20 replies to this topic

[GoodFellas]

Are there any supplements out there that can reduce high blood pressure? I've heard that Flax seed oil might do the trick, but on the other hand I've also heard that it can give you some bad side effects. I've also heard that Reservatrol lowers your blood pressure, but Reservatrol is an IGF-1 inhibitor and I don't want to inhibit my IGF-1 yet (I'm 21 years old).

[JLL]

Hibiscus tea lowers blood pressure.

After 12 days of drinking a cup of hibiscus tea, the experimental group in the first study showed a 11.2% decrease in systolic pressure and a 10.8% decrease in diastolic pressure, as compared to the first day.

[pro-d]

Vitamin D.

[GoodFellas]

Vitamin D.

I'm alredy taking 5000IU of it..

[pycnogenol]

I take magnesium glycinate (200 mg, twice daily) plus a 45 minute walk every day and it keeps my BP in the normal range.

[malbecman]

Aerobic exercise and ACE inhibitors.

[Lufega]

I second the magnesium. Also, from experience, forskoling, quercetin and lithium can lower BP. Astragalus as well.

[ajnast4r]

make sure you ca, mg & k are all withing RDA. even small periods of sub optimal ca will push my blood pressure up pretty high. make sure na is under 1500mg/day.. you can try dropping it as low as 500 and see if it effects your bp.

also LEF makes a good product for bp control w/ grapeseed & a protein hydrolosate.

[health_nutty]

CoQ10
celery
tomato paste/sauce
Magnesium
Calcium

[leanguy]

I've had a good response to a product called 'blood pressure success' by twinlab... it's made from casein. Also 'horny goat weed' can lower BP, and has other positive *ahem* side effects

[FunkOdyssey]

pycnogenol

[shaggy]

tomato paste/sauce

Any references to back this one up...is it the lycopene?

Thanks a lot..


After a quick google...See here for information, looks like it is the lycopene...

http://www.rejuvenat...d_pressure.html

Edited by shaggy, 01 April 2010 - 09:05 PM.

[nameless]

If you order from iHerb, I recommend getting the book: The Blood Pressure Cure by Robert E. Kowalski, as a freebie. Most of the freebie books from iHerb seem like nothing more than advertisements, but this book actually has some decent info in it (although it does push certain brands of supplements too).

As posted above, grapeseed, (Meganatural BP seems like the one to try) pycnogenol, CoQ10/Ubiquinol and Lycomato are mentioned in the book. Add a little magnesium (if deficient) and perhaps pomegranate, and I expect your BP will come down.

[dehbleh]

Stick to the essentials, wait 3 months then move onto some others if no change is seen.

I was diagnosed with HBP at age 21 and after trying about 80% of so called "blood pressure remedies", this is what's worked for me.

* Magnesium Glycinate 200mg, twice daily (citrate is cheap and nasty)
* Vitamin D 5000 ui, once daily and ceasing once D3 levels within range.
* Vitamin K complex (K1, K2 MK4 & MK7), 3x week
* Pharm-grade Fish Oil 400mg EPA / 200mg, twice daily
* 100% RDA Multivitamin


I also take a low dose ACE Inhibitor (coversyl 2mg) once a day because of congenital heart enlargement. ACE Inhibitors have a really good side effect profile and don't only protect your heart but blood vessels as well. For me, they are the only Rx heart med I would take because they don't interfere with exercise.

[Lufega]

Oral taurine supplementation prevents fructose-induced hypertension in rats.
Harada H, Tsujino T, Watari Y, Nonaka H, Emoto N, Yokoyama M.

Division of Cardiovascular and Respiratory Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.

Taurine is known to have antihypertensive and lipid-lowering effects in some experimental models and patients. On the other hand, intracellular free calcium and magnesium play important roles in regulating the tonus of blood vessels and insulin sensitivity. We examined the effect of oral taurine supplementation on blood pressure, serum metabolic parameters, and platelet cytosolic free calcium ([Ca(2+)](i)) and magnesium ([Mg(2+)](i)) concentration in fructose-fed Sprague-Dawley rats. Systolic blood pressure and platelet [Ca(2+)](i) were significantly higher in rats fed a 60% fructose diet. [High fructose corn syrup as an etiology of hypertension?] Oral taurine supplementation (1% in drinking water) completely prevented the elevation of blood pressure and an increase in platelet [Ca(2+)](i), but exacerbated hyperinsulinemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and a decrease in platelet [Mg(2+)](i). In conclusion, taurine may ameliorate fructose-induced hypertension in rats by preventing an increase in intracellular free calcium concentration. The blood pressure-lowering effect of taurine appeared to be independent from its effect on glucose and lipid metabolism in this model.
PMID: 15168061 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

[Athanasios]

Good suggestions in this thread.

I'll add:

Pomegranate
Cocoa (maybe same mechanism as pycnogenol)
Aged Garlic (Kyolic) or Time released garlic (Allicor)

Studies are hit and miss on the garlic but had a very strong effect on me, so I thought I would add it. If your blood pressure raises due to caffeine, you may want to look into taking some theanine with your caffeine.

[madanthony]

Are there any supplements out there that can reduce high blood pressure? I've heard that Flax seed oil might do the trick, but on the other hand I've also heard that it can give you some bad side effects. I've also heard that Reservatrol lowers your blood pressure, but Reservatrol is an IGF-1 inhibitor and I don't want to inhibit my IGF-1 yet (I'm 21 years old).

I had perfect blood pressure until I turned 50 and then I had high blood pressure only during PMS until I had a hysterectomy, so I say it is hormonally related. In fact, I was diagnosed with elevated homocysteine, and homocysteine causes high blood pressure (and is a serious problem in its own right). So I would say number one get a homocysteine test to find out if that's why you have high blood pressure. (Estrogen lowers homocysteine so that's the hormonal connection).

I bought a blood pressure machine and measured my blood pressure many times daily. My blood pressure was extremely high -- I was afraid if I sneezed I'd get a stroke. It was 175/117. I took a lot of things that work a little (maybe lower 6 points): garlic, olive leaf extract, celery seed, anything that thins the blood (like E), CoQ10. But the thing that took down my blood pressure 30 points -- the only thing strong enough for my kind of blood pressure is CAPSULES of calcium citrate plus magnesium (like Twinlabs) and Vitamin D (I take 10,000 / day and skip weekends). Tablets are rocks and don't digest fast enough or at all. Calcium carbonate is only 5% absorbable. So it had to be calcium citrate or better (but I like citrate and don't like some of the others).

Now www.lef.org had an article in their latest magazine that said that the ONLY thing you have to do to lower your blood pressure to normal is give up all wheat and cornmeal products. Their doctors have used this in clinical practice and it works iron clad, but of course it's hard. I am allergic to wheat and tried giving it up for 2 years once and as a result did not eat enough starch and it caused low blood sugar issues for me, which I thought were worse. Wheat gluten is in everything, so many places you would not expect. But if you can do it, it works. It is also a proven strategy to prevent PMS. And now that PMS is FOREVER, I know that PMS is high blood pressure with low blood volume (the young woman's version of high blood pressure). And the other PMS cure is double and triple doses of calcium supplements/day. PMS = high blood pressure w/o the blood volume to detect it.

[health_nutty]

Now www.lef.org had an article in their latest magazine that said that the ONLY thing you have to do to lower your blood pressure to normal is give up all wheat and cornmeal products. Their doctors have used this in clinical practice and it works iron clad, but of course it's hard. I am allergic to wheat and tried giving it up for 2 years once and as a result did not eat enough starch and it caused low blood sugar issues for me, which I thought were worse. Wheat gluten is in everything, so many places you would not expect. But if you can do it, it works. It is also a proven strategy to prevent PMS. And now that PMS is FOREVER, I know that PMS is high blood pressure with low blood volume (the young woman's version of high blood pressure). And the other PMS cure is double and triple doses of calcium supplements/day. PMS = high blood pressure w/o the blood volume to detect it.

I'm totally going to push the calcium supplements on my wife Maybe even go gluten free with her!

[madanthony]

I shoudl also mention that while calcium lowers blood pressure significantly, iy does not stay lowered. I knew there was a hormonal connection and I found several studies showing the DHEA improves endothelial function. I take 50mg DHEA every day along with my calcium, low salt, and garlic etc. regime and that is what keeps it down so that I do not need drugs. I can't give you the references easily -- I have the PDF files on my memory stick but not the websites I got them from and my computer keeps locking up so I'm not going to re-search.

Someone here mentioned caffeine and here's the tie to that: caffeine raises homocysteine. caffeine also raises cortisol (2 cups raise it, I believe 30% and cortisol is the number one killer of brain cells). The amount of cortisol you can tolerate is governed by your DHEA level. DHEA peaks at 30. I would not take it if I was under 30, I would say if you need more you are abusing caffeine. However, oddly (to me) William Falloon of www.lef.org takes high dose DHEA whenever he's sick because it suppresses TNF and other good things. If you take it every day like that and don't really need it (you are young) your adrenal gland will downregulate and you will be addicted to it.

I also see no one mentioned the poor man's blood pressure lowering solution of apple cider vinegar (1-2 tablespoons) in water. It works like garlic -- good but not as good as calcium and none of these keep your blood pressure down all day unless you take DHEA (so if you are young, plan on either the giving up wheat thing or taking some blood pressure lowering substances twice a day). Likewise no one mentioned the MAGIC and GREAT TASTING way to lower blood pressure (also said to prevent cancer): kombucha! It is high in acetic acid like apple cider vinegar, the probably mechanism. It is a great way to wind down the day - like a beer but only a 5 minute buzz, and I vote this the best choice for the second substance to lower blood pressure later in the day if you have to do something to ratch it down twice/day.

[Jasmine_Adams]

Supplements are good and an effective way to make up for nutritional gaps in our diet. But you should rely more on making diet and lifestyle changes to your life. Cut down your salt intake, get some exercise every day, and include more fruits and vegetables in your diet. Avoid saturated fats and high calorie foods. If you are overweight, consider joining a weight loss program to help you lose weight.

I have heard that flax seed oil can have some adverse affect. I would suggest you take fish oil supplements, instead. You should also consider taking a CoQ 10 supplement like CoQ Matrix? This contains a very bio-available form of CoQ10 called Ubiquinol. Here’s some suggestive research that supports the use of CoQ10 in regulating normal blood pressure -http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/12428181. Diet and lifestyle changes along with supplementation can help to regulate normal blood pressure.

[ken_akiba]

I find Alpha Lipoic Acid is side-effect-free way to go. You will see effect takes place within days. As much as 1800mg a day for a month or two shouldn't give you problems but start with lower dose like.. 600mg a day and see how it goes. Don't forget to take good multivitamin because ALA depletes minerals. L-Arginine upto 15 grams a day is relatively safe way to go but it may trigger herpes flare-up. Arjuna works like a charm but it thins blood quite a lot i.e. a bleeding risk, not so safe and please note that all herbs that lower blood pressure are highly likely to have this blood thinning side effects.

Take care.

Edited by ken_akiba, 10 May 2010 - 04:02 PM.