Relief for High Blood Pressure

[gymdandee]

Relief for High Blood Pressure: Beetroot Juice & Green Leafy Vegetables
Researchers in England have found for the first time that a daily dose of beetroot juice can significantly
reduce high blood pressure. Their striking results were presented in a 2015 article in the
journal Hypertension. In the study, 68 hypertensive non-medicated patients (ages 18 to 85) were
randomly divided to take either 250 ml (just over 8 oz.) daily of beetroot juice or a placebo (inert) drink
over a 4-week period...
The researchers used three different measuring methods, including 24-hour ambulatory monitoring,
which resulted in an impressive average reduction of 7.7 mm Hg systolic and 5.2 mm Hg diastolic.
The researchers also found that endothelial function among the beetroot drinkers improved by about 20
percent and arterial stiffness was reduced. There were no such changes among the placebo drinkers.
“This is the first evidence of durable blood pressure reduction with dietary nitrate supplementation in a
relevant patient group,” the researchers said, and suggests a role as an “affordable, readily-available,
adjunctive treatment in the management” of hypertension.
Beetroot is a source of dietary nitrate, previously found to reduce blood pressure in healthy individuals with normal blood pressure. Nitrates are broken down in the body and promote the production of nitric oxide (NO), a critical compound made in the inner surface of blood vessels (the endothelial lining). NO serves an important function in maintaining the proper dilation of blood vessels. A deficiency is associated with endothelial dysfunction and
elevated blood pressure.
This is a significant finding because for each 2 mm Hg increase in blood pressure there is a 7 to 10 percent increase in mortality caused by cardiovascular disease.
This research should spark interest for further investigation of dietary nitrates, also found
abundantly in green leafy vegetables, as a natural aid in the fight against hypertension.
If you have high blood pressure, check out drinking beetroot juice on a routine basis. It may also help reduce the risk of diabetes. Here, as well, is another good reason
to make sure you eat or drink plenty of green leafy and root vegetables. However, be careful with be careful with
consumption of green leafy veggies if you have a history of kidney stones.

[gymdandee]

Forgot to mention 3 cups of Hibiscus tea per day can also help
In a study, drinking three cups of herbal tea containing hibiscus each day lowered blood pressure.

"Most of the commercial herbal tea blends in the United States contain hibiscus," says Diane L. McKay, PhD, of Tufts University in Boston. She tells WebMD that people with the highest blood pressure at the start of the six-week study benefited the most.

McKay presented the study of 65 healthy men and women with modestly elevated blood pressure at the American Heart Association (AHA) meeting here.

Overall, drinking hibiscus tea blends lowered systolic blood pressure -- the top number in the blood pressure reading -- by an average of 7 points. That was significantly more than the 1-point drop observed in people who were given a placebo in the form of hibiscus-flavored water, McKay says.

While a 7-point drop in blood pressure might not seem like much, she says studies have shown that "even small changes in blood pressure ... when maintained over time ... will reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack."

Past AHA president Robert H. Eckel, MD, says that more study is needed to determine whether herbal tea's blood-pressure-lowering effect can actually be sustained over the long haul.

The degree of blood pressure lowering associated with tea drinking in the study was as much as would be expected with standard blood pressure drugs, he says.
I suggest buying dried hibiscus flower and make your own tea. 1 cup of the leaves makes 8 cups of tea. I also suggest drinking it cold as it's very,very
tart. I don't have H.B.P. Is it the tea? I also exercise and workout every day.