Q: I have been taking the fish oil product from Dr Sears’ Web site Diet Zone. After taking three capsules daily for about a month, I noticed that my blood pressure is consistently higher than it was prior to using the fish oil. I have had blood pressure of 150/90 for many years but a couple of years ago found that it had elevated to 170/100 or higher at times. I received some recommendation from a nutritionist for bringing it down and have had some success. It has been consistently about 140s/70s or 80s using those recommendations. I still follow that but have been trying to eat in the zone the last few months and taking the fish oil the past month and now find that I have much difficulty getting my blood pressure below 160/90 and found it to be 170/100 again. I really was expecting the blood pressure to improve with the Zone Diet and the use of the fish oil and was surprised that it has gotten worse. What recommendations do you have? I do not take prescriptions, but my wife is giving me a hard time about that with this latest result. Please help.
A: I am also surprised. I would suggest stopping the fish oil for the time being and practicing a much stricter Zone Diet with vegetables as your primarily source of carbohydrates. This will reduce the arachidonic acid levels and the blood pressure should begin to decrease. One other note: My official Web sites are zonediet.com and drsears.com. There is a DietZone Web site that I am not affiliated with.