Natural Remedies for High Blood Pressure

By Achinta 'Archie' Mitra on February 18th, 2010 · Comments (0)
in Categories : Alternative Therapies, Herbal Remedies, Natural Remedies

What you don’t know about high blood pressure can kill you. Most people know that high blood pressure is bad for your heart health but did you know it can also wreak havoc on your brain, kidneys, and eyes?

Here’s the real scary part…high blood pressure can quietly damage these vital organs for years before you see any symptoms. If left unchecked, this silent killer can leave you with a permanent disability. Or worse, it can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

Your heart, brain, eyes, and kidneys all depend on blood flow for life-giving nutrients and oxygen. When you have high blood pressure, the lining of your arteries can be damaged and obstruct the smooth flow of blood.

The increased pressure can harden the walls of the arteries and can lead to atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), heart disease, and stroke. The constant pressure can also cause a section of the arterial wall to enlarge, causing an aneurysm in the aorta or brain.

Your kidneys and eyes can also suffer from unchecked high blood pressure. It is the most common cause of kidney failure. And in the eyes, this arterial damage can cause serious vision problems due to fluid buildup or nerve damage.

Unfortunately, traditional treatment solutions with medicines like beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, calcium-channel blockers, and diuretics are known to have harmful side effects such as:

Constant fatigue
Weakness
Shortness of breath
Depression
Impotence
Chronic dry, hacking cough
Swollen ankles
Kidney damage

Fortunately, there are natural remedies or alternatives to treat or lower your high blood pressure. You can do it naturally, with inexpensive foods and supplements.

Before you do anything, you must get a baseline measurement of your current blood pressure. You can walk into your neighborhood grocery store or pharmacy and measure your blood pressure there.

Use the chart below to see where you are at right now. Are you within the normal range or at the pre-hypertension stage? You should consult your doctor as soon as possible if you are in Stage Two Hypertension.

Blood Pressure Stages	Systolic	Diastolic
Normal	< 120	< 80
Pre-Hypertension	120-139	80-90
Stage One Hypertension	140-159	90-99
Stage Two Hypertension	160+	100+

Next, you may want to try one of these four natural remedies to reduce or even prevent high blood pressure:

1. Garlic – This tasty herb contains sulfides that help relax your arteries. This lets blood flow more freely. In fact, a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that garlic can relax blood vessel tension by an amazing 72 percent. (Benavides G, et al. “From the Cover: Hydrogen sulfide mediates the vasoactivity of garlic,“ PNAS 2007 104: 17977-17982.)

For maximum benefit, eat one to two cloves of fresh garlic per day. If you’d rather use a supplement, choose one that provides at least 3,600 mcg of allicin – garlic’s active compound.

2. Quercetin – This powerful antioxidant is a “bioflavonoid” that’s found in foods like apples, onions, red grapes, and leafy greens. In one study, researchers gave 22 people with high blood pressure, quercetin for four weeks. At the end of the study, they showed significant improvement. ( Edwards et al, “Quercetin reduces blood pressure in hypertensive subjects,” Journal of Nutrition, 2007, 137(11):2405-11.)

The easiest way to get more quercetin is to eat more fruits and leafy green veggies. Otherwise, you can get a supplement at your local health-food store. Recommend dosage is 300 to 750 mg per day.

3. Coenzyme Q10 or Co Q10 – Also known as Ubiquinone or Vitamin Q, CoQ10 is a naturally-occurring compound found in every cell in the body. In a study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers gave CoQ10 to diabetic patients. Not only did their blood sugar improve, so did their blood pressure. (Hodgson et al, “Coenzyme Q10 improves blood pressure and glycaemic control in a controlled trial in subjects with type 2 diabetes,” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2002, 56(11):1137-42.)

This powerful and amazing antioxidant works by supplying your heart with the critical energy it needs to pump blood throughout your body. It is suggested that you take 50 to 100 mg of the potent form of CoQ10 known as ubiquinol.

4. Hawthorn – This herb has been used for centuries as a heart tonic. Just like garlic, it works to relax the blood vessels. It does this by inhibiting Angiotensin, a protein that causes blood vessels to constrict and drive up blood pressure.

Prescription drugs like Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors work the same way – with far more long-term side effects. In one clinical trial, hawthorn effectively reduced diastolic blood pressure. (Walker A., et al., Promising hypotensive effect of hawthorn extract: a randomized double-blind pilot study of mild, essential hypertension. Phytother Res 2002 Feb; 16(1): 48-54.) It is recommended you take 1,000 mg of hawthorn extract daily.

The good folks at Barton Publishing have put together a special report that covers these and many other natural high blood pressure remedies.

It’s called “The High Blood Pressure Remedy Report: How to Cure Your High Blood Pressure Naturally Without Drugs.”

It is a comprehensive report on how to naturally: