High Blood Pressure

The higher our blood pressure, the harder our hearts have to work to pump blood against it, the more of a strain in puts on our hearts, and the greater our chance of a heart attack.

There are literally dozens of ways to approach high blood pressure (or "hypertension.") Exercise, weight loss, and relaxation techniques re some of the more holistic, and they all tend to be quite effective. Exercise that itself promotes calmness (for example, Tai Chi, yoga, even a walk through the woods) might be especially valuable.

Relaxation can be valuable because, obviously, hypertension can be caused by stress. Although not technically hypertension supplements, herbs and other nutrients that can promote relaxation and reduce stress can have a major role to play here. (Cutting back on the coffee wouldn't hurt, either. But don't worry, you can still have your red wine -- at least in moderation).

Beyond this, there are a number of ways to approach hypertension with natural medicine. Diuretics ("water pills") help by simply reducing the amount of fluid in our blood, thus reducing pressure. This is especially useful if you're suffering from fluid retention. Cutting back on the salt can also help. And although this may seem counterintuive, drinking more water is good too, at least if your kidneys are working all right: more water will help flush excess salt out of your system.

Other supplements help relax the blood vessels themselves. The mineral, magnesium, is good for general muscle tension, including in the blood vessels. The herb Coleus forskohlii is also very useful here, one of the great underused herbs in our arsenal. The amino acid, l-arginine, is another very effective supplement. The body makes blood vessel-relaxing nitric oxide from l-arginine (arginine's ability to promote dilation of blood vessels also makes it popular for erectile dysfunction).

Garlic can also help. Although it's not very potent, it has 101 side benefits (liver health, antioxidant, cold and flu, etc.), which makes it a good choice. You don't need to take pills, either: 3-4 cloves a day is a good dose. And then there's Coenzyme Q10, which not only lowers blood pressure, but also assists the heart muscle itself. Great stuff, but unfortunately on the pricey side. Still, anyone taking a statin drug should pay especial attention to this nutrient, as statins deplete CoQ10.

Finally, there's hawthorn (Crataegus spp.), one of the most tried-and-true medicines in North American and European herbalism. Hawthorn is slow to work and very gentle (some might even say feeble). But given time -- weeks or months -- it can lower blood pressure as well nourish the heart itself.