92. 2:42investigated what happens when we
93. 2:44increase potassium intake. So a meta
94. 2:46analysis for example that pulled
95. 2:47together the results of 22 randomized
96. 2:49control trials and the researchers here
97. 2:52discovered that increased potassium
98. 2:53intake reduced systolic blood pressure
99. 2:55by about 3 and 1/2 units on average. So
100. 2:58systolic blood pressure is the higher
101. 2:59number that you'll read on a blood
102. 3:01pressure monitor. So have a look at what
103. 3:02happens though when potassium intake
104. 3:04reaches 3 12,000 to 4,700 mg. The
105. 3:08reduction here in blood pressure is a
106. 3:10whopping 7 units. So, we do have strong
107. 3:12evidence that potassium is related to
108. 3:14blood pressure. Having too little has
109. 3:15been shown to raise blood pressure, and
110. 3:17having just the right amount can lower
111. 3:19our blood pressure. But how does this
112. 3:20translate to our stroke risks? Well,
113. 3:22according to a large meta analysis,
114. 3:24reducing our blood pressure by about 10
115. 3:26points cuts the risks of having a stroke
116. 3:28by 27%. And a massive study in China
117. 3:31explored the link between potassium
118. 3:33specifically. It evaluated the impact of
119. 3:35salt substitutes on those who had
120. 3:37already had a stroke to see if it could
121. 3:38reduce how often individuals had another
122. 3:40stroke. So, let me explain a bit more
123. 3:42about the intervention here. So, a salt
124. 3:44substitute, it swaps out regular salt
125. 3:46for an alternative formula. So, standard
126. 3:48salt, it's typically potassium chloride,
127. 3:50but a salt substitute used in the study.
128. 3:52It was 75% sodium chloride and 25%
129. 3:56potassium chloride. So, that modified
130. 3:58formula, it does two things at once. It
131. 4:00helps people to lower their sodium
132. 4:01intake. So, this is great because too
133. 4:03much sodium in our diet raises our blood
134. 4:05pressure, but it also boosts potassium
135. 4:07intake. And as we've seen, potassium
136. 4:09helps to lower blood pressure. So, the
137. 4:11effects here are synergistic. So, after
138. 4:13a follow-up period of about 5 years,
139. 4:15here's what the researchers found. Those
140. 4:17in the salt substitute group had a 14%
141. 4:19lower incidence of recurrent strokes.
142. 4:21And we're looking at hemorrhagic stroke
143. 4:23specifically, which we went through
144. 4:24earlier about how critical that
145. 4:26particular type of stroke is for blood
146. 4:27pressure. We could see that there was a
147. 4:29striking 33% reduction in the salt
148. 4:31substitute group. So a natural question
149. 4:33at this point is this. How can I get 3
150. 4:35half,000 mg of potassium a day? Well,
151. 4:38the best way is to focus on diet. So
152. 4:40potassium rich foods also happen to have
153. 4:42lots of other nutrients and prioritizing
154. 4:44them in the diet have lots of other
155. 4:45additional health benefits. So what are
156. 4:47some examples of high potassium foods?
157. 4:49Leafy green vegetables like spinach are
158. 4:51a great option. Fruits can also be a
159. 4:53good source. Bananas, for example, have
160. 4:55got about 450 milligrams of potassium.
161. 4:57Nuts and seeds are also fantastic
162. 4:59sources. And I include a small dose of
163. 5:01potassium and microvitamin just to help
164. 5:03me try and reach my optimal levels. But
165. 5:05just because I take a supplement does
166. 5:06not in any way mean that you should as
167. 5:08well. And scientists have actually
168. 5:09developed a diet designed to help lower
169. 5:11blood pressure and it's called the DASH
170. 5:13diet, which stands for dietary
171. 5:14approaches to stop hypertension. And it
172. 5:17includes lots of potassium richch foods.
173. 5:19A meta analysis looked at studies
174. 5:20linking adherence to the DASH diet and
175. 5:23stroke risk. And those who stuck closer
176. 5:25to the diet had a 12% lower risk
177. 5:27compared to those who didn't follow the
178. 5:28DASH diet as well. And it was a linear
179. 5:30relationship. So basically that just
180. 5:32means that the more closely the diet was
181. 5:34followed, the better the stroke outcomes
182. 5:36were. And another natural question that
183. 5:38comes up is this, what is a safe blood
184. 5:40pressure when it comes to strokes? What
185. 5:41target should I be aiming for? Well, two
186. 5:44groundbreaking studies have completely
187. 5:45changed our answer to this question.
188. 5:47They show us that doctors got it wrong
189. 5:49for years. So for decades, we knew that
190. 5:51high blood pressure was dangerous. But
191. 5:52we didn't realize how dangerous it was
192. 5:54at levels that appeared to be okay. So
193. 5:56for a long time, doctors thought that
194. 5:58having a systolic blood pressure of up
195. 6:00to 140 was perfectly fine. You may have
196. 6:02even heard your doctor say that as long
197. 6:04as your blood pressure is below 140 or
198. 6:0690, you're in the clear. We used to
199. 6:08think that yes, 120 on 80 is ideal, but
200. 6:11140 on 90, that's still okay, isn't it?
201. 6:13Well, we now know that having a systolic
202. 6:14blood pressure of near 140 is actually
203. 6:16quite risky. It's not just okay, it's
204. 6:18putting our lives in danger. And the
205. 6:20reason that doctors thought that 140 is
206. 6:22okay is that blood pressure, it tends to
207. 6:24go up as we get older. So, we figured
208. 6:26that a little bit higher was normal. But
209. 6:28new research shows that even that little
210. 6:29bit of extra pressure can cause big
211. 6:31problems. And the first wakeup call came
212. 6:33from a study called the Sprint Study,
213. 6:35which stands for systolic blood pressure
214. 6:37intervention trial. That study was
215. 6:39massive, involving over 9,000
216. 6:41participants. So the findings here are
217. 6:42pretty difficult to ignore. And the goal
218. 6:44was to see if lowering blood pressure to
219. 6:46below 120 would protect us against heart
220. 6:48attacks, strokes, and other problems
221. 6:50better than the old target of 140. So
222. 6:53the people in the study, they were
223. 6:54already at high risk of heart disease,
224. 6:56but they didn't have diabetes or a
225. 6:58history of a previous stroke. They were
226. 6:59split into two groups. One aimed for a
227. 7:01blood pressure of around 140 and the
228. 7:03other group aimed for a blood pressure
229. 7:04of around 120. But here's where it gets
230. 7:06really interesting. The results were so
231. 7:08clear-cut that they had to stop the
232. 7:10study early. So the study was supposed
233. 7:12to last about 4 to 6 years, but after
234. 7:14just 3.3 years, it was obvious that
235. 7:17lowering blood pressure to below 120
236. 7:19made a massive difference. And there was
237. 7:20a 27% lower risk of having a heart
238. 7:23attack, stroke, or dying from those
239. 7:25causes each year. And when it came to
240. 7:27death rates alone, there was a 25% lower
241. 7:29risk of dying in the group that aimed
242. 7:31for the 120 target. But the story
243. 7:33doesn't stop there. So recently, another
244. 7:35study in China tested these findings on
245. 7:37an even larger and more diverse group.
246. 7:39So over 11,000 people were included in
247. 7:42the study and it did include those with
248. 7:44diabetes and those who had already had a
249. 7:46stroke. So think of the study as the
250. 7:48sequel to the sprint study but with an
251. 7:49even bigger cast. And guess what? The
252. 7:51results were just as powerful. Lowering
253. 7:54systolic blood pressure to less than 120
254. 7:56reduced the risk of heart attacks,
255. 7:57strokes, and death from cardiovascular
256. 7:59causes by 12%. Plus, it cut the overall
257. 8:02risk of death from any cause by 21% over
258. 8:05the 3 and 1/2 year study period. So the
259. 8:07takeaway here is clear that the old
260. 8:09normal of 140 is no longer good enough.
261. 8:11Most of us should be aiming for a
262. 8:13systolic blood pressure of about 120 to
263. 8:15really protect our health. And aside
264. 8:17from increasing potassium intake, new
265. 8:19research has highlighted one specific
266. 8:21exercise that's got an outsized impact
267. 8:22to lower our blood pressure. So, make
268. 8:24sure to check out this next video here
269. 8:26to find out what it is and how exactly
270. 8:28you can do it at