Safer, more effective herbs for high blood pressure.

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"JoAnn Guest"

Fri Mar 17, 2006 2:29 am

Green Pharmacy for High Blood Pressure

 

 

 

 

Green Pharmacy for High Blood Pressure Mar 16, 2006 12:52 PST

Hypertension or High Blood Pressure is generally defined as a blood

pressure greater than 140/90. The first number (systolic) is the force that

blood exerts on the artery walls when the heart is pumping. The second number

(diastolic) is the residual force that remains when the heart relaxes between

beats. Any blood pressure reading below a borderline 138/88 is safer, but

you should still try getting it down closer to what's considered normal

120/80. The problem in my opinion is that doctors are too quick to treat

this condition with "synthetic drugs". About half the people diagnosed have

"mildly" high blood pressure. There's plenty of "evidence" that for them,

diet and lifestyle changes, including exercise, stress management and

self-monitoring with a home blood pressure device, work just as well as drugs,

and with no "side effects". Diet and lifestyle modifications all tend to

provide a sense of control that in itself may be beneficial. But don't expect

the pharmaceutical industry to encourage the natural way. It would cut into

their $2.5 billion-a-year for "antihypertensive medication".

 

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Pharmacy for High Blood Pressure:

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Eating hearty organic vegetable soups on a regular basis can do more than

help normalize blood pressure and prevent heart disease. It can also help

prevent cancer, obesity, diabetes and constipation. Vegetable soup is so good

for health that I don't even call it minestrone anymore, but rather Medistrone.

What would you put in your Medistrone Soup? You can use just about any

vegetables, especially the ones mentioned in this chapter. There are also

any number of herbs that can help control blood pressure, but you don't have to

put those in a soup. They make rather nice

teas.

 

CELERY: Celery has long been recommended in traditional for

lowering high blood pressure, and experimental evidence bears this out. In

one study, injecting laboratory animals with celery extract significantly

lowered their blood pressure. In humans, eating as few as four celery stalks

has done the same.

 

GARLIC: This wonder herb not only helps normalize blood pressure, it also

"reduces cholesterol". In a scientifically rigorous study, people with high

blood pressure were given about one clove of garlic a day for 12 weeks.

Afterward they exhibited significantly lower diastolic blood pressure and

cholesterol levels.

 

"We now know that garlic can reduce hypertension, even in quantities as

small as a half-ounce per week," says Varro Tyler, Ph.D., dean and professor

emeritus of pharmacognosy, (natural product pharmacy) at Purdue University in

West Lafayette, Indiana. If you cook with garlic and use it in your salads,

getting that much should be a snap! If you haven't yet developed a taste for

it, take it in capsule form. With so many health benefits associated with

this herb, I'd recommend finding many ways to enjoy it in your food.

 

HAWTHORN: Hawthorn berry extract can widen (dilate) blood vessels,

especially the coronary arteries, according to a report published in the

Lawrence Review of Natural Products, a respected newsletter. Hawthorne has

been used as a "heart tonic" for centuries. If you'd like to try it, make a

tea with one teaspoon of dried herb per cup of boiling water and drink up to

two cups a day.

 

SAFFRON: This expensive herb contains a blood pressure lowering chemical

called "crocetin". Some authorities even speculate that the low incidence of

heart disease in Spain is due to that nation's high saffron 'consumption'. You

can use saffron in your cooking or make a tea with it.

 

VALERIAN: Earlier in this chapter I mentioned that gamma-amino butyric acid

helps control

blood pressure. Well, this herb valerian contains a chemical called

"valerenic acid" that inhibits an enzyme that breaks down GABA. So ingesting

something containing valerenic acid would, in effect, ensure higher levels of

GABA and lower blood pressure. Valerian is also a tranquilizer/sedative,

which also helps reduce blood pressure.

 

BROCCOLI: This vegetable has at least six chemicals that reduce blood

pressure.

 

CARROT: According to my database, carrots contain eight compounds that lower

blood pressure.

 

ONION: (Allium cepa). In one study, two to three tablespoons of onion

essential oil a day lowered blood pressure in 67 percent of people with

hypertension. Their systolic levels fell an average of 25 points and their

diastolic readings fell 15 points. The bad news is that you can't get this oil,

and you wouldn't be able to eat enough onions to get this much of an effect.

In my case, I'd have to ingest three times my body weight in onions. But I do

think that onions have enough going for them that you should definitely add

more of them to your diet to help lower blood pressure.

 

PURSLANE: and other foods containing magnesium. Magnesium deficiency

has been implicated in high blood pressure. Many Americans are deficient in

this mineral and don't know it. A 1994 Gallup poll showed that about 72

percent of those surveyed reported inadequate magnesium intake. To get

magnesium, turn to leafy greens, legumes and whole grains. Purslane, poppy

seeds, and string beans are the best dietary sources, according to my database.

Nutritionists suggest that a daily supplement of 400 mgs of magnesium twice

daily may help.

 

ORGANIC TOMATOES: These fruits are genetically engineered so please make it a

point to purchase non-gmo varieties! A typical minestrone has a tomato base.

That's also perfect for Medistrone Soup, because tomatoes are high in

gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), a compound that can help bring down

blood pressure. According to my database, tomatoes also contain six other

compounds that do the same thing.

 

KUDZU: Chinese studies suggest that this vine helps normalize blood

pressure. In one study, a tea containing about eight teaspoons of kudzu root

was given daily to 52 people for two to eight weeks. In 17 people, blood

pressure declined markedly. Thirty others showed some benefit. Kudzu contains

a chemical (puerarin) that has decreased blood pressure by 15 percent in

laboratory animals. With 100 times the antioxidant activity of vitamin E,

puerarin also helps prevent heart disease and cancer. (Antioxidants are

substances that neutralize cell-damaging oxygen molecules known as free

radicals.)

 

ASSORTED SPICES: As for spices that you can add to your Medistrone,

fennel contains at least ten compounds that lower blood pressure, oregano has

seven, and black pepper, basil and tarragon each have six. James A. Dukes,

Ph.D. Former Head Botanist with

the Botanical Division of the USDA Author of, "The Green Pharmacy"

 

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subject: Pascal's Ribs www.alternative-medicine-message-boards.info

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Pascal's Ribs JoAnn Guest Aug 12, 2002 11:44 PDT Celery is a member of

the umbelliferous family—along with carrots, parsley and fennel—and is valued

for its distinctive flavor and crisp texture. Served in salads, as a

relish, with meats and fish, a flavoring or vegetable in soups stews and

stuffings, celery is exceptionally low in calories. Originally from the

Mediterranean, celery was cultivated from an indigenous wild celery. A bunch

of celery is known as a stalk, and the stalk is made up of individual ribs.

Four ribs of celery is about 94 percent water and high in both potassium and

sodium. According to James Duke (Handbook of Medicinal Herbs), "clinically,

celery

juice has proven 'hypotensive' in those taking 40 milliliters orally three

times a day." Dr. William Elliot (St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago) has

investigated a component of celery oil (3-n-butyl phthalide) which may be

responsible for lowering systolic blood pressure. In a 1992 abstract

(clinical research) Elliot concluded that "phthalide" directly "relaxed"

vascular smooth muscle through a mechanism which decreased circulating

catecholamines (amines that stimulate the nervous system). In an earlier

paper (1991), Elliot discussed how phthalide lowered systolic blood pressure

and its related effects on 'serum cholesterol' and high density lipoprotein

cholesterol. Celery contains other compounds which are said to "enhance" the

activity of certain white blood cells. A Minneapolis study suggested that the

class of bioactive natural products occurring in edible umbelliferous plants

may be effective as chemo- preventive agents. The best celery is light

green in color. Dark green celery has more nutrients but can be stringy. Limp

celery should be avoided.