Farmers Markets: Blood Pressure Fix?
An interesting result from my first market visit after a BP spike
Can Farmers Markets Lower Your Blood Pressure?
Last week, I published a note to Local Food Forum subscribers informing that I was taking time off because of a couple of health issues that had popped up: specifically, a nasty sciatica attack, followed by a freaky, out-of-nowhere blood pressure spike to over 190 last Sunday that sent me to a nearby hospital for an emergency room visit and an overnight stay.
Anything critical, like a stroke, was quickly ruled out, and fortunately a battery of tests came back negative. Over the course of the week I felt better and my blood pressure very gradually came down, registering 154/88 on Saturday morning. I felt comfortable to make a return, with Barb, to Green City Market, one of my happy places since I moved to Chicago 10 years ago.
After enjoying some of the beautiful fall day — and buying some delicious local food, of course — we took the bus home. I checked my blood pressure before lunch, and could not believe my eyes: The BP monitor registered 117/77. From scary high six days earlier to borderline low.
So have I discovered that farmers markets cure high blood pressure? Oh, it would be so tempting, given my devotion to local food, farmers market and getting attention for Local Food Forum, to say that I have the proof — albeit totally unscientific, anecdotal, smallest-sample-size-possible proof.
I’m concerned this might negatively impact my credibility though.
In searching for a reason for this unexpected result, there is one thing I can say with confidence. There is lots of science that shows stress-free activities are good for your physical and mental health. I genuinely love farmers markets, and my visit Saturday was my most relaxed hour since that back problem kicked up a couple of weeks ago. So maybe, just maybe, there’s something to it.
Now I’d like to think that everyone reading this is as giddy about local food and farmers markets as I am. But if you’re not, do whatever stuff that you love on a regular basis. It’s easy to get caught up in the busyness of everyday life and put off the self-care thing. I don’t know and maybe never will what caused the back pain and then the blood pressure scare, but I’m treating it as nature’s way of kicking my butt and telling me to get my work-life balance back on a more even keel.
Postscript: My blood pressure has ticked back up a little today but well outside the danger zone.