Green Pharmacy for High Blood Pressure

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" JoAnn Guest <angelprincessjo "

<angelprincessjo

Wed Dec 11, 2002 7:32 pm

Green Pharmacy for High Blood Pressure

 

 

Hypertension 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

—say,a borderline 138/88—is safer,but you should still try getting it

down closer to what's considered normal 120/80.

 

The problem is 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 --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.

 

 

 

Green Pharmacy for

High Blood Pressure:

 

 

Eating hearty 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.

 

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.)

 

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.

 

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 may also help, but I generally

recommend getting nutrients from foods if at all possible.

 

ORGANIC TOMATOES:

 

These fruits are genetically engineered so please make it a point to

purchase the 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.

 

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.

 

 

Written by,

James A. Dukes, Ph.D.

Excerpt taken from,

" The Green Pharmacy "

 

 

 

JoAnn Guest

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