Blood pressure lowering supplements

issyfit

BP can vary a great deal during the day, I would suggest more than one reading. We take DH's bp 3 times a day because his doc wants to be sure his new meds for other conditions aren't causing it to go too low. His lowest is always in the morning before eating or having any caffeine. His highest is early afternoon after a few cups of coffee or tea, while he is working at his desk (slightly stressful), and it's also after he has done his PT exercises, and then in the evening it is somewhat lower when he is relaxed in front of the tv. It can vary by 30-40 pts throughout the day.

evileen99

This is why I love the MFP community. My mother had good blood pressure until her early fifties, now I am in my early fifties. Hereditary traits are very important. I guess I will go see a doctor for input. I am not ready to start medication, perhaps the doctor will convince me otherwise. I just remember that my mother started on blood pressure pills and then had to have a pill to conteract the original pills and then she was on pill after pill. One to counteract the other. Getting old healthy is hard work!

BP meds have come a long way since your mother was on them. It's doubtful you'd have the same experience she did.

SanteMulberry

Hypertension can be 100% hereditary and stress related and have absolutely nothing to do with fitness level. I know friends that have a body fat percentage that cant really go any lower and they have hypertension...stress has MUCH to do with it. Losing weight is not always the answer.

Yes, I know a few hypertensive individuals who are of a normal weight (or even thin). But of the vast majority of people on B.P. meds, most are obese and the type of obesity is "central." Cortisol must certainly play a part of the hypertension picture. High blood sugar levels cause a rise in cortisol levels (and that high cortisol is also part of the "central obesity" milieu). It may be that the greater benefit in lowering blood pressure is not the weight loss per se, but the diet that is lowering blood sugar levels (and the weight loss is secondary to that?). High blood sugar causes even normal weight or thin individuals pancreatic problems. The normal weight actor who has been selected to play Steve Jobs in a biopic of Jobs, says that the all-fruit diet that he adopted (in order to drop enough weight to appear gaunt) gave him problems with his pancreatic function. I think, eventually, they will find that a high sugar and starch diet leads to hypertension (in those genetically predisposed)---with or without obesity. I know that my no-sugar/no wheat diet caused my blood pressure to fall even before I had lost much weight.

714rah714

Could it be that your blood pressure was high because your heart rate was so high? Either way, go see a doctor just to confirm your numbers.

sbjmorgan

Some of this advice is... yeah.

1. Weight loss does not work all the time. Weight loss ONLY works with exercise, IF it works for you at all. BTDT. (Currently exercise is working for me, in conjunction with weight loss.)

2. I have been seen for chronic hypertension at a teaching hospital that's done several studies on hypertension in the past few years. According to those doctors about a year ago, research suggests that yes, magnesium deficiencies do create additional problems for BP, but sodium has little effect on BP in general. They told me to not bother watching sodium other than to eat to or less than the daily value recommended. Sodium avoidance is not going to cause your BP to drop significantly, so unless you eat your food super salty, you might as well retain some flavor.

3. Something else my wonderful specialist told me: some people have higher BP than others, so "high" is subjective. Monitoring yourself over a long period of time with an accurate cuff and not overmedicating is important. I would feel sick every time under a certain blood pressure that is considered medium/normal... they believe I probably just naturally hover around the high end of normal.

4. You can change meds pretty easily if you feel like you're getting too many side effects on one. You're on the low end of "high" currently, so you may even take a half pill of some meds out there.

bostonwolf

acogg, I started on medication and am about to go get it adjusted because I think it's become less effective. And this is while I've lost weight and have drastically increased my cardio.

I will continue to get healthier and take the medication (HCT, which is a diuretic) and will go back every six months with the goal of coming off it eventually.

As many others have mentioned it is not something to mess with.

benflando

Niacin

bostonwolf

Quick google search found this:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-blood-pressure/HI00027

http://www.aarp.org/health/medical-research/info-04-2011/6-foods-fight-high-blood-pressure.html

Basically diet and exercise are your best bests.

lizziebeth1028

I took my blood pressure at the store today and it was 149/80 with a heart rate of 88. :frown: Not good. When I was young I always had very good numbers so I never paid much attention. Now I need to start tracking my blood pressure. While Googling for natural ways to lower blood pressure, I read about blood pressure lowering supplements sold at health food stores and on-line. None of the medical sites mentioned anything about the supplements, good or bad. So dear MFP experts, any advice, opinions or experiences that you can share? I read the label of one supplement sold at GNC and it had some pretty strange ingredients. Thanks!

My advice would be to not take advice from strangers in the internet regarding a medical problem. See your Doctor to discuss treatment options.

SanteMulberry

Niacin

Yes, I've read that high doses of niacin (a B vitamin) are excellent for reducing B.P. but it should likely be doctor supervised as your other B vitamins could go into a deficiency if you take too much of one of the Bs.

cwolfman13

See a Dr.!! Any time your blood pressure is too high, it is doing irreversable damage to your blood vessels and internal organs. Please don't wait and cut wayy back on your sodium at least until you see a Dr.

Absolutely! High blood pressure is called " the silent killer" for a reason.

Yea...this is good advice. I am hypertensive. While I do exercise regularly and watch sodium, etc I also take prescription medications to help control mine. There is no shame in them and the ones I take don't really have any side effects other than they actually help protect your kidneys (bonus).

Blood pressure is often one of those things that can't be managed with diet and exercise alone...in pretty rare cases it can be done, but...well, they're rare.

Your doctor will probably start you off with lisinopril HCTZ which includes a diuretic to help get the salt out...with a resting HR that high, that is also an indicator that your body may be producing too much epinephrine so he'll likely prescribe a low dose beta blocker as well. I'm on both and they have done wonders...I used to feel like I was somehow a failure for having to be on these meds...particularly at 38 years old...but a lot of this comes down to hereditary factors.

Go see your doctor...my grandpa died at 73 from complications of HBP that he never did anything about (and he was one of those one armed pushup...walk 3-5 miles per day guys)...my dad also never did anything about his until he was in his 50s (diagnosed in his late 30s just like me)...he now has kidney disease as a result. Go see your doctor please.

SanteMulberry

Hypertension can be 100% hereditary and stress related and have absolutely nothing to do with fitness level. I know friends that have a body fat percentage that cant really go any lower and they have hypertension...stress has MUCH to do with it. Losing weight is not always the answer.

Yes, I know a few hypertensive individuals who are of a normal weight (or even thin). But of the vast majority of people on B.P. meds, most are obese and the type of obesity is "central." Cortisol must certainly play a part of the hypertension picture. High blood sugar levels cause a rise in cortisol levels (and that high cortisol is also part of the "central obesity" milieu). It may be that the greater benefit in lowering blood pressure is not the weight loss per se, but the diet that is lowering blood sugar levels (and the weight loss is secondary to that?). High blood sugar causes even normal weight or thin individuals pancreatic problems. The normal weight actor who has been selected to play Steve Jobs in a biopic of Jobs, says that the all-fruit diet that he adopted (in order to drop enough weight to appear gaunt) gave him problems with his pancreatic function. I think, eventually, they will find that a high sugar and starch diet leads to hypertension (in those genetically predisposed)---with or without obesity. I know that my no-sugar/no wheat diet caused my blood pressure to fall even before I had lost much weight.

Whoops--sorry, this was a bit garbled (wrote it before I had my coffee). What I meant to say is that it could be that high blood sugar (from eating too many sugary and simple carb foods) starts the high blood pressure ball rolling because it causes an increase in cortisol. Uric acid is also a problem as fructose metabolism causes a rise in uric acid levels.

There's at least one researcher (Richard J. Johnson, M.D.) who feels that excess fructose (from sugar--sucrose is 50% fructose) and simple carbs, like white flour which contains fructans (which the body easily converts to fructose) is the cause not only of obesity, and Type II diabetes, but gouty arthritis, renal disease, and degenerative conditions of all sorts. He has been given a National Institutes of Health grant to study the epidemic of renal disease among sugar cane workers in Central America. He expects to find that their habit of drinking soda pop and sugar-sweetened fruit juice, along with dehydration (it is extremely hot in the fields and difficult to stay hydrated) cause a build up of uric acid which then crystalizes in the kidneys and does extensive damage. Other animals have uricase to lower uric acid levels--humans do not. Uric acid metabolism has recently attracted the attention of a number of diabetes and renal disease researchers.

JessieTangerine

Losing weight and cardio are probably 1 and 2.

^ This. Also remember, supplements are also medicine. They have side effects and negative interactions just like any other drug. Going to your doctor is your best bet. (S)he can better track your bp and help find a medication that will improve your bp while limiting side effects.