Re: RAWFOOD vs NO-GRAIN DIET - Neuropathy, High Blood Pressure, Palpitations

You've obviously taken very good care of your body and done everything that many only dream of doing in caring for it.  That's commendable.  You also obviously push yourself - very hard.  What do you do for yourself for recreation?  What do you do to relax?  Do you allow yourself enough time for personal pleasure, by yourself?  Those are the kinds of things I'd look to.  There are some people who really push themselves and thrive on it but most often everyone needs to take an enforced break at times, whether it is just a few minutes a day or whatever.

I've had the numbness down my arm and into my fingers and have self-diagnosed carpal tunnel syndrome so I quit resting my wrists on my desk/keyboard and it stopped.  My desk chair has wooden arms on it and I find that I have to not let my arms rest on them too much or the same thing will set in.  Same is true for the arm rest of my automobile, if I let my elbow rest there too long, the tingling goes down my arm.  I have a family member who had to have surgery on both hands and wrists from CTS (numbness, etc.), and she has spent a good part of her life at a keyboard of one type or another.  Don't know if in your studies you spend a lot of time at a desk, but that could contribute to the numbness.  (Mine would often appear during the night when I would awaken with a numb arm/hand, but in watching how I placed them on my desk that too disappeared.)

I have slightly elevated blood pressure too and have gone a similar route to what you have done.  I've cut out all salts for more than six weeks, without it helping - and then went back to salt with no difference.  I switched from coffee, to decaf, to green tea, and finally cut out even the green tea for several weeks, and still no reduction in BP so went back to green tea and it certainly didn't raise it.  (Coffee definitely affects my BP and sets me up for anxiety, as do colas of any kind.)  My BP runs in the 125/60 to 150/75 range, sometimes lower.  Only about 20% of people with hypertension are adversely affected BP wise with salt.

One thing that can reduce my BP is deep breathing exercises.  I have a Yoga breathing DVD and use it just for the breathing exercises and it can reduce the BP after about a half an hour.  I also practice meditation on a daily basis and while in the short-term (during the meditation) it doesn't seem to help, in the long-term it does because it reduces stress and anxiety significantly.  

I think you have done wonderfully well and you are obviously listening to your body, and I suspect that way you will eventually learn what's causing your difficulties.