First, I want to thank everyone for reading and commenting on my first post regarding natural methods of treating hypertension. I appreciate your patience with the “two-part” beginning, and especially your understanding that it takes some time to fully develop the vast subject of alternative methods for treating hypertension in detail. I will post a new subject each week, and I will do my best to answer questions on each subject as we go forward. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to trot them out, and if you have helpful input on the subject, please also do not hesitate to chime in. Hopefully, we will all learn much together.
Second, I want to address a few questions again just in case some of you missed my earlier answers. We can lump these into appropriate“disclosures”. Again, I am not a doctor, and I cannot and do not give medical advice. I am just a guy who has studied alternative treatments for high blood pressure (and a whole host of other health problems) in depth, primarily in order to solve my own hypertension problem. Along the way, I learned a lot about holistic and natural approaches to good health generally. I also must admit that I learned a lot about physiology, the human body and organs, and not only the “medicine”, but also more natural ways to get and stay healthy. Many of the good health habits and therapies that I learned have been incorporated into my life as a result of my desire to live the best“quality of life” and be as healthy generally as is reasonably possible.
I was not paid for my “story” by anyone. I am not paid by anyone to write this blog. I do not receive any form of compensation whatsoever for doing this. I am hoping that I get a lot of good-human-being credits from the bookkeepers upstairs! I know that I already get lots of “feel good” rewards from readers’ comments. While I may talk about certain products that I have used and which were most helpful to me in overcoming my hypertension, none of the companies that I mention have compensated me in any way for mentioning their products. The bottom line is, if I don’t truly believe it, you won’t hear it from me.
Now to the subject of diuretics! I am focusing on hydrochlorothiazide today because it is a very commonly prescribed diuretic drug for hypertension. There are other diuretic drugs, but basically they all kick the kidneys into overtime to reduce fluid volume in the body. By reducing fluid volume, diuretic drugs also reduce blood volume which lowers blood pressure.
I had a discussion with Dr. Julian Whitaker regarding the use of drugs to lower blood pressure while I was at the Whitaker Wellness Center last year for my annual checkup. Dr. Whitaker’s opinion was that, despite the wide variety of expensive drugs with significant negative side effects and risks, simple diuretics still did about as good a job
of lowering blood pressure as any of the other types of hypertension drugs. In addition diuretics had about as few negatives side effects as any drug available. That may sound good at first blush, but you may want to reserve judgment on that one until you read a little further.
After having suffered some of the negatives side effects of hydrochlorothiazide (diuretic), fosinopril (ace inhibitor), and atenolol (beta blocker), I never ever take complaints of negative side effects from any of these drugs lightly. The side effects I suffered were almost unbearable, and they became the motivation to get off and stay off the drugs that reduced my quality of life significantly.
It is easy for doctors who see side effects as a necessary inconvenience, and for those who do not suffer severe side effects, to perhaps underestimate their impact on many people or to assume that side effects are just something people have to get used to and live with. Also, the side effects typically listed by the manufacturers really don’t emphasize the ill effects that some patients suffer. The “manufacturer’s listed and recognized” side effects for diuretics aren’t too many and really don’t seem to be all that bad – but then there are the side effects reported by patients. To shed a little more light on the kinds of problems many people suffer, just from hydrochlorothiazide for example, patients have reported the following: nausea, muscle pain, joint pain, tingling in extremities, muscle cramps, stomach cramps, shortness of breath, anxiety, rashes,
skin lesions, lack of energy, nervousness, heart palpitations, migraines, dizziness, and the list goes on……..you perhaps get the picture now? If you doubt any of this, or want to learn even more, here is only one of many educational links for you.
http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=75640&name=HYDROCHLOROTHIAZIDE
I am focusing on natural diuretics as one of the first natural alternative treatments to hypertension because diuretics, often prescribed by physicians, are one of the drugs for which natural alternatives exist. Natural diuretics have been used successfully by many during the longer process of getting off drugs. The first of the drugs that I weaned myself off was hydrochlorothiazide, and again, there were lots of natural foods and supplements to help get that job done. Many people utilize these natural diuretics long term as a replacement for diuretic drugs. Thankfully, for me, natural diuretics were a transition alternative while I tried and ultimately found all the other natural therapies that would allow me to get back to normal blood pressure levels without having to use diuretics daily of any kind. So, natural diuretics have a two-fold purpose, and they hold a place near and dear to my low-blood-pressure heart!
Let’s divide natural diuretics into two basic categories – (1) foods (with raw juices as a sub-category), and (2) food-based supplements. There are a significant number of foods that are natural diuretics. These include celery, parsley, cranberries, asparagus, artichoke, apple cider vinegar, melons, and others. So, with all that and more to choose from, what do you use? I have some favorites based on my own experience. I found celery to be very effective, as well as cranberry juice, and by that I mean pure cranberry juice such as R. W. Knudsen’s, not the Ocean Spray sugary “drink” stuff. Refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup were anathema to my maintaining healthy blood pressure levels and indeed to maintaining good health generally, so they had to go. I still drink a few glasses of “cranwater” almost every day which I make from Knudsen’s “just cranberry” juice diluted with water and with a little stevia added for sweetener. I drink several glasses of pure water each day also. The mixture I use for my cranwater is 4 ounces of Knudsen’s “just cranberry” to 20 ounces of water with 1/4 teaspoon of stevia powder.
When I first began to wean off the hydrochlorothiazide, I would also eat 3 celery sticks every morning. Then I got onto raw juicing, making our own fresh juices every day. I would juice 3 celery sticks, a couple of carrots, some raw beet, some spinach, and I drink a good sized glass of this juice every morning. The celery was the primary diuretic in this very healthy raw, fresh juice. I also enjoyed eating melons which are also served as natural diuretics. While I don’t do this daily anymore, it is a healthy regimen that I have stayed with at least a few times each week.
Some people can get an adequate diuretic effect with just foods. My blood pressure was high enough, and I was in a big enough hurry, that I couldn’t do it with just foods and juice alone. So, I began to also bring food-based diuretic supplements into my formula until I got a reduction in blood pressure similar to using hydrochlorothiazide. There are some exceptional diuretic supplements that really boosted the diuretic effects of the juicing and food diuretics that I was taking. My two all-time favorite diuretic supplements are dandelion leaf (not root) and juniper berries. During the course of my experimentation I also tried parsley, alfalfa, and some natural diuretic formulas by Natrol and Thompson which included such supplements as buchu, parsley, juniper, and uva ursi extracts. The formulas were effective, but the uva ursi in there bothered me, and after a while I really could sort of create my own mix with parsley, dandelion leaf, and juniper berries. Once I put that all together with my diuretic foods and raw juice, I could gradually get off of the hydrochlorothiazide completely. The gradual part was because I was also changing my diet, my exercise regimen, and incorporating lots of other therapies and healthy modalities into my daily life while still figuring out the right natural diuretic supplement mix for me. I was pretty sure it would take some time to remedy a problem that had been created over many, many years, but I was determined to do so.
One of the bad things that hydrochlorothiazide did, and one of the reasons I wanted off that drug, was that it created an imbalance in my electrolytes. Because of all the excess kidney work and urine output getting rid of fluids, I was losing important minerals, not the least of which were potassium and magnesium which are very heart healthy. The great thing that I found about dandelion leaf, and the reason I loved dandelion leaf so much as one of my supplements was that it was not only an effective diuretic, but it was also rich in both potassium and magnesium, probably the two most important minerals that hydrochlorothiazide depleted. My dandelion supplement by contrast actually helped replenish food based minerals in a very bioavailable way improving my electrolytes while also helping to lower my blood pressure. I thought, “what could be better”? In addition, the minerals that I was receiving from my raw juices and other natural supplements were really doing a great job keeping my electrolytes up naturally while I also still got rid of excess fluid and lowered my blood pressure with natural diuretics. So, my juice cocktail every morning was a fixed staple, and my supplements every day were parsley, dandelion leaf, and juniper berry.
The most effective dandelion leaf supplement I found is manufactured by Eclectic Institute and it is “Fresh Freeze-Dried Dandelion (Leaf)” capsules. Maybe it is the freeze drying process, I don’t know, but I have to tell you, I LOVE this supplement! This one and juniper berry were the most effective for me, and I added parsley for its diuretic and other good-food healthy properties. If I was traveling, I would take celery seed extract capsules as my celery for that day. I purchased the dandelion from Vitacost or Supersupplements online for about $11.00 per bottle along with the parsley and juniper berry capsules.
Eventually, I stopped taking hydrochlorothiazide altogether because the natural diuretics helped replace that function in a much healthier way. The change of diet, exercise regimen, and many other healthy additions to my life which we will talk about in depth in future posts eventually helped me eliminate all the toxic drugs for hypertension.
So, that was one of my first steps, utilizing natural diuretics instead of the drug diuretic. There is obviously much more to talk about when considering lowering blood pressure through natural alternatives. I plan to get to those many other topics in due course. For now, hopefully many will find something of value here on natural diuretics.
As always………all the best………naturally!
(65 votes, average: 4.62 out of 5)
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Glad I found this article, great info and in simple language I can understand. Thanks for the advice and supplement information for lowering BP naturally. Please keep up the good work for us that don’t like supporting the drug companies.
Thank you Cindy! I am glad it was helpful. Stay tuned for future posts on more natural approaches to treating high blood pressure!
All the best!
Very good piece Mr. D. Carastia. Dandelion and juniper are not available in the Philippines, so I am taking celery, parsley, apple cider vinegar. I stopped using hydrochlorothiazide 10 yrs. ago because of its negative side effects, but I continued taking amlodipine and losartan for my high bp. With your article and succeeding ones, I am hoping I will be able to wean off myself from these drugs. Many thanks.
Very nice piece Mr. Carestia. I stopped using hydrochlorothiazide more than 10 yrs. ago because of its negative side effects. There are no dandelion and juniper in the Philippines, so I am taking what are available locally: celery, parsley, cucumber, horseradish, watermelon, among others. Due to my nephrologist’s instruction, I’ve been taking amlodipine and losartan for my high bp for many years already but my bp is still at 138/88 and my creatinine is high (could be due to the losartan because it is said that it contributes to kidney failure). With your article, I hope I could wean myself from my bp medications to protect my only kidney (my malignant right kidney was taken off in 1992). May I request that you write also about the natural ways to remedy enlarged prostate gland in the future. I am 66 yrs. old and my prostate gland weighs 55gms. Many thanks.
I sincerely appreciate your posts on natural diuretics but the problem I have is that apart from mellon which you mentioned every other fruit was sounding like Greek to me,so,how do I come across them?
Hi Innocent! You are sincerely welcome! 🙂
Melons includes watermelon, canteloupe, and honeydew melons. Watermelon is the most effective. If you are looking primarily for fruits, you can add peaches, pears, strawberries, and black currents. There are other diuretic vegetables also. You can add cucumbers and dandelion leaf to the list as well as beets (another reason I included beets in my morning raw juice).
Pure cranberry juice is readily available in your local health food store, sometimes even in just a local food store. I like R.W. Knudsen’s “just cranberry” juice for this purpose. Green tea is also a diuretic.
When I talk about apple cider vinegar, I am talking about organic raw and unfiltered apple cider vinegar with the cultures in it. We use Bragg brand apple cider vinegar.
Again, all of these things are available at local health food stores or even just regular grocery stores, although I prefer organic fruits and vegetables. We unfortunately take in enough toxins as it is in this polluted environment, so I try not to add any more than is necessary each day.
The supplements I mentioned are available online at the websites I mentioned and more. They are probably available at a good local health food store as well.
I hope this helps! All the best!
I am always looking for healthy ways to lower blood sugar and blood pressure. Think your blog is great. Understand the need for trial and error with these ideas, but can start with juicing. I also have tried dandelion in my salad just a few weeks ago, actually bought it accidentally while looking for arugula, and not knowing what arugula looked like (I had also heard it was good for me). I did not realize that dandelion was so beneficial. Very good advice found here, I think anyone who reads it would find something he could add to his diet that would help, especially now in the summer time when vegetables and fruits are in season. Thanks,
Thank you Germaine. Juicing is one of the healthiest things you can do. Much of the “good” in juices enters your system directly through the stomack without having to process in the intestines. This supercharges your body with vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and other good things, and also gives your digestive system a needed break.
Stay tuned each week as we discuss additional methods of controlling hypertension naturally!
All the best!
I love grapefruit…is it good to take to lower HBP? When taking medicine (I am taking Cartia 240mg/d and Diovan 80mg/d)it is not advisable drink/eat grapefruit. Will it lower HBP too when not taking medicine?
Grapefruit juice has lots of health benefits, but it is not known to be a natural diuretic or a natural ace inhibitor. There are lots of other good reasons to take it though! 🙂
All the best!
After reading your article and its helpful. I had blood pressure taking by mt doc and its high. I’m not taking any medication at the monemt, but I’m exercising walking, biking, etc. Do you have recipe book on your remedies. I like to get started so I don’t have take any meds.
Thanks
I do not have a book. After I am done with this blog, we will have written a book. 🙂
First, how high is high?
Second, one reading of high blood pressure is not necessarily high blood pressure. Did you take your blood pressure a couple of times per day over a 30 day period to see what it is on average?
Also, are you taking it at home yourself? That is how you get the 30 day average. The proper protocol is after sitting and resting 10 minutes, take your blood pressure, sitting comfortably, legs not crossed, blood pressure cuff not above your heart. Rest for 5 to 10 minutes, and take it again. Rest another 5 to 10 minutes and take it a 3rd time. Throw out the first reading and average the last two. What is your average blood pressure at each setting?
If I had high blood pressure, but not too high, I would start with the natural diuretics in addition to diet, weight loss if necessary, exercise, and relaxation techniques. Since many doctors put patients on a diuretic, the natural diuretics discussed might be enough to lower my blood pressure into the current normal range (under 140/90).
Taking your blood pressure consistently and properly is a key to getting it under control.
Watch also for next week’s blog subject which is ace inhibitors the natural way.
All the best!!
I was diagnosed with hypertension recently but I think my doctor is wrong. I started taking measurements at home and my numbers average in the 130-140/70 range but my BP spikes up in the doctor office, so I think it’s the white coat syndrome. I get nervous and tense at the doctor office and don’t feel relaxed. I think that is the cause of my elevated readings. I perform a similar protocol as you mention but I take 3 readings and the machine averages the 3. My first is always a bit higher so I’ll throw that one out and take 3 more.
Good on ya, Jose……just keep taking the measurements and record them. Take them with you the next time you go to see your doctor. Many people are on blood pressure medications (drugs!) who really don’t have to be.
All the best!
Thank you D. Carestia. My doctor said I needed medication but I refused it and told him I was going to take a natural route. He gave me the scare tactics about HBP causing heart attacks, strokes and ED, etc. Now that I check at home it puts my mind at ease, but I’d like get my numbers down to around 120 or so. I’ll continue to be an avid follower of this site to learn about the natural approaches. Thanks so much for leading the way!
Hi Jose, and good for you! There are many natural treatments for hypertension. I am hopeful that these will be of assistance!
All the best!
Thank you so much for your articles.
I’ve been reading right from the beginning, am learning so much that I’ve been wondering about, and am already starting to implement your advice.
Will ask questions as we go.
Thank you!!
Ellie
Hi Ellie! You are very welcome so much! 🙂
Hopefully, these natural approaches which have worked for many other people will be of help to you, as well! I am always open to questions.
All the best!!
Thanks for sharing your natural diuretics knowledge with us. I am really looking forward to your weekly articles. Now, here in Ireland we have an abundance of dandelion leaves growing in the hedgerows. I guess I could just juice them in a masticating juicer(slow revs, low heat/low shear forces) to extract the juice? I would have thought that doing it this way must produce a more natural product and retain more bioactivity than capsules. What do you think?
Hi David! I am a big fan of raw juices. I have never juiced dandelion before. Have you tasted the juice from dandelions? It might be a somewhat bitter, but I really don’t know.
We juice almost everything, especially hard vegetables, with a slow rpm twin gear juicer. You get much more of the benefical vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals and very dry pulp with that kind of juicer – the best!
I am also wondering if you have to bring in about a bushel of dandelion to get much juice? I have used a wheat grass juicer to make wheat grass juice which is a special juicer because grasses don’t give up juice easily either. Dandelion might also give up juice begrudgingly.
You will have to let me know how it works! I am a BIG fan of fresh pressed juices drank immediately after we make them so they don’t start oxydizing right away!
All the best!!
Hi there. Thanks for your reply. I juice wheatgrass on a daily basis for all the minerals and nutrients(especially magnesium)it provides and will try juicing dandelion leaves this weekend. I guess you could mix it with another fruit if it tastes particularly nasty. I will report back on my findings! Keep up the good work.
David I came across what you were saying about trying dandelion leaves. Is that the weed in everyones garden you are talking about? Could you please elaborate on how to prepare this and how much to take etc would be ever so grateful. My blood pressure tablets were killing me i got off them because i was in terrible pain after every meal i ate, I would be on the floor rocking back and forth with such pain. Now i’m off the tablets i am no longer getting that pain. I was in pain like that for over two years and i lost my job because of it. Thanks for you input
Hi Emanuela. It’s great you ditched the BP tablets but how is your blood pressure now? Did you substitute the tablets with anything else, natural or otherwise? With regard to the dandelion leaves, yes it is the weed with the yellow flower that seems to grow everywhere(esp. in Ireland). I am using an Oscar 930 Pro vertical juicer which is ‘kind’ to juices and does not denature the labile constituents. I am in the process of working out the fine details of juicing the dandelion leaves as I was prompted by D Carestia’s article. I will report back soon on how I got on! Best of luck.
Just to report back on juicing dandelion leaves. It seems to work a treat! A handful of leaves(2 minutes picking) produced about 50 ml of juice. It tastes OK and not as unpleasant as wheatgrass juice! I mixed the dandelion juice with 3 stalks of celery, 2 apples, 1 carrot and some ginger. I’m not sure on the optimum ratios yet but will experiment. I’m looking forward to seeing how it performs as a natural diuretic in this combination.
Hi Emanuela! I also know first hand the damage that hypertension drugs can do. Juicing dandelion leaf may be a bit tricky for some folks. The supplements that I mentioned are always consistent in dosage, available year around, and have been very effective for me – dandelion leaf, parsely, and juniper berries.
All the best!
Hello David and God bless you. My brother Luis, he is 68 now have been geting hight blood presure and i been looking for an alternative treatment that dont include conventional drugs. Thanks god i found your email and i will talk to him and start him in this natural deretic regime that you used. A’m very confident it will work for him. Luis and i gre up in Puerto Rico and he is not only my older brother but my best friend. Thank you so much for your valuable information andmay God bless you and keep you around for a long time. This world needs good people like you. God bless.
Thank you Rafael! Stay tuned. I am hopeful that you will find much more that can be of help to your brother!
All the best!
What do you think about the “table” that doctors use, to rate high blood pressure? I think that we are all different and that individual blood pressure levels can vary quite a lot.
I agree that we should have a personal BP machine.It’s the only way to get a good, accurate reading.
Thanks Anna. That is an interesting thought. Perhaps that is why the “normal” reading for blood pressure is in a “range”, i.e. 60-90/100-140.
I like to stay under 140/90 even though I probably will never know my ideal blood pressure for the unique person that I am. The “table” as you refer to it has changed over time, also. It used to be that higher blood pressures were considered “normal”, and some took age into consideration.
What I am not in favor of is listening to Big Pharma on lower and lower blood pressures all the time. The drive is to get everyone on hypertension drugs, and now “prehypertension” drugs.
As they say, follow the money…….
All the best!
ANNA….WHEN I AM HOME MY B.P. IS ALMOST ALWAYS 130-140/75-85….WHEN AT THE DOC’S OFFICE I HAVE WHITE COAT SYNROME…….170 OR 180/ 90 – 95….
Hi Laurence!
The people who suffer from this anxiety syndrome are many!
All the best!
Very succinctly put. I agree with you. What might be high for one person could be completely normal for another. I think the scare tactics are definitely there, as you say, follow the money….
Normally doctors who practice other systems of medicine doubts about the efficacy of allopathy medicines. Your ideas do not need any medicines of any system whether it is homeopathy or ayurvedic. It is great. But being in India, I have not heard of anything other than water melon.
Can you please suggest something for us Indians?
I have seen alot of beet, parsely, celery and dandelion in Northern India when I lived there for about 7 months
Thank you so much for speaking out on this subject! Through a lot of work and supplementation, I finally brought my BP down from 168/87 to 120/78.
Two years ago, when I got an infection in my hand, doctor put me on Cipro Antibiotic. Within a week, I was in ER with 214/110, and given ACE and Diuretic. Eventually, I was getting no more than 3 hours sleep a night; and demanded to be taken off. Since then, BP ranges between 133/79 to 165/89 (home meter).
I am not overweight and am physically active. I will give the natural diuretics a try, while continuing Hawthorne, Ubiquinol, and Adaptogens. I look forward to your future blogs. Much Appreciation!!!
Thanks Montie! Yours is an interesting, unfortunate story. I am hopeful that we will talk about many more alternatives that can be of assistance to you!
All the best!
I have been having trouble finding dandelion leaf in the local health food store etc. What is the difference between leaf and root? Also I have a thyroid problem and am trying to lose a little weight,what would you recommend for a protein powder smoothie? Otherwise I am in good health except for my scoliosis and BP.
Hi Cindy! Dandelion is often available in “root” form. While this does have diuretic properties, the supplement made from leaf in my experience has been far superior to the supplement made from dandelion root. As I mentioned in my article, by far the best dandelion supplement I have found is the freeze dried dandelion leaf supplement offered by Eclectic Institute. This is a 150 mg. capsule. You can order this from Vitacost or from SuperSupplements online.
I like to make whey protein smoothies. We use all organic ingredients with frozen peaches, nectarines, cherries, blueberries, strawberries, pluotts, plums, raspberries, or blackberries to make our frozen smoothies.
My recipe for a delicious protein smoothie is:
1 cup of organic frozen fruit of your choice
2 raw organic eggs
1 tablespoon of “Volcanic” Agave Nectar
1 scoop of Biochem, Biopure 100% Whey Protein Isolate, Vanilla Cream flavor
1 tablespoon of Barlean’s High Lignan Flax Oil
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/4 cup Nancy’s Organic Plain Non-fat Yogurt
8 ounces of cranwater
2 cups of ice
We blend these in our Vitamix blender until they have the smooth consistency of a milk shake.
People have told us these are the best smoothies they have ever tasted when we serve them to friends.
This recipe makes a smoothie for 2 people. So, if you want a single serving, cut the recipe in half!
Enjoy!!
Just wanted to thank you for taking the trouble to supply all this info. I really appreciate it & taking your advice. Keith.
Thanks Keith! That makes it worthwhile!
All the best!!
They used to say that your normal BP should be 100 plus your age.
Just think, every time they scare us with lower and lower required readings, their profits soar.
Hi Anna
Actually, if I recall correctly, that rule of thumb was applied instead to your total cholesterol level. ie. If you are age 53, then a good chesterol level for your age would be 153 or less.
Blessings –
Hi K, and actually, Anna has it right. She is referring to an old blood pressure formula that EMT’s used to use when assessing vital signs. Blood pressure assessment was indeed a function of age in the past for some purposes.
While we are on the subject of history, not so long ago, blood pressure under 150/100 was considered “normal”. That rule of thumb was not age specific.
All the best!!
Probably not a good rule of thumb here. The best metric for all ages is to have a total cholesterol < 150 and LDL < 80 and you essentially make yourself heart attack and stroke proof. Don't worry about HDL ,just focus on the Total and LDL numbers.
Thanks Jason and Nick. As I have mentioned, even that does not make anyone “heart attack and stroke proof” in the toxic environment in which we live. Sudden death arrhythmia is the cause of many heart attacks today and I am not at all convinced it is related to atherosclerosis. We live in a very toxic society and I am more inclined to believe that toxins are the source of most “dis-ease” that humans face today.
We do agree that atherosclerosis and attendant inflamation is a big culprit, which indeed is documented to be improved and even reversed with fish oil.
One last point, respectfully, again…….we are more than a circulatory system. With the expiration of the patents on the statins I suspect we will learn some surprising things about cholesterol in the coming years. Indeed, I believe the studies will again confirm that cholesterol is healthy for us as long as it does not suffer from oxidation and free radicals…….i.e., ravaged by toxins.
I am enjoying this blog more and more, and your comments are stimulating and appreciated.
All the best!
The Framingham Heart study is the “Gold Standard” study regarding heart disease and as Jason eludes to, heart disease was virtually non-existant in those who had a blood cholesterol less than 150, even if they had low HDL. Also, BP does not and should not have to increase with age. The only reeason it does is due to the prcoess of athersclerosis. Proper diet can prevent and reverse atherosclerosis.
I WANT TO ASK PLS, YOU VE LITED DIFFERENT TYPES OF LEAVES AND JUICY , HOW DO WE MIX IT PLS , YOU HAVE LISTED CANBERRY JUICY, CELERY, RAW BEET, SPINACH, DANDELION LEAF, JUNIPER PARSLEY , PLS HOW DO WE COMBINE PLS EXPLAIN THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE ARTICLE GOD BLESS
Hi Karen!
I juice a few celery sticks, a couple of carrots, a small piece of beet, and some spinach in my morning juice.
The dandelion leaf, parsley, and juniper berries are supplements that come in capsule form. I like Eclectic Institute’s freeze dried dandelion leaf for my dandelion supplement. It took one capsule of each every morning.
All the best!
thsnks alot really appreciate
takig 5 deep breathes b 4 a BP reading will lower BP by 10 points.
A consistent program of breathing exercises can have long-term beneficial effects on blood pressure for many people. We will talk about it more.
All the best!
I’m not to sure about that:-), as I will be 62 the end of this month. I have been checking it at home now and it ranges from 116/79 to138/82. Although it usually settles around 128/83 or a little less, guess I’m close to normal whatever that is.
You have enviable blood pressure for your age!
Whatever you are doing…….keep it up!
🙂
All the best!!
Thank you so much for the information, I have been fighting with blood pressure since my early 30s, never been overweight, perfectly fit and healthy now in my 50s, but blood pressure has been thorn in my life.
I have researched a lot, but your advise summarized everything for me.
thanks again,
marg
Thank you marg…….there is more coming. I am hopeful that something will be in there to help you as it certainly is not your weight that is the source of your hypertension. There are things to help people like you also, and I look forward to discussing them!
All the best!
I emphasize that we may have our own unique body’s response to the each of the natural options you applied. Therefore any one alternative option alone may have a major beneficial impact on blood pressure. Here’s my example: I have been taking a daily diuretic for 7 years to maintain my blood pressure at 120/80. Recently – in an effort to get off the drug – I dropped my weight through more healthy dieting (not excercise, etc.) from 175+ pounds to 166 pounds over the course of about two months. At about the half-way point I started to reduce my daily diuretic to one pill every other day. Surprsingly the 50% reduction in the diuretic had no negative impact on my blood pressure, which has remained at 120/80, or even a bit below that range! Proper dieting alone accomplished this! PS: Your experiences are very helpful – thanks for sharing them with us and getting the conversation started!
Thank you, Ted! It is clear that weight played a significant role in your hypertension. I am quite optimistic that people like you could eliminate the diuretic drug entirely with further improved weight and use of natural diuretics.
Good on ya, and all the best!
Great to hear you are promoting natural alternatives to medication for HBP. I was told by my doc to take Mede for life if I wanted to reduce my blood preside which was around 140/90. After 3 weeks I came off them and started a regime of being a raw vegan, basically stopping all meat,fish and dairy. I have been on this or 9 months and regularly check my BP at home, it was interesting to note your instructions on checking and calculating the average, as I sometimes get a higher 1st reading than subsequent readings taken a few minutes later. Raw food is great, not only does it lower your BP but also controls your weight and gets your vital organs in optimum shape especially the kidneys. My wife and I also have a daily juice made up of raw beet and apples to kick start the day, I also take Hawthorn tincture daily, which I make myself using dried Crushed Hawthorne berries mixed with vodka, leave in a dark cupboard for two weeks, shaken each day, then strain into dark bottle and use 10/20 drops in a little water daily, great blog, look forward to reading next instalment..keep raw stay health.
You don’t sound goofy at all! 🙂
I am just not sure about that vodka part! LOL
Your blood pressure is down, and you feel good…..naturally!
Good on ya, and all the best!
Thank you so much for your article…exactly what I need. My Dr. wants me on a diuretic. She wants me to take my bp when I first sit down, so she knows what it is when I am walking around…mind you I had no prevous problems to prompt this…went in for a bladder infection a year ago or so and bp was high in Dr office (like it usually is). Granted, I am overweight by about 30 pounds or so, but no other problems…not too bad for 57 years old I feel. When I take it at home, I take it as she said (even though I have argued with her that everything I have ever read or heard says to wait, as you mentioned). It is sometimes in the 140 range on the top number. But then I take it after 2 minutes, and it is usually down to the 130s, and after another 2 minutes many times it is down in the 120s. I have a program that averages the readings, and my averages (even with doing it without the long wait time) is around 127/70 (my lower number is usually in the 70s, sometimes just under 70). Anyway, I told her I would not go on the medicine unless I was getting consistant readings of 140 after resting for a few minutes. So I am going to try some of your great suggestions. How much do you take of the supplements? One pill each? And thank you for posting how to take your bp…it burns me that they take my bp after getting up on the exam table, feet dangling, no back support, arm down. Yet last time I was 132 in the Dr office, which is really good for me there. Yet because a few of my readings at home (when I first sat down) were in the 140s, she was not happy with the numbers. I will continue to read your posts…thank you again for caring for us enough to share your findings!
Hi Amy…….you might want to refer her to the Mayo Clinic protocol on the proper method of taking blood pressure! On the other hand, maybe not? LOL
The AMA and Big Pharma sure want everyone on drugs for some reason! I wonder what that reason is? 😉
It sounds like you are doing great, and good on ya for deciding to try some natural approaches to lowering blood pressure.
I take one of the Eclectic Institued freeze dried dandelion leaf capsules, one of the parsley capsules, and one of the juniper berry capsules each morning. I really like juicing celery, carrots, beets, and spinach, also. You can also add cumcumber as another mild diuretic.
I also like pomegranate juice as a natural ace inhibitor. We will discuss that one in the next blog.
All the best!
Lol…actually I did tell her that American Heart Association says to wait before taking the bp. I don’t know if I mentioned Mayo Health or not. She really couldn’t argue against American Heart Association. She was fine with my readings that time. Yet the next visit 4 months later I had pretty much the same readings and she did not like them! I was so confused and angry, I would not have wanted to take my bp when I got home that day from seeing her! And funny how my readings for the 2 days before I went to see her were higher. Anyway, I did see you mention pomegranate juice before. Thanks for reminding me. I need to check our health food store for that. If I were to make a choice, would the pomegranate be better than the cranberry? If I can get it in a concentrate, how much should I take? Thanks again for all the great info, and for the encouragement. So many people think the meds are the way you should go and if the Dr. put you on it, then by golly you better do it. I am not a person who usually confronts the Dr., but this time I took a stand.
Hi Amy! I like both cranberry juice (as a diuretic) and pomegranate juice (as an ace inhibitor). I started with 8 ounces of pomegrante juice and it was too much. I went to 4 ounce per day. This was R.W. Knudsen’s 100% pure pomegrante juice. It contains only filtered water and pomegranate juice.
Jarrow Forumulas also makes a concentrated pure pomegranate juice. Everyone is a little different, so you might want to try a little and see how you respond, then adjust up or down from there.
All the best!
Thanks for this wonderfully helpful blog. I’ve been on a similar journey to lower my blood pressure naturally, since I too suffered side effects from the beta blockers and ACE inhibitors initially prescribed. I brought it down from the 140s and 150s to the 130s initially on my own by losing 60 pounds and intensifying exercise. Then, I was fortunate enough to find an MD who practices integrative medicine. He prescribed the natural diuretic Taurine and another supplement, Blood Pressure Success, whose main ingredient is hydrolized milk protein. I also quit caffeine and began taking Magnesium 500 mg. The last couple of times my BP was measured it was back down to 120/70. It had been consistently in the 140-160 range and sometimes as high as 190! I’m 54 and all this took place in the last less than 2 years. Natural is really the way to go, if at all possible! I’ve also rolled back my knee arthritis to practically zero in the way of symptoms through diet and exercise. Don’t give up! You can do it!
Hi Roberta! I have taken Taurine and at times I still go back to it. Taurine is not really a diuretic, but it is helpful with hypertension for many people. Taurine is an amino acid that is very helpful with stress and relaxation. I would put it more in the “alternatives to beta blockers” category, which is a subject coming up next week!
The Blood Pressure Success supplement is more along the lines of a natural ace inhibitor. I had better luck with pomegranate than I did with the peptides, but they do hold promise for many people. If this is working for you, then good on ya and your integrative medicine doctor!
I would never quarrel with magnesium as a very heart healthy mineral also good for lowering blood pressure. You might ask him about supplementing potassium with it, another mineral that is very heart and blood pressure healthy.
Thank you for your comments, your testimony to the good results of alternative natural methods, and your encouragement of others!
All the best!
I’ve been on this same diuretic for over a year. I’m starting to have some of the side effects you mentioned in your article. I have been researching and using natural ways to lower my blood pressure, like juicing and taking a formula called Ultimate BP from True Health. My question is did you check with your doctor before going off the diuretic? Did you continue to take it while using the natural supplements? I’m not sure when I should stop the diuretic . Thank you for doing all this research to not only help yourself but others too. Blessings to you!
Hi Sroesser!
Side effects……they are a lot worse than the drug manufacturers and the doctors would have you believe for many of us! Part of the reason is that I don’t think the manufacturers tell the whole story, and the docs get the education from the manufacturers. Anyway, you are experiencing it, and that’s what counts to you!
Oh boy, what do I do now? I have two things that I have to honestly address in your question. First, I did not go off the diuretic with either the help or the knowledge of my “doctor”. My doctor was a very qualified AMA doctor, but he was vehemently opposed to any of my suggestions about natural alternatives, detoxifying for better health and better blood pressure, or anything else that didn’t come from him or a bottle manufactured by Big Pharma. Once he put me on blood pressure drugs he told me I “probably” would never be able to get off of them. I wonder how they know that!?! (Again, don’t get me started!!)
So, I did it all on my own without his help or knowledge. Now, I will also say that I eventually found a different doctor who was supportive of my efforts to live a healthier, drug-free life. In fact, I found two of them. One was a local naturopathic doctor, and the other was a medical doctor at Whitaker Wellness Center in California. So, eventually, I had supportive physicians helping me. Before I found those people, however, I had weaned off of both the diuretic and the ace inhibitor, but had not been able to defeat the clutches of the evil beta blocker until after my doctor at Whitaker Wellness helped me.
Second, I started taking the natural diuretics while I was still on hydrochlorothiazide. When I notice that the natural diuretics were increasing the diuretic effect, I started to gradually substitute one for the other. I was watching my blood pressure, and when I had it down to the same levels with natural diuretics, but no drug diuretic, I concluded that I was accomplishing the same goal and I did not try to increase the natural diuretics any further. I instead began to focus on the ace inhibitor, which will be discussed in detail in my next blog article coming out this week.
My recommendation is to do these things with a supportive physician. I found the naturopathic physician much more supportive until I went to the Whitaker Wellness Center and learned that there are actually medical doctors who have come, and are coming, around to alternative natural treatments for all kinds of diseases. I LOVE my doctor at Whitaker Wellness.
So, for me, I stopped using the diuretic a little at a time while I increased my natural diuretics. When I had the same blood pressure with no drugs, I figured I was where I wanted to be on that mission.
Stay tuned……there is much more coming.
All the best!
Oh, and Sroesser, I forgot to discuss the second thing I have to be honest about, sorry. It has to do with the supplement you mentioned, “Ultimate BP” from True Health.
If I have that one correct, it is primarily some vitamin K with grape seed extract and pomegranate skin. You may not like what I have to say, but that is not a supplement that really turns me on with its potential.
Indeed, pomegranate is an important natural ace inhibitor as I will discuss this week on my next submission. It strikes me that there is not a lot of pomegranate in that supplement. It is mostly grape seed extract.
I tried grape seed extract, and I know there are proponents, but that one did nothing for me. It is a powerful anti-oxidant but I just couldn’t see a measurable difference in my blood pressure.
I also researched vitamin K when I was studying everything I could get my hands on, and to be again, honest, that one never made any sense to me. My understanding was that vitamin K was particularly helpful in proper clotting of blood. I thought, I really don’t want more clottablility to my blood, so I passed on that.
The last thing I would want to do would be to discourage anyone from using a supplement that is working for them. Have you measured a significant lowering of your blood pressure on this supplement? If if is helping you, great. If not, why not, and what should you do?
I tried a lot of things along the way. If I didn’t get a decrease in my blood pressure within a reasonable time, I dumped them and moved on, until I found something that worked for me.
My preference was to use natural diuretics that worked. Doctors use diuretics and they usualluy work – they just have an ugly, unhealthy side to them, so I found natural ones instead. Then I added a natural ace inhibitor that worked. Same deal, doctors use drug ace inhibitors that usually work, but they have that same toxic ugly side, so I found healthy natural ones that work. My next blog post will be on natural ace inhibitors. I threw out a lot of things that didn’t work along the way. And, this is a big industry on the supplement side, as well. Not everything works for everybody, but everything any company sells works for them.
I hope this helps?
Again, all the best!
Resparate sent me your recent blog. I had a mild stroke in May and I hate drugs and have been taking a lot of supplements for years. I have no idea what I am doing. Would you be willing, for a price, to look at my supplements and drugs and give me some advice. I understand you are not a doctor but I am desparate for honest counsel. 2 quick questions 1) what do I mix the apple vinegar in? 2) Do you have any favorites on juicers or models?
Thanks
Craig
Hi Craig! Thank you for the compliment on my percieved skills and honesty. I am sorry, but I cannot take a fee for helping anyone on the specifics of their particular condition or situation. I am happy to provide whatever I know here for free. Hopefully others will benefit from the discussion as well.
I am posting again this week, and the next topic is natural ace inhibitors. If you want to list the drugs you are taking and the supplements you are taking, I will be happy to comment on them as long as you recognize that indeed I am not a medical doctor and I cannot give you any specific medical advice.
My wife and I both take a tablespoon of Bragg raw apple cider vinegar each morning. We add it to about an 8 ounce glass of water and add some stevia to sweeten it.
There are many juicers on the markets. For me, I wouldn’t own a juice man or any kind of juicer like that.
The best mastication juicer we have found is the Champion. I like it for some things, but not others. Because it is a high rpm juicer, it is not as good for hard vegetables. It does damage to the nutrients and tends to heat, also. For soft fruits like watermelon, etc., it is awesome. Also, it is superior to the twin auger juicers for making nut butters, of which our favorite is sprouted almond butter. I just make sure to keep an eye on temperature and let the machine cool down once in a while because I want to preserve all the benefits of the sprouted almonds we make our nut butter with. And that reminds me, we should talk about how to sprout almonds on this blog before everything is covered, also!
For vegetables and fruits generally we like the twin gear, slow rpm juicers. Ours is a “Twin Marathon” but unfortunately, I don’t think they make them anymore. There are similar ones, though, like the green juicerj available.
Here is very helpful link on the various types of juicers:
http://www.harvestessentials.com/whatjuicisri.html
Fresh raw juices are very healthy and a great place to start reducing blood pressure and improving health generally!
I look forward to hearing from you on the next blog submission! All the best!
Aloha,
Great information.I found that with the use of the hydrochlorothiazide, I was developing gout like symptoms. Mind you , I’ve been a vegetarian for 39 years and had gained some weight that put me in the pre hypertension category. I was also going through some heavy duty job stress. Not wanting to be fanatical, I tried the drug. No thanks. Along with the herbs mentioned, weight loss is a sure fire way of reducing blood pressure. Interestingly, among people from India who were vegetarians with high blood pressure, 500mg of vitamin C a day, was found effective in lowering it to normal ranges for many.I am a firm believer in “when diet and exercise are not enough, it’s usually because the individual has not done enough with their diet and exercise program.
Stay well
http://www.newjumpswing.com
Hi Donald and thanks!
Weight loss is certainly a help in lowering blood pressure for those of us who are overweight. There are skinny people who also have hypertension, and the cause of their problem is usually different. That is one of the reasons that I say this problem is “multifactorial”. The cure for that skinny person is different than for the person with a high systolic pressure because of weight.
Hopefully the things we discuss here will be of help to a wide group of people with lots of different underlying causes for their hypertension.
All the best!
I have had hish blood pressure for years I have been taking hydro– and enpril but I am still swollen and have it despite taking the pills. When you said to go off of the pills gradually. How will I know when it is effective to quit taking the pills and how weeks did it take you to do this? How do you use juniper berries is this a tea? Colleen
Hi Colleen! I am curious as to your age? It seems like you have had hbp for a while and have suffered from water retention despite taking a drug diuretic. I am concerned that a drug diuretic is apparently not helping with your swelling.
It took me a long time to get off all of the drugs that I was taking. For me, the easiest was the diuretic because I found foods and supplements that did the job very well. The juniper berries is just a capsule that you can find in health food stores. I used Nature’s Way Juniper berries but I think there are many other good brands.
I would not at all suggest that you try getting off these things by yourself, especially given your long history and condition. Please remember, that I am not a doctor, and I can’t really give medical advice to people.
If you want to try to wean off the drugs I would suggest that you only do that under a doctor’s care. Have you seen a naturopathic physician? A good naturopath might be able to help you with your specific conditions and also help you with your desire to get off of drugs much more safely.
I failed about 3 times trying to get of the beta blockers. I will talk about beta blockers at length soon. Weaning off drugs of this nature is possible, but may take literally weeks for some people.
Respectfully, it sounds as if you need to have a doctor’s help with trying to reach your goals. Perhaps you can find someone with an open mind and ear to natural alternatives to help you with some of the ideas we will discuss.
All the best!
thank you I have been borderline off and on for a number of years, and have tried breathing exercises, plus co enzyme q 10, hibiscus, and celery. I exercise and eat well(no added salt or high salt foods). I don’t take any meds and now usually have a bp of 124 over 74 (varying a little bit during the day.
I am a pharmacist and i certainly understand the dangers of hbp and the side effects of the meds.
I am 72 yrs old
Hi Robert!
Holy cow………you have amazingly good blood pressure for a 72 year old man.
I am very encouraged that some of the alternative methods discussed here can be of benefit when you experience some of those “borderline, of and on” times.
All the best!
Thanks for sharing your experience; some say, wisdom. Why doesn’t our medical community begin treating high blood pressure with natural solutions — exercise, weight management, adequate water, diet and natural diuretics? My first cardiologist automatically prescribed a handful of drugs, as if he took the rx’s premade off the shelf. I switched doctors.
What do you think of RESPERATE? It seems like a good idea (guided meditation). I wish it wasn’t so expensive and that BLUE CROSS would cover it. You think it would be cost effective for them.
I appreciate your pioneering input. Please keep it up.
Thanks Crutch!
Don’t get me started on the AMA’s and Big Pharma’s approach to health problems especially hypertension, cholesterol, and heart disease.
I like Resperate. I will do a future post on relaxation techniques, and resperate will be included. Resperate is one of the methods that I have used and continue to use.
I bought a resperate machine on ebay once because I like the old style machines. You might keep an eye out there for a machine that fits your budget.
All the best!
hi. very interesting post.
living in cornwall, uk our doctors seem to automatically write a prescription (which because of national health system would be of the cheaper variety) and don’t have the time to see what is best for each patient. when you have to take water tablets to counteract the effects of water retention then our doctors give us other tablets to balance up the drugs that are expelled out of the body before they have had a suitable time to work
this seems to be counter productive – prevention is better than cure – after all it isn’t in the drug companies interest to come up with a ‘cure’ the more pills pumped into a person the more money they make
keep up the good work
sandra, truro, cornwall, uk
Thank you Sandra!
While Big Pharma seems to want to make money all over the world, not just the U.S., actually Britain is the source of some very interesting reports. A recent study in Lancet calls into question the “good” HDL theory. The study concluded that HDL levels had little to do with prediction of cardiac events.
More importantly to the blood pressure question, I find it interesting that Beta Blockers are no longer first tier medications for hypertension as they still seem to be in the U.S. Britain has better assessed the ill effects and long-term risks of Beta Blockers. The British are ahead of of in some ways on this issue.
Thanks for your comments, and all the best!
Thanks for the information. Can you reveal the sort of reductions which might be achieved?
Hi John, and thanks. I had blood pressure readings of 195/115 at my worst. By utilizing many of the therapies that I will discuss here, I am able to maintain 120’s/70’s consistently. The natural diuretics were the first focus for me in terms of immediate, natural remedies in my effort to get off of drugs.
How much the natural diuretics will lower blood pressure is largely a function of the individual and how much a person focuses on natural diuretics. Anything in excess is probably not a good thing.
In my case, I was able to reduce my blood pressure with natural diuretics as much as I could reduce it on hydrochlorothiazide. This was about a reduction of from 10 to 15 points on my systolic pressure. Once I achieved about the same as on the drug, I did not push the natural diuretics any harder. Instead, I added a natural ace inhibitor which is what I will discuss in my next post. That also was very helpful and reduced my pressures further.
So, for me it was a combination of therapies while also introducing detoxification, weight loss, diet, exercise, far infrared sauna, EECP, supplements, and many other therapies.
Everything I talk about I actually tried. I tried things that did not work for me, and we will discuss those as well. There isn’t much out there that I didn’t try along the way, ultimately finding the things that worked.
Each week we will add to the building blocks.
All the best!
Please keep sending these natural ways of coping with High Blood Pressure. I hate taking medication and I will certainly try these foods. Thank you.
Thank you, Bunny. This week we will talk about the natural ace inhibitors that I added to my natural diuretic regimen!
All the best!
Just letting you know that I am enjoying your blog. Its interesting, informative, and only people who have dealt with hp can really understand it. Keep up the good work, and we look forward to your comments.
Thank you for your kind words, Roger! I am hopeful that the things discussed here will help people control hypertension in a more healthy fashion that will enhance their quality of life. Life is to be enjoyed if at all possible!
All the best!
With regard to the supplements (dandelion, parsley, and juniper berry) is there some sort of guideline for dosage, say for a 200 lb male? Thank you.
Hi David! One of the things I had to do was see how each of these supplements affected me and gauge dosage accordingly. As I mentioned, I tried some of the combination formulas on the market, one of which was Natrol’s “water pill” supplement. That supplement was very effective for me, but I did like the uva ursi in there as I had read some things about it possibly being harmful over time and buchu was a little foreign to me also. So, I looked at the dosages of the rest of the things in that supplement and the overall dosage. Those dosages were pretty similar to what was available in the capsules I was looking at for parsley, dandelion leaf, and juniper berries.
As a result I began taking one of each of those capsules each morning with my vegetable juice (celery, beet, carrot, and spinach). The dandelion leaf capsule is 150 mg., the parsley capsule was 900 mg., and the juniper berries was 850 mg. The bottle recommended a serving size of 2 capsules for both the parsley and the juniper berries. The serving size on the Eclectic Institute dandelion leaf is one capsule, 150 mg.
Because I was taking these together, I took one capsule of each. That, along with my breakfast juice did the trick for me. There was of course some trial and error before I hit upon the 3 supplement combination. I also tried some alfalfa with parsley which wasn’t strong enough as well as some other supplements and herbs with known diuretic properties. Again, those didn’t get a strong enough effect for me. After I added the dandelio and the juniper berries to the parsley, the thing came together big time!
While these are natural, food-based supplements, it is probably better to start with lower intake and work up if necessary. I guess I am a total fan of these three supplements because I tried so many things before I put them together as the most effective, healthy combination for me.
Just as a matter of interest, I am reproducing the reviews on Vitacost for the Eclectic Institute dandelion LEAF supplement I referenced:
“I was looking for a diuretic and will look no further. This is the best product I have ever used.” fbmom78
“Good thing I know the benefits of dandelion leaf, and it’s been working really well as a diuretic for me…” Aesthetician
“If you are prone to water retention, try this, it works.” yogag1rl
The juniper berries are also a VERY effective diuretic for me.
Parsley is a tried and true diuretic which for me wasn’t as powerful alone as the other two, but it is so healthy, and the combination was just a perfect trio.
Hopefully this gives you some good information on my starting point and how I went about it!
All the best!
Thank-you! Best information I have found so far and succinctly put. I am very grateful.
Thank you Annabella…….too kind! I am hopeful that future posts will also be of benefit to you!
All the best!
I’m enjoying your blog and your approach and the thoroughness with which you are following it. Kind of mind boggling. One thing was a bit puzzling, you seemed to write that you could match the diuretic effectiveness of hydro… with natural products like dandelion leaves, but how can you directly measure diuretic effectiveness? I got the impression that you were gauging it indirectly via BP. But that doesn’t compute for me as BP vary so much for unknown reasons.
Hi Will! And yes, you are half correct about monitoring blood pressure. When your blood pressure is pretty consistently high, however, and the diuretic regimen that I put together pretty consistently lowered it every day, then I had a correlation that I could rely on. Also, I was very cognizant of urine output each day. I could tell from that, as well, that this combination of natural diuretics was doing its job every day. I also paid attention to how tight my rings were on my fingers. In the morning, they would feel tight. By evening, if the diuretics were working, my rings would be loser on my fingers.
Our bodies tell us lots of things if we listen to what they are saying. All of these things, including my blood pressure monitor, were telling me I was succeeding. Throughout this process, I was taking my blood pressure 3 times each day at the same time of day, morning, afteroon, and evening. You are correct that bp can vary at times for many reasons. The consistent methodology for taking bp in this manner helps smooth out that random variation over time.
When I got down from 195/115 to 120’s over 70’s, that was the crowning proof that everything had worked together for me. I measured every little step along the way in this fashion to determine what actually worked for me.
I hope this helps explain it……and all the best!
A little tip on the water that you drink. Have your water checked for lead levels, and I mean at a lab. The cost of generally around $50.00. Lead in the water can raise your blood pressure. The lead gets in from the old lead pipes that will need to be replaced in a home or apartment.
Thank you Sonya! That is a very interesting thought. I have never checked my water for lead levels, but I have checked the levels of heavy metals in my urine several times. That is another topic that we will talk about in future posts……toxins in our systems that not only elevate blood pressure, but also create all kinds of “dis-ease” in our bodies. I have taken steps to detoxify and reduce all of those toxic, heavy metals and again, we will discuss those down the road.
Thankfully, I do not have lead pipes in my home, but you make a very important point!
All the best!!
thank you so much for shareing your story and solutions that worked for you. I plan on implementing some of them as soon a possible
Hi Lisa, and thank you! I am hopeful that many of the things we will discuss here can be of benefit to you!
All the best!
Very interesting and informative information. My B/P hovers around 140/85. I’m 72 and do not take any medication. I did lose around 25 pounds and do juicing everyday. Always looking for natural ways to reduce my B/P. Keep the information coming. Thanks!
Hi Gary, and good on ya! My time on hypertension drugs was dismal to say the least. I much prefer and enjoyable life off the drugs using natural alternatives to good health!
Juicing is very healthy for us. And by including celery in my juice each day, I was able to lower blood pressure at the same time!
I am hoping that there will be many things that can help many people discussed here.
All the best!
I am grateful I met you because for years I had this believe in the natural way, but has been in and out of it because i couldn’t coordinate it . i hope to put this together as a volume for my use . except that some of the names are so foreign .
thank you for this and more of them.
Hi Kingsley, and thank you. Yes, there will be a “volume” of things discussed here before we are done.
If you have any questions about something that might seem foreign to you, please don’t hesitate to ask.
All the best!
Almost all the natural diuretics you mention are perhaps available only in the US. I live in Pakistan, where we have an abundance of garlic, onions, spring onions, mint, spinach, ginger, ‘baingan’, ‘karela’,’loki’,’tori’ (d.k.English equivalents), bitter-gourd, lady-finger. In the Punjab we don’t have any of the berries you mentioned apart from a few species up in the mountains of Swat & the Karakoram range. In fruits we have plums, peaches, bananas, water-melon, melons, mangoes (v.high on sugar), ‘kino’,’malta’,’jaaman’ berries. I exercise regularly 5 times/week for 40-45 mins each day but my BP remains in the 180/95 range. I would deeply appreciate any guidance here to get me off my daily dose of Tenormin 50mg & Losartan 25mg.
Hello Philip! While all the natural diuretics I mention are available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, and elsewhere, I am at a bit of a loss as I have very little knowledge of middle east diets and fruit/vegetable availability.
I am wondering if you have naturopathic physicians in Pakistan? If so, they would be much more knowledgeable about natural diuretics, natural ace inhibitors, and natural alternatives to beta blockers like tenormin (atenolol)that are available in your area.
The Beta blocker addresses adrenaline and fight or flight. Relaxation techniques might benefit you. These would include transcendental meditation, breathing techniques (including pranayama which should be familiar to your geographic area), resperate, imagery and other techniques to calm the adrenals.
Is pure pomegranate juice available there? Pomegranate is a natural ace inhibitor, and I will talk about that in my next post. Hopefully, future posts will offer you some natural alternatives that will also help.
I hope these ideas, and the ideas to come, might be of assistance to you.
All the best!
Much obliged. Yes, we have pomegranates; thank you for reminding me. Yes, I do deep breathing for 20 mins everyday while I listen to the Bible. Yes, we may have a few naturopaths around; will have to find them. I find your advice most helpful. I forgot to mention, I’m 71.
Thank you so much for the information about natural direutics. I have just recently begun to juice. My blood pressure leans towards high when I am under a great deal of stress. I also have problems with ‘white coat’ anxiety when going to the doctor’s office. My BP is always higher.
Thanks Patricia, and I too suffer from “white coat” hypertension. Mine was made even worse after my “doctor” chewed me out at length in his office one time for my blood pressure. Now I always take my monitor with the last 30 days recorded in it and show it to him before we even get started!
Juicing has been one of the keys to much better health for both my wife and myself. Juice fasting is one of my most important cleansing methods.
Good on ya for for taking steps to improve your health and your blood pressure!
All the best!
I take a daily tea of a combination of red clover, pau d’arco and roasted dandelion root. I stop the dandelion root every 3 weeks for a week. I’m interested in the dandelion leaf that you talk about. Do you think it might be too much in addition to the dandelion root tea?
Hi Sandra!
Red clover is well known for its blood thinning properties, among others. It it can also be helpful especially to women with hormonal problems. It is very high in isoflavones, and may have anti-cancer properties. The pau’darco also can be used in diabetes and cancer treatment among other health problems. Dandelion root is very good for your liver and recent research suggests benefits in cancer treatment as well, but the root is considered only to be a mild diuretic. Dandelion leaf contains the much stronger diuretic properties.
I am unsure why you are taking these supplements and why you also are thinking of adding dandelion leaf to your regimen. The focus of the things you are already taking is not powerfully diuretic to my knowledge.
Are you consulting a naturopathic physician? I would suggest that a good naturopath might be helpful in guiding you in the various conditions that you might be trying to address.
I am sorry, but I don’t think I am helping you very much because I really don’t have a good understanding of your problems and what you are trying to address.
All the best!
I was talked into starting blood pressure medications by my primary care physician several years ago when my pressure was about 150/75. When my pressure failed to lower he added another, then another, and another, until I was on five different medications. At times he put me on two medications in the same family, for example I was prescribed two CCB’s from two different drug companies. Even after taking these drugs, my pressure never improved. I was so drugged and had so many side effects that I considered early retirement; I could barely function at work or at home for that matter. In desperation I stopped taking my medications and soon my pressure shot up to the 170/75 to 185/75 range. I thought, can taking these medications actually work against you. I guess the answer is yes. After a few months I started back on the medications, but I finally fired my primary physician, of eighteen years, and went to see a cardiologist. He put me on Exforge 10/160 and my pressure still averaged in the 150/75 range.
I began researching natural ways to lower my pressure. The first thing I researched was juicing. Every day, for lunch, I juice celery, carrots, beet\with greens, tomato and an apple. Sometimes I add kale, fennel, sweet potato, etc, but I always juice the celery and beets. I would love to juice fresh dandelion, but it’s almost impossible to find; thanks for the information about the dandelion extract supplement. I definitely will order it. I also take Magnesium Malate (825mg), Coq10(200mg) and Fish Oil (1200). I also take about 1100 mg of Turmeric extract for inflammatory issues I have.
I only take the Exforge every other day now and my pressure is usually under 140/75. My goal is to get off it completely. What is your opinion on Olive Leaf Extract; worth a try?
Best Regards.
Thank you Philip! Boy, can I relate to your story, except that 3 was the maximum number of drugs that I was ever on. “Doctors” seem to think these side effects of their hypertension drugs are almost nothing, when in fact they can be life changing and devastating. I am convinced that the manufacturers minimize the impact of these drugs when they publish their “known side effects” lists. It you want to see the real truth, look up the sites that document patient complaints! Of course, you don’t have to look them up, because like me, you unfortunately already know first hand! You also learned first hand about the “rebound effect” these drugs have. When you try to eliminate them, you often end up with higher spikes in blood pressure than you had before. I wonder why that is?! (Don’t get me started!)
There are many more things that can help people like you to normalize their blood pressure, and we will get to them all. I too juiced daily when I first began to take on my hypertension in natural ways. Like you, celery and beet, was my staple for the juice, and still are when I juice. The celery is a good, natural diuretic, and beet juice is a mild diuretic with very good “healthy blood” properties.
I am curious about your age. I am a big believer in CoQ10, but I take ubiquinol because of my age rather than ubiquinone. After about age 45 our bodies cannot efficiently utilize ubiquinone where the ubiquinol is much more bio-available to us as we age and is much more beneficial. You might want to check to see which you are taking if you are becoming and older codger like me! 🙂
I also like fish oil, and I take about 4,000 to 6,000 per day for both joint inflammation as well as for blood vessel health. And bingo, we both take turmeric each day for similar inflammatory issues.
Since you are so good at juicing, you might want to pick up a little book by Paavo Airola on juice fasting. I can bring down my blood pressure tremendously through juice fasting with long lasting effect. This takes a longer fast, however, and it needs to be done correctly preferably with the supervision or an experienced faster or a naturopathic physician. Airola’s book lists cure rates for various maladies through juice fasting and hypertension cures were very high. The book is no longer in print, but can be found if you look on amazon and elsewhere for used ones.
I also tried olive leaf extract. It did nothing for me. Other things were much more effective and I plan to get to all of them in time. That doesn’t mean that you maybe shouldn’t try it. I tried lots of things that didn’t work, and everything we do is a learning experience. It can also help us learn what causes, and doesn’t cause, our own particular brand of hypertension, and in that regard, I urge you to give that a lot of thought. If we can figure out what causes it, we can better focus in on the specifics that will help us.
It is impossible to discuss everything all at once, and that is why each week we will take on another alternative to drug treatment for hypertension. I am hopeful that you will find things very helpful to you as we go forward.
All the best!
Another great sequel chapter to great story to be continued. I think blogs of this nature are long overdue. Over the past 9 months I have been diligently pursuing the natural route and have weaned myself off 20mg of Lisinopril and 5 mg Amlodipine. It has not been easy with on/off spikes along the way but slowly but surely my BP has normalized on a daily regimen of Fish Oil, CoQ10, and Magnesium along with a strict diet and exercise. Yes, it can be done but it takes full commitment and no moderation to be successful.
My observations thus far include: Be very careful with sugar, fructose, HFCS etc. They are now connecting insulin resistance to hypertension. Limit animal protein or eliminate entirely. Animal protein is one of the building blocks of athersclerosis as is dairy and oils. It is also not nutrient dense like fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Also, exercise every day. I opt for 60 minutes of aerobic and strength exercise. Walking is a good start and 10K steps per day is a reasonable goal. Use lighter weights and avoid heavy weights as this can spike BP high.
Thank you for your compliment Bill, and your comments and ideas are appreciated!
Refined sugar is a killer. I had been telling my naturopathic physician for a few years before the news came out that sugar was exacerbating my high blood pressure. Everyone thought it was salt, and to some extent it is salt…….sodium chloride salt made in a factory. Sea salt, with many trace minerals, and which is alkaline in nature, is actually good for us. No, that doesn’t mean go eat a pound of the stuff! LOL
I am hearing a lot lately about the latest gurus’ idea that all oils are bad oils. I am sorry, but I cannot embrace that one. I absolutely agree that sugar and hfcs should be eliminated from the diet, and we have. Insulin kills us, and not just through diabetes. I believe that refined white flour should be eliminated from the diet as it offers nothing but more sugar, and we have. I like complex carbohydrates in my diet, I like clean protein in my diet, and I like healthy oils in my diet – fish oil, flax oil, olive oil, primrose oil, and coconut oil – and oils from nuts and seeds. I like ‘whole eggs in my diet, as well.
What some of the latest guru physicians on “no oils” are overlooking, in my humble opinion, is that fish oil is the only documented method of actually reducing and eliminating plaque from our blood vessels. They overlook the fact that we are more than just a circulatory system. Our brains are largely made up of fat, for example, and healthy fatty acids are vital to the health of our brains and other organs. I want to not only keep my heart and blood vessels healthy (and I still believe that healthy fatty acids from healthy oils do that), but I also want a healthy brain and nervous system, and a healthy liver, etc.
I am 100% in your camp on daily exercise. Our absolute minimum is 5 days per week of at least 1 full hour in duration. We vary these from weight training (to maintain muscle mass and improve metabolism), to aerobic (bike and eliptical), to swimming, and to hiking. Regarding the weights, I like to use moderate to heavy weights at times and then finish with 30 minutes of aerobics to bring blood pressure back down. This is a 1 1/2 hour exercise period. I always follow each workout with up to 1 hour in my far infrared sauna. That is a subject that I can’t wait to get to for its heart and hypertension benefits!
We will talk about all these things, and more, at length as we go forward. I am hopeful that with helpful comments like yours, we will all learn much about staying healthy!
Thanks again, and all the best!
Thanks for a great article. I look forward to reading more.
I had my yearly check-up with the doc today and all she did was tick the boxes on the computer. No review of my medication even though my blood pressure was still too high. This has made me very angry and frustrated (again). I hate going to see my GP as they are so useless. The NHS does not produce the best GPs as its all about ticking boxes and following steps which don’t work.
It is nice to know that there is an alternative.
Hi Priti! Thank you for your compliment and your comments. As readers of my past posts probably recognize, I am not a big fan of the AMA nor Big Pharma generally. If I am in an accident of some kind, you bet I want the best physician around to deal with my physical injuries. On disease processes and treatments, respectfully, let’s just say that they are not always where I want to be….and then let’s just nicely leave it at that! 🙂
We will talk about a lot of alternative therapies that have helped a lot of people, including myself. I am hopeful that you will find things that can help you as we go forward!
All the best!
Just a tip to watch for in your dietary regimens. For hypertension, my doctor told me to be especially careful of added sugar. This would include fructose, HFCS etc. Also watch fruit juices of any kind, agave syrup, and maple syrup. An apple or banana should be fine since the sugar is bound to the fiber, but just watch those added sugars. This is probably the reason so many diabetics also have hypertension. The common thread is insulin resistance.
Thanks again, Nick!
I have argued for years that sugars were exacerbating my hypertension, but no doctor would buy it……until now! Refined sugar is a killer. HFCS is a killer! I am not as concerned with natural sugars from fruits. Also, not all agave nectars are equal. Volcanic agave nectar has a glycemic index (laboratory documented) far lower than the brands you find in grocery and health food stores. I find it to be an excellent, natural sweetener.
In sum, insulin is a killer!
All the best!
Dear D,
Thanks for sharing your experiences, this is a great blog, and largely overdue. Somebody asked before, but I couldn’t find an answer. Does grapefruit help to normalize blood pressure?
Maria C.
Hi again, Maria……I am sorry for the delay in answering above, and thanks again!
Grapefruit has lots of health benefits, but it is not know for natural diuretic or natural ace inhibitor properties.
All the best!
Oh wow, I guess the next post on natural ace inhibitors is out today already. Check it out!
All the best!
Has anyone tried Hibiscus tea I have been drinking 3 cups daily for 3 months and have lowered my bp significantly.
hi, thanks for your blog God bless u alot what can also be use for aniexty and stress pls
We will tackle beta blockers, their significant downsides, and alternatives next monday. There will be a lot in ther for you regarding anxiety and stress. It might even take more than one post, but stay tuned!
All the best!!
,Best information about natural way,avoiding medication cause side effects. Fantastic advises!
Thank you, angela. I am hoping to provide a lot more that you will find helpful!
All the best!