Hawthorn Berry and Hypertension (sleep, flaxseed, blood, pressure)
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I am a middle aged male with hypertension. My MD prescribes an ace inhibitor and a beta blocker to control my blood pressure. I would like to get off these meds because of the side effects. I stopped taking these meds and tried Hawthorn Berry Extract, 1 - 565mg capsule 3 times daily. It worked great for the first month or so, but now my pressure is back to being too high. Not sure what to do. Am I using this supplement correctly? Are there better supplements for controlling hypertension? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
It's possible you might have to titrate down to get off your meds instead of going off them cold turkey. I don't know, but thought I would just suggest that.
I haven't used hawthorn but other supplements that help with hypertension are celery seed extract and PeptACE. I recommend the Natural Factors brand (GMP, made in Canada, third party certified). Research them online and read reviews to see if one or both of these supplements might help you.
Switch hawthorn brands... perhaps a liquid one or use the Gaia capsule and bite into it. Magnesium is a must. Many other helpful supplements but these are my go-to's. Practical things, if needed, would be exercise, weight loss, proper sleep and, of course, reduce stress.
I am a middle aged male with hypertension. My MD prescribes an ace inhibitor and a beta blocker to control my blood pressure. I would like to get off these meds because of the side effects. I stopped taking these meds and tried Hawthorn Berry Extract, 1 - 565mg capsule 3 times daily. It worked great for the first month or so, but now my pressure is back to being too high. Not sure what to do. Am I using this supplement correctly? Are there better supplements for controlling hypertension? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
John
Here is some info from previous posts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by capoeira
Even though you may have tried supplements before there are probably many other supplements to try first before adding another ineffective prescription.
Hawthorn capsules did nothing for me but I had wonderful results using Dr. Christopher's Hawthorn Berry Heart syrup. This is an amazing product and my number one supplement.
Grape seed extract and pycnogenol have been reported to have beneficial effects on bp. MegaNatural-BP is the one specific patented grape seed extract that has been medically studied for bp.
"GSE significantly reduced systolic BP (SBP) by 5·6%(P=0·012)"
Or how about something with no side effects like pomegranate juice?
"A very recent study included 21 hypertensive patients (aged
30-67 years) [23]. These were assigned to receive either PJ
(150 ml/day in a single occasion between lunch and dinner; n
= 11) or the same amount of water (n = 10) for a period of 2
weeks. PJ consumption was associated with significant reductions
in systolic BP (p=0.002)..."
It is doubtful that beta blockers will be significantly helpful.
"In comparison with other antihypertensive drugs, the effect of beta-blockers is less than optimum, with a raised risk of stroke," wrote Lars Hjalmar Lindholm, M.D., and colleagues at Umea University Hospital and University Hospital in Goteborg,"
"Two controlled clinical trials have investigated the effects of reishi on high blood pressure in humans and both found it could lower blood pressure significantly compared to a placebo."
Also one may be able to lower blood pressure through excellent nutrition. Joel Fuhrman's nutritarian diet is very beneficial for cardiovascular health.
"Of the 443 individuals with high blood pressure, the average drop in systolic blood
pressure after a Nutritarian diet was followed for at least one year was 26 mmHg. In contrast,
standard blood pressure medications lower systolic blood pressure on average about 10 mmHg.3 The
drop for the Nutritarian patients in diastolic blood pressure was about 15 mmHg. These results dwarf
what can be achieved with routine blood pressure medications—and they are achieved without the
risks of side effects"
Something very simple like walking can also be effective.
"Another study of Japanese men indicates that hypertensive men who walked more than 10,000
steps per day showed an average 10 mm Hg decrease in SBP and anaverage 8 mm Hg decrease in DBP as
compared to those who were sedentary"
Quote:
Originally Posted by capoeira
Qigong and Tai Chi are very helpful for blood pressure. I personally like the Chunyi Lin's Spring Forest Qigong program and Roger Jahnke's Qigong dvd. Learning directly from a teacher would be even better.
"In a review of 26 studies in English or Chinese published in Preventive Cardiology (Spring 2008), Dr. Yeh reported that in 85% of trials, tai chi lowered blood pressure — with improvements ranging from 3 to 32 mm Hg in systolic pressure and from 2 to 18 mm Hg in diastolic pressure."
Pomegranates are known to decrease blood pressure.
"They were given an ounce of pomegranate juice each day for a year. Not only did study participants' blood pressure lower by over 12 percent, but there was a 30 percent reduction in atherosclerotic plaque."
"current data suggest that long-term (at
least for 1 year) use of PJ has a beneficial effect on BP, improves
endothelial function, reduces arterial stiffness and
delays or reverses the progression of atherosclerosis"
Pycnogenol and grapeseed extract are also helpful.
"After 12 weeks of treatment, those who received the antioxidant supplement in addition to their medication were able to keep their blood pressure within normal levels with a 15-milligram dose of the drug compared with an average dose of 21.6 milligrams per day among those who took the placebo."
Garlic is well known for its beneficial effects on blood pressure but one has to take enough of it. Here is a study using the Kyolic aged garlic supplement.
"Mean systolic blood pressure was significantly reduced by 11.8±5.4 mm Hg in the garlic-2-capsule group over 12 weeks compared with placebo (P=0.006), and reached borderline significant reduction in the garlic-4-capsule group at 8 weeks (−7.4±4.1 mm Hg, P=0.07). "
Cayenne is also considered to be excellent for maintaining healthy blood pressure.
Seaweed might help and is easily found in Japanese & Korean food stores. However one should definitely not overdose on seaweed because of excess iodine concerns.
And I almost forgot about Natto! This fermented product is found in Japanese stores. I think it tastes terrible. Fortunately it is available as a supplement and I like the one made by Nutricology.
"Nattokinase supplementation resulted in a reduction in SBP and DBP. These findings suggest that increased intake of nattokinase may play an important role in preventing and treating hypertension."
I think the best way to naturally control blood pressure is through diet. I like Dr. Joel Fuhrman's diet the best. I highly recommend all of his books. Here is a Dr. Fuhrman youtube playlist.
Other dietary approaches might work. The DASH diet is promoted the "Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension" but it is not as effective or as extreme as the Fuhrman diet. The McDougall diet and the Caldwell Esselstyn diets are also worth investigating.
For people who do not want to adapt to a plant based diet the Protein Power Diet by Mark Eades is also reported to have beneficial effects on blood pressure.
Some foods also help with blood pressure.
Flaxseed is one of the best foods for lowering blood pressure.
"SBP was ≈ 10 mm Hg lower, and DBP was ≈ 7 mm Hg lower in the flaxseed group compared with placebo after 6 months. Patients who entered the trial with a SBP ≥ 140 mm Hg at baseline obtained a significant reduction of 15 mm Hg in SBP and 7 mm Hg in DBP from flaxseed ingestion"
These are impressive results but that is with 30g of flax/day(4 tbsp) and it was after 6 months.
Pistachios also may lower blood pressure according this study.
"Those randomly assigned to the blueberry powder showed improved blood pressure and reduced arterial stiffness; average systolic blood pressure (the top number) declined 5.1%, while diastolic pressure dropped 6.3%.
A weightlifting program may also improve blood pressure. In a small study "systolic and diastolic went down after 12 weeks on the program, 16 and 12 mm Hg, respectively (Figure 2). The decrease was enough to shift the group average from being stage 1 hypertension (150/93) to pre-hypertension(134/81)."
There is also a self published book on Amazon called "Reduce Blood Pressure Through Weight Training".
Resperate is a medical device that helps with blood pressure through breathing exercises. No side effects but ideally one needs at least 15min/day of breathing exercises.
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