(MSN.com) — The aisles of a pharmacy are full of supplements and herbs claiming to lower blood pressure, but which ones really work? A pair of cardiologists combed the scientific literature for studies on effective ways to treat blood pressure and concluded, in a new paper, that there are good data that some of the nondrug remedies work, but there is scant evidence for others.
“There are certain patients who are very reluctant to start taking medication,” said Dr. Kevin Woolf, a cardiologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center and one author of the new paper. “Many of them will ultimately need medication, but some of them, you may be able to control their hypertension with lifestyle modifications instead.”
Among the top recommendations from physicians for patients trying to control high blood pressure, or hypertension, without drugs: exercise, a change in diet, and limiting alcohol intake. But over-the-counter supplements can also have their place in a treatment plan, the researchers said.
The analysis is published in the September issue of the Journal of Clinical Hypertension.
Lifestyle changes can make a difference
Diet changes, the researchers concluded, are the best nondrug way to treat high blood pressure.
“By far, the most studied and the most efficacious is the low-sodium DASH diet,” Woolf said. The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) plan includes lowering sodium intake and eating whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products.
The researchers looked at studies of nine dietary supplements, including garlic, calcium, vitamin D, fish oil and soy protein. The evidence was strongest, Woolf said, for the effectiveness of potassium and coenzyme Q10 supplements on lowering blood pressure.
Both need to be studied more, he said, but the data so far indicate that both work better than a placebo at reducing blood pressure. The other dietary supplements may do little to treat hypertension, but there’s no harm in trying them, the researchers said.
“But the same can’t be said for herbal supplements,” Woolf said. “We really need to be careful with these because not only is there minimal evidence that they work to treat hypertension, but their safety hasn’t been well-studied.”
(12 votes, average: 3.83 out of 5)
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At the same time, the negative side effects of toxic medications has been studied, and they are in many cases both life ruining and life threatening, yet AMA doctors continue to pass them out like candy.
The hubris of these physicians is laughable. They know little if anything about what they speak when it comes to vitamins, minerals, and supplements………..but they might be more effective than a placebo! LMAO
If you want to stay healthy, stay away from organized AMA medicine and go with the natural cures for ailment……
All the best!!
i wholly concur….use western medicine in emergency situations and even then God help you!
After about 3 months taking your suggestion to use dandelion and celery (I take them as supplements)I have reduced my Atenolol to 25mgs from 150mgs. I also take beet root and CoQ10 along with my usual supplements. But it was the addition of the dandelion and celery seed that made the obvious difference. At the highest I’m now at 130/70 but often lower.
I’d like to thank you for your tip. I feel great!
Dia
For Dia: I am interested in your results in daking dandelion and celery: In what forms do you take these, and how much?
Thanking you,
Mary Anne
Mary Anne,
Both are in capsule form. The dandelion is from Eclectic Institute and is organic. Each capsule is 150mg and I take 3 a day. The celery seed is from Natural Factors, each capsule is 75mg, I take 2 a day. I order both from the Vitamin Shoppe along with the beet root capsules which I think are important too.
If you decide to try these I hope you have similar results.
I agree with Carestia! There are so many side effects that have been documented on most drugs that you need pages and pages in tiny print to include them all. Some have been shown to cause cancer. Wow! I’ll risk the natural approach! 😉
Mistletoe has been use in Europe for ages to treat HBP and nobody tried to scare you with toxicity of this herb.
I have had great luck reducing blood pressure by increasing potassium in my diet. There are many ways to do this, but for me the easiest and most effective was to add a coconut water, banana smoothy (11 oz. coconut water, banana, juice of one lemon, blend) to my diet once or twice a day. One smoothy provides 1100-1200mg of potassium and 200-230 calories. The first smoothy has become my breakfast and the second if I drink it an afternoon or evening snack. My blood pressure has dropped from 135-145/80-90 to 105-115/70-75. My brother has tried a similar approach but uses a raspberry powder in the coconut, lemon juice concoction because he is allergic to bananas. He had a recent physical in order to get additional life insurance and his blood pressure which had been in the same higher range as mine dropped to 112/70. I think the trick here is to increase your potassium intake so that it is higher than your sodium intake. There is a tipping point. Until you get potassium higher than sodium the impact is minimal but after it is significant.