Stop Blaming Salt: Fixing High Blood Pressure by Treating the Root Cause

The Dr. Hyman Show

Dr. Mark Hyman

Health & Fitness, Nutrition, Medicine

4.6 • 8.7K Ratings

🗓️ 24 November 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Most people think high blood pressure is just about “bad pipes,” but it’s really a whole–body problem driven by inflammation, insulin resistance, and years of eating sugary, processed foods. Hidden problems like sleep apnea, belly fat, toxins, and not getting enough key nutrients slowly damage your blood vessels and raise the risk of heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, and memory loss. Instead of simply pushing the numbers down with medication, the Functional Medicine approach looks for the real “why” behind high blood pressure in each person—food choices, sleep, stress, genetics, environment, and more. By rebuilding health with real food and targeted nutrients, better sleep, movement, and stress relief, many of these root causes can be reversed or improved. The message is clear: high blood pressure isn’t destiny, and with the right changes, the body often has a powerful ability to heal. In this episode, I speak about, along with Dr. George Papanicolaou and Dr. Cindy Geyer, how high blood pressure is largely driven by inflammation and lifestyle factors, but with some foundational changes it can be reversed. Dr. George Papanicolaou is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and is Board Certified in Family Medicine from Abington Memorial Hospital. Over time as the healthcare system made it harder for patients to receive personal care, Dr. Papanicolaou decided a change was needed. He began training in Functional Medicine through the Institute of Functional Medicine. In 2015, he established Cornerstone Personal Health—a practice dedicated entirely to Functional Medicine. In August 2017, Dr. Papanicolaou joined The UltraWellness Center. Dr. Cindy Geyer received her bachelor of science and her doctor of medicine degrees, with honors, from the Ohio State University. She completed residency in internal medicine at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y. and is triple board certified in internal medicine, integrative medicine and lifestyle medicine. This episode is brought to you by BIOptimizers. Head to bioptimizers.com/hyman and use code HYMAN to save 15%. Full-length episodes can be found here:What Causes High Blood Pressure And How To Fix It Treating The Underlying Causes Of High Blood Pressure Treating High Blood Pressure at the UltraWellness Center How To Do The 10-Day Detox

Transcript

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0:00.0	Coming up on this episode of the Dr. Hyman Show.
0:02.6	You know, I was sort of a really shocked to learn, you know, when I sort of got into
0:06.0	functional medicine that high blood pressure wasn't just like a plumbing problem,
0:09.7	that it was an inflammation problem and that the inflammation has many, many causes.
0:15.9	Do you ever wonder why you still feel stressed, wired, or wake up tired, even when you're
0:20.3	doing everything
0:21.0	right. There's one nutrient deficiency I see over and over again in my community and in my
0:25.8	patients, magnesium. Magnesium is responsible for over 600 reactions in your body, including
0:30.7	energy production, muscle recovery, nervous system regulation, and sleep quality. But here's the
0:35.5	problem. Most magnesium supplements use the wrong
0:37.8	formed so your body can't absorb them. That's why I take magnesium breakthrough by bioptimizers.
0:42.9	It's the only supplement I found with all seven essential forms of magnesium your body needs
0:47.5	in one capsules. Since I started using it, I've noticed deeper sleep, better recovery, and a sense
0:51.8	of calm that I can feel at the end of a long day.
0:54.7	And I hear the same thing from my audience. You can actually feel the difference.
0:59.1	If you're struggling with sleep, stress, or low energy, this is one of the simplest upgrades you
1:04.1	can make. It's Black Friday savings season. From November 23rd through December 3rd, you get 25% off.
1:10.0	This is the once of your sale you do not want to miss. Plus, this part is exclusive to my audience and only at bioptimizers.com slash hymen. You'll not only get an amazing discount, but also free gifts with select purchases. Go right now to bioptimizers.com slash hymen, use code hymen and grab your favorites before this deal disappears. After December 3rd, it's gone. Don't miss it. Before we jump into today's episode, I want to share a few ways you can go deeper on your health journey. While I wish I could work with everyone one-on-one, there just isn't enough time in the day, so I've built several tools to help you take control of your health. If you're looking for guidance, education, and community, check out my private
1:44.4	membership, the Hyman Hive for live Q&A's exclusive content and direct connection. For real-time
1:49.7	lab testing and personalized insights into your biology, visit Function Health. You can also
1:53.9	explore my curated doctor-trusted supplements and health products at Dr.hyman.com. And if you
1:59.1	prefer to listen without any breaks, don't forget,
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