Low Blood Pressure & Keeping Warm

[Gaz_hmmmm]

I'm on corticosteroid and one of the effects is they boost my blood pressure but generally it's normal or low.

So I was wondering other than exercise and extra layers what are good ways to keep warm??

I was thinking more so of foods really, I guess hot beverages with caffeine would help but anything else?

Central heating/turning the fire on isn't an option.

 

[Maya]

You may want to also add hot tea, apple cider and hot cocoa.

For food soups with stews and veggies. Cinnamon consumption is good as well as it makes your metabolism faster that will give your body the warmth it needs. Whole grain foods will also provide your body with warmth such as oats, barley and buchwheat and the last two are ginger and coconut oil

 

[T. Calderone]

If you find yourself feeling cold, you could try some wool knit socks. I was given some as a gift and am using them already!
It's my hands and feet that get cold mainly and turning up the heat is not an option for me either.

 

[Foreigner]

If you have a hard time keeping your core warm, then nothing beats chai. Home made chai: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/easy-chai-tea-recipe-00000000029606/

I sometimes let it boil slightly longer, but you can experiment with different spices and cooking time. You can also leave out the black tea if you like, and just have the spices. Star anise and fennel also add a nice taste.

If your core is always warm yet your hands and feet can never get warm, then you can try citrus teas by grating orange, lemon, grapefruit or lime peels into hot water and let it steep. Bitters like citrus spread the liver blood and cleanse the lymph system so that circulation can move outward.

 

[thujone]

I'm on corticosteroid and one of the effects is they boost my blood pressure but generally it's normal or low.

So I was wondering other than exercise and extra layers what are good ways to keep warm??

I was thinking more so of foods really, I guess hot beverages with caffeine would help but anything else?

Central heating/turning the fire on isn't an option.

Caffeine constricts blood vessels in the body, so it has the opposite effect from what you want. Ginseng, on the other hand, is an excellent cardiovascular tonic and will heat you up real good. Just don't mix it with caffeine.

 

[Foreigner]

Ginseng is good, but it's not meant to be taken long term.

If you do choose ginseng, don't use American. It's "cold" in property and we usually use it to treat people who have exhaustion with heat signs. You need Chinese ginseng (radix ginseng, ren shen 人参）. It's rather expensive, but you only need to use it short term.

Ginseng on its own restores the body's vital qi from a very low state, so you will feel energy from taking it, but not necessarily warmth. If you combine ginseng with genuine cinnamon bark (cortex cinnamomi, rou gui 肉桂), it would strongly tonify yangqi which is the vital, lifegate fire of the body. If western medicine has diagnosed you with an adrenal insufficiency then in eastern medicine terms you prob have a lifegate deficiency. Only take these two short term though (no more than week), otherwise the excessive tonification will make you feel frustrated, emotional, and kind of crazy.

You would only do this if you have whole body coldness, like your core doesn't feel warm enough. If it's just your hands and feet that are cold, but your core is always warm (or even too warm most of the time), you wouldn't follow the above protocol.

 

[EP158207]

How about a hot water bottle?