Lowering Blood Pressure Naturally - The Lifestyle Connection

One of the best ways of lowering your blood pressure is to make a lifestyle change that incorporates exercise and a healthy diet designed to lower HBH (high blood pressure) Here is a video with Robert Kowalski (Author of the Blood Pressure Cure) where he talks about a diet that will lower your HBP naturally. You have probably heard of the DASH diet. It stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The Mediterranean diet would be part of this. A delicious way to eat, stay healthy and lower blood pressure by about 6-8 points. The Dash Study A landmark study called DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) looked at the effects of an overall eating plan in adults with normal to high blood pressure. Researchers found that in just eight weeks, people following the DASH diet saw their blood pressure decrease. Weight and sodium intake were held constant and thus were not a factor in the blood pressure reductions observed. The lowering of blood pressure among DASH participants were comparable (systolic 11 to 12 mm Hg and diastolic 5 to 6 mm Hg reductions) to those observed with single drug regimens.The DASH authors also noted that their results were generalizable to the entire U.S. population since the blood pressure reductions did not stratify based upon age, gender, weight or race. The conclusion of the study was that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods and with reduced saturated and total fat can substantially lower blood pressure. This diet offers an an additional nutritional approach to preventing and treating hypertension as opposed to a drug treatment.

Exercise Reduces Blood Pressure...

... But too few doctors recommend it to their patients, study finds

Two-thirds of doctors don't take the time to tell their patients with high blood pressure about the importance of exercise and physical activity. "Patients do follow physician recommendations to exercise when instructed to, and patients who follow exercise recommendations tend to have lower systolic blood pressures than those who do not," said lead researcher Dr. Josiah Halm, a hypertension specialist at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. 71 percent of patients with high blood pressure saw a drop in their blood pressure when they increased their physical activity, which means that they listened when doctors told them to exercise more, according to the report.
In a clinical trial, the participants in the Healthy for Life program ate a healthy diet and increased their exercise instead of taking drugs. After the trial, their systolic blood pressure dropped an average of 10 points and diastolic blood pressure dropped an average of 6 points in just 12 weeks. This is comparable to the DASH trial. The difference is that you will get more support with this program than trying to do the DASH program on your own. How would that affect your blood pressure if it dropped that much in 12 weeks? How long would it take to get off your meds?

Check out the Healthy For Life program by Dr. Ray Strand. The information on this site could help you to get on your way to lowering your blood pressure naturally. In a clinical trial, the participants in the Healthy for Life program ate a healthy diet and increased their exercise instead of taking drugs. After the trial, their systolic blood pressure dropped an average of 10 points and diastolic blood pressure dropped an average of 6 points in just 12 weeks. 

Lowering Blood Pressure Naturally - The Grape Seed Extract Connection

In a recent study done at the University of California at Davis, it was discovered that a standardized dose of grape-seed extract lowered blood pressure. Systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) dropped 12 points, on average. Diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number in a blood pressure reading) dropped an average of 8 points. Click on the following article to read about it.

Grape-seed Extract for Blood Pressure?

Polyphenol antioxidants found in grape seeds naturally increase blood vessel dilation (vasodilation), which increases blood flow and decreases blood pressure. Grape-seed extract is exactly what it sounds like--an extract produced from the seeds of grapes--with high levels of polyphenols, particularly one polyphenol known as proanthocyanidin. I use it to control the pain and inflammation for my father's arthritis. Consequently, he has no more pain. Amazing.

A Unique Way to Manage High Blood Pressure!

Grape-seed extract is available in capsules, tablets, and tinctures. Look for products that are standardized to 95% OPC content. (OPC is an abbreviation for oligomeric proanthocyanidins, which are a class of flavonoid complexes.) Grape seed extract is considered safe. However, because herbs and dietary supplements are not strictly regulated by the U.S. food and Drug Administration, it is difficult to verify the purity and strength of products claiming to contain grape-seed extract. That is why you should look for one that is pharmaceutical-grade and has the letters "USP" on the label (United States Phamacopeia). This is a level of manufacturing that has higher standards and may assure the purity and potency of what you are taking. In addition, it should be certified by a respected independent lab like Consumer Labs or the NSF to make sure their claims are true.

I take a grape-seed extract product called "Proflavanol 90" made by Usana Health Sciences. It is a pharmaceutical-grade (USP) grape-seed extract that is standardized to 95% OPC content. It is certified by the NSF and carries NSF's trusted Certified for Sport™ Mark. USANA also received Good Manufacturing Practices registration and dietary supplement certification in 2007 through NSF. Usana Health Sciences is the official health supplement supplier to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Thousands of Olympic and Pro athletes also trust their health to Usana Health Sciences.

Lowering Blood Pressure Naturally - The Magnesium Connection

Doctors usually prescribe Toprol and (maybe) a diuretic for high blood pressure to reduce body fluids. Diuretics help lower blood pressure but also leach out the magnesium, potassium in the body and raises homocysteine by 16% which can bring on Alzheimer's and a heart attack. Toprol raises her triglycerides and lowers her HDL (good) cholesterol which can lead to a heart attack.

If you are looking for natural ways to reduce your blood pressure, here are a few tips that might help.

Taking supplements is not the total answer to reducing blood pressure. But with a low-glycemic diet and daily exercise, it could be a part of the answer to get you off of high blood pressure medicines. Are you taking enough magnesium? As always, check with your doctor or a naturopathic doctor before you do anything different, but . . .

Magnesium has been shown to lower blood pressure.

Dr. Cohen wrote a book called, "The Magnesium Solution For High Blood Pressure." In it, Dr. Cohen looks at one probable underlying cause of high blood pressure -- magnesium deficiency. He describes how up to 75% of Americans are deficient in this mineral and as a consequence are sick in many ways. The average American only gets 40% of the Magnesium that it needs from diet alone. Doctors are widely ignorant about magnesium and tend to think of drugs as first resort rather than last. In the Journal of the American Medical Association, it was reported that over 90% of all doctors failed to look at a patients low magnesium levels even though some of them died of heart attacks from so low a level.

Dr. Cohen explains how magnesium is an essential micronutrient in maintaining suppleness in the walls of blood vessels. In magnesium deficiency, the vessels become stiffer and so do not absorb the blood pressure surges properly. “Evidence suggests that magnesium may play an important role in regulating blood pressure. Magnesium deficiency can cause metabolic changes that may contribute to heart attacks and strokes. There is also evidence that low body stores of magnesium increase the risk of abnormal heart rhythms, which may increase the risk of complications associated with a heart attack. Population surveys have associated higher blood levels of magnesium with lower risk of coronary heart disease.”

Magnesium is one of the body’s most important minerals. It is required as a cofactor in hundreds of enzymatic processes within cells. Magnesium is a major factor in relaxing the smooth muscles within the blood vessels, thereby reducing peripheral vascular resistance and blood pressure. It also stimulates nitric oxide, a mechanism at work when we exercise, helping to relax and dilate blood vessels. In addition, magnesium reduces nerve and muscle excitability, stabilizes cardiac conductivity, and influences neurochemical transmission. Magnesium also affects circulating levels of norepinephrine and the synthesis of serotonin and nitric oxide.

Indeed, because of magnesium’s primary role in blood pressure regulation, for decades scientists have called magnesium “nature’s calcium channel blocker” because magnesium directly offsets the constriction of blood vessels caused by calcium. Because drug companies cannot make money from a natural substance like magnesium, they have developed a whole group of drugs called calcium antagonists or calcium channel blockers to do what magnesium does. In 2000, doctors wrote more than 95 million prescriptions for calcium antagonists, including top sellers amlo-dipine (Norvasc), nifedipine (Procardia), diltiazem (Cardizem, Tiazac), and others at a total cost of more than $4.5 billion. These drugs are not only costly, but they can also cause side effects such as dizziness, palpitations, fatigue, tiredness, and swollen legs. Over a five year period, they shrink your brain and you could end up with Alzheimer's disease like my parents. Yet many doctors do not hesitate to prescribe these drugs because they were never taught about magnesium. While legions of pharmaceutical sales representatives bring stacks of studies and free samples of these drugs, no one pushes magnesium.

Fortunately, a growing number of doctors are now learning about magnesium. Sherry Rogers, MD, a highly respected integrative medicine physician, has written extensively about magnesium’s benefits for disorders caused by abnormal muscle constriction: “In order for a muscle to contract, it needs calcium. In order to relax, it needs magnesium.” Hypertension is one of the conditions for which Dr. Rogers recommends supplementing with magnesium.

Evidence-based studies have shown the same thing. A 1989 study published in the journal Hypertension found that taking 625 mg of magnesium daily produced significant reductions in blood pressure in 21 subjects. A study published in 1993 in the American Journal of Hypertension found that taking supplemental magnesium reduced average systolic blood pressure from 154 to 146 mm Hg and cut average diastolic blood pressure from 100 to 92 mm Hg.

A study published in the International Journal of Cardiology in 1996 found that taking 600 mg of magnesium daily reduced systolic blood pressure by an average of 7.6 mm Hg and diastolic pressure by an average of 3.8 mm Hg.23 In another double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 1997, subjects who took 411-548 mg of magnesium daily experienced significant reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

Summary
Magnesium should be considered by anyone seeking to prevent or treat high blood pressure. The foundation for a healthy blood pressure consists of a healthy diet, adequate exercise, stress reduction, and sufficient amounts of potassium and magnesium. If you eat plentiful amounts of vegetables, you are likely getting plenty of potassium.

Foods rich in magnesium and often other important minerals include all sorts of nuts and seeds, whole grains, beans, and leafy green vegetables such spinach, broccoli, peas and artichoke. Note that processing foods often degrades their nutrient value. That means refined grains lose most of their magnesium. Freezing and canning, on the other hand, usually retain the original nutrients.

A wise and easier choice would be to supplement the diet with a balanced mineral, trace mineral and vitamin solution, because although there is an abundance of good quality calcium, vitamin d, and magnesium supplements on the market, caution must be exercised when deciding how much to take of each one in conjunction to the effect on the others. And remember, they have to be easily absorbed into the intestines to bring maximum benefits.

I take 700 mg. per day in a combination of multivitamin and a calcium supplement. There are different forms of magnesium such as magnesium sulfate, oxide, gluconate, lactate and citrate. Look for one with magnesium citrate as it is more soluble and, therefore, more easily absorbed than some of the other forms.

Magnesium can be used in concert with drugs for hypertension. Check with your doctor first. My brother knew an advanced yoga instructor who developed muscle tightness as a side effect of her anti-hypertensive medication. Supplementing with magnesium allowed her to reduce her medication dose, and her muscle tightness went away. If you ever get muscle cramps in you legs at night, magnesium might help relieve that too and get you a better nights sleep.

You can have your magnesium, potassium, arginine and other vitamin levels checked by getting a blood test. This might help you to determine what to do. In any case, taking more magnesium would be a good idea

Science and Supplement News: Grapeseed Extract to Lower Blood Pressure

Grapeseed extract may reduce both high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. A small study at the University of California at Davis tested grapeseed extract among those with metabolic syndrome, a diagnosis given to patients who have a combination of high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and high blood sugar estimated to affect 40 percent of American adults. Only 24 men and women participated in the study. They were divided into three groups of eight. One group received 150 milligrams of grapeseed extract daily; the second group got 300 milligrams; the third group took a placebo. After one month, blood pressure dropped among both groups taking the grapeseed extract. And LDL (“bad”) cholesterol also dropped in the 300 milligrams group. The cholesterol reductions were greatest among patients whose cholesterol was highest at the outset of the study. The researchers are now testing grapeseed extract on pre-hypertension patients, those with systolic (top number) pressure of 120-139 mmHg, and diastolic (bottom number) blood pressure of 80-89 mmHg.

Sources:
http://www.foodconsumer.org/
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/519079/