High blood pressure: Discover nature's own blood pressure regulators that can help ward off a heart attack or stroke

The number of people suffering from hypertension is growing at an alarming rate there are currently thought to be as many as ten million Britons suffering from the condition. One of the main culprits is our increasingly sedentary lifestyles including a lack of exercise, smoking, stress, and poor diet (typically high in sugar and saturated fats), which goes hand in hand with another risk factor, obesity.

So what exactly is high blood pressure? The blood circulating in your body exerts a certain force on the walls of your arteries, veins and your heart chambers. If this force increases, then your blood pressure increases and overtime this can trigger the formation of plaque in your arteries (arteriosclerosis). As your arteries become blocked youre put at risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.

High blood pressure doesnt always cause any symptoms and you may not even realise that you have a problem until it starts to affects the state of your arteries early warning signs include dizziness, general weakness, nose bleeds and headaches.

Obviously, in order to avoid these problems, it makes sense to take steps to control your blood pressure and keep it within certain safe limits. While factors like age and gender should be taken into account when determining these limits, in general a blood pressure reading that is higher than 140/90 mmHg is considered high and in need of treatment.

In the vast majority of cases no actual cause can be found this is termed essential hypertension. In fact only 5 per cent of hypertension cases are linked to a specific cause, such as kidney disease, which require specific treatment.

Conventional drugs help lower your blood pressure but at what price?

Following a diagnosis of high blood pressure (usually after it has been found to be high on three separate occasions), your doctor will probably prescribe an anti-hypertensive drug.

There are a number of drugs that fall under this category. They include beta blockers, which lower your heart rate; vasodilators (such as calcium channel blockers and ACE inhibitors), which widen your blood vessels; and diuretics (water tablets), which reduce the volume of your blood by removing water from your body.

Unfortunately these drugs all come with unpleasant and sometimes dangerous side effects ranging from muscle aches, fatigue and nausea to breathing difficulties, impotence and heart failure.

Complementary treatments have an extremely high success rate in the fight against hypertension

Despite the fact that hypertension can often be successfully controlled using a drug-free approach, a recent study found that only 5 per cent of patients with high blood pressure were aware of the usefulness of complementary treatments for the condition. The study also found that the majority of patients up to 94 per cent who did use complementary treatments experienced a significant drop in their blood pressure levels (Yeh GY, Davis RB, Phillips RS. Am J Cardiol. 2006 Sep 1;98(5):673-80).

One of the most beneficial natural treatments for hypertension is garlic. It not only helps reduce blood pressure but also reduces the stickiness of the blood inside the arteries thereby preventing the blood from clotting, which could otherwise cause a heart attack or stroke. 

In a recent study conducted by a team of researchers from the Department of Biological Sciences, Kuwait University, garlic was found to work by influencing the concentration of nitric oxide a substance that reduces blood pressure by widening the arteries in the blood (Al-Qattan KK, et al. J Nutr. 2006;136(3 Suppl):774S-776S).

Better still, nitric oxide has an additional benefit for men as it also widens the arteries of the penis, thereby helping to reverse impotence. Its no coincidence that many men who suffer from high blood pressure also suffer from impotence, because they generally have narrow arteries. So supplementing with garlic can help combat both conditions (Budoff M. J Nutr. 2006;136(3 Suppl):741S-744S). Research suggests that aged garlic may offer greater protection than ordinary raw garlic take 900mg of garlic powder a day (containing 1.3 per cent alliin garlics active ingredient).

Co-enzyme Q10 just as effective as many anti-hypertensive drugs but without the side effects

Another effective supplement for lowering high blood pressure is co-enzyme Q10 (CoQ10) a natural substance produced in the body. For many people, it can lower blood pressure as effectively as prescription medication and without the adverse side effects.

In a double-blind clinical trial, a group of 76 patients with hypertension took 60mg of CoQ10 or a placebo for 12 weeks. At the end of the study, the CoQ10 group had an average reduction of 18 points in their blood pressure, leading the researchers to conclude: CoQ10 may safely be offered to hypertensive patients as an alternative treatment option (Southern Med J 2001; 94(11): 1112-7). Take 60 to 120mg of CoQ10 a day.

Take these simple steps to control your blood pressure naturally

* Hawthorn (Crataegus oxycantha) a plant with proven heart benefits. UK scientists from the University of Reading recently found that 1,200mg of hawthorn extract taken each day for 16 weeks was effective at lowering blood pressure in diabetic patients (Walker AF et al. Br J Gen Pract. 2006;56(527):437-43). This is just above the currently recommended dosage for hawthorn, which is 1,000mg a day.

 * Benefit from the wisdom and teachings of Ayurvedic medicine. To combat hypertension, this ancient Indian form of medicine recommends a following diet low in salt and saturated fat, yoga (for more information see below) and the remedy ashwagandha (withania somnifera), which is highly valued for its ability to counteract high blood pressure (Ichikawa H, et al. Mol Cancer Ther. 2006(6):1434-45). The recommended dosage for ashwagandha is 650mg a day.

* Make exercise a part of your everyday routine. In particular, exercises such as yoga and tai chi, which teach specific relaxation and breathing techniques, can lower high blood pressure and stress levels, regulate your heart rate and improve the health of your arteries. For further information, contact: The UK Tai Chi Finder, Web: www.taichifinder.co.uk or The British Wheel of Yoga, Tel: 01529 306 851, Web: www.bwy.org.uk 

* Increase your dietary intake of magnesium and potassium. Both have been found to be extremely effective in lowering high blood pressure. Magnesium-rich foods include green leafy vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, dried peas and beans. Foods high in potassium include avocados, bananas, cantaloupe, citrus fruit and broccoli.