If you are like the millions of Americans with high blood pressure, you may be perplexed at what to do about it. Your doctor and the daily TV commercials probably have you scared to death about your blood pressure. They tell you that your blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart attacks. And they are right about that. But I disagree with them over when and how to treat hypertension.
You first need to know when you should treat high blood pressure. Your doctor typically will tell you that a blood pressure of 120/80 is normal. Actually, I consider that figure the very upper limit of acceptable. Your doctor might consider 125/85 as normal, but I do not. Above 120/80, the curve of vascular disease gets steeper. A good blood pressure is more like 90-110/60-75. The all-cause morbidity and mortality rate is lowest in people with a blood pressure of 90-100/60-70. And this is true regardless of your age — age should not affect your blood pressure.
The average American blood pressure creeps up with age. But its not age that is causing this. Its a diet and lifestyle that essentially rusts your pipes. The calcium in your body enters your arteries instead of your bones. Your vessels get rigid. And that makes your heart pump harder in order to get needed blood to your cells, raising your blood pressure. The more arterial plaque you have in your vessels, the higher the pressure goes. Again, your body must raise the pressure to get through the obstruction. All this increases the work load on your heart!
So when do you begin to treat hypertension? I believe that any pressure over 120/80 deserves attention. However, drugs are not necessarily the answer. I have reviewed studies that suggest that blood pressure shouldnt be treated with chemicals until your systolic (the top number) reaches 160. Yes, elevated blood pressure between 120 and 160 carries risk. But so does chemical treatment. The risk/benefit ratio for drug treatment is not in your favor until your systolic reaches 160.
And what treatment should you use? You probably know that your diet and lifestyle are huge factors, so I wont dwell on them here. Exercise, reduce stress, and eat a mostly Living Foods Diet! I am good at two of those three. My stress level is off the chart. Still, with exercise and zealous adherence to my diet, my blood pressure is 98/70.
What if you are one who just cannot make the lifestyle changes? Or what if your blood pressure has reached the 160 level? I would not argue with prescription-drug treatment in these cases. But remember, drugs can attach to and affect a receptor on your cells. That receptor was not placed there to receive the drug. I assure you that you have no genetic deficiency of any petrochemical drug. That receptor is there to receive a natural compound or mineral. And, believe it or not, there are great alternatives to most of the drugs on the market.
There are several classes of antihypertensive drugs. These include diuretics, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, vasodilators, ACE inhibitors (angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors), and angiotensin receptor blockers. Ill very briefly cover their mechanism of action and potential problems for you. And then Ill show you what alternatives you have.
Diuretics are compounds that make your kidneys excrete more water. They block certain cells in your kidney from reabsorbing sodium. And water washes out with the sodium. Less water in your pipes means less pressure. However, the wash-out causes an indiscriminate loss of other highly important minerals, such as potassium, magnesium and trace minerals!
Additionally, less water/pressure also means less tissue perfusion of blood. That deprives your cells. There are diuretics that spare potassium. However, that does not protect you from other mineral losses. Anyone on diuretics definitely should take mineral supplements.
The next class of drugs is beta blockers. Adrenaline is a hormone that drives your heart rate and blood pressure. It affects receptors called beta adrenergic receptors. Block these receptors, and the switch to raise your heart rate and blood pressure is turned off. Beta blocker side effects include fatigue, impotence, exertional intolerance, asthma, and more.
Your body uses calcium to cause contraction of muscles when they are stimulated. Calcium channel blockers work by preventing calcium levels from increasing as much in the cells when they are stimulated. That leads to less contraction. Smooth muscles lining your arteries relax, and the force of your heart muscle contraction drops, lowering cardiac output. Because resistance and output drop, so does blood pressure. Side effects are greater in older people. They can include drowsiness, weight gain, allergy, swollen feet, and more.
As far as drugs go, the ACE inhibitors have always been one of my preferred groups. If I must resort to a drug, I generally use this group first. They work by inhibiting an enzyme abbreviated as ACE, which makes a compound called angiotensin. Angiotensin is a powerful stimulant that causes contraction of smooth muscle in your arteries, which raises your blood pressure. Blocking its production can significantly lower your blood pressure.
The most common side effects are cough, elevated blood potassium levels, low blood pressure, dizziness, headache, drowsiness, weakness, abnormal taste (metallic or salty taste), and rash. They generally are well tolerated. However, like any drug, there are uncommon but very serious reactions. Another class of drugs, called angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB), has similar beneficial effects and a similar side effect profile. They are useful for those who cannot tolerate ACE inhibitors. ARBs work by preventing angiotensin from attaching to receptors in your arteries and contracting the smooth muscles.
There are other less-used classes of blood pressure drugs, including direct vasodilators (hydralazine) and central alpha agonists (e.g., clonidine). The former directly stimulate vasodilation, while the latter reduce sympathetic nervous system (SNS) tone to your vascular tree. The SNS raises tone (constriction) and heart rate to ensure adequate tissue perfusion. These too have possible toxicity, as do all blood pressure drugs. Fatigue and impotence are among the most common side effects.
But, as I said earlier, there are alternatives to these synthetic chemicals. Remember, the synthetics usually work by attaching to receptors on cells. The receptor tells the cell what to do. So to make the best use of the following information, you need to know what class your drug lies in. Your doctor can tell you, or you can go on the Internet. Then you can begin using supplements that have effects similar to those of your class of drug(s).
For diuretics, you can consider hawthorn berry (also known as crataegus), vitamin B6, taurine, celery, GLA, vitamin C, potassium, high gamma tocopherols and tocotrienols, magnesium, calcium, CoQ10, L-carnitine, asparagus, and taraxacum extracts.
For beta blockers, consider hawthorn berry. For cooling off your sympathetic nervous system, you can try taurine, potassium, zinc, vitamin C, vitamin B6, CoQ10, celery, GLA and garlic. To dilate your vessels, consider omega-3 fatty acids, potassium, magnesium, garlic, flavonoids, vitamin C, vitamin E, CoQ10, citrulline, taurine, celery, ALA (alpha lipoic acid), and arginine.
Alternatives to calcium channel blockers include ALA, vitamin C, vitamin B6, magnesium, NAC, vitamin E, hawthorn berry, celery, fish oil, and garlic.
ACE inhibitor alternatives include garlic, tuna and sardine protein, hawthorn berry, Pycnogenol, Seanol, whey protein, sour milk, pomegranate, gelatin, chicken egg yolks, zinc, hydrolyzed wheat germ, and vitamin D.
For ARBs you could try potassium, fiber, garlic, vitamin C, vitamin B6, CoQ10, celery, and GLA.
You can see that many supplements cross over and affect different pathways. That is why they can be so effective. If you are on more than one drug, look for nutrients that are listed under all the drugs you take. This
can cut down on the number of pills you take and enhance effectiveness.
Please do not do anything without the advice of your integrative physician, especially if you are already on drugs. It can be dangerous to suddenly stop them. Your doctor can advise you on synergistic combinations of supplements and doses, and a tapering schedule for your drugs. And I cant possibly tell you in these pages the doses and scheduling for your particular situation.
However, if you are not on drugs but you are concerned about mild to moderate high blood pressure, supplements would be a great place to start. In my experience, lifestyle change and supplements take care of the overwhelming majority of hypertension. If your systolic blood pressure is greater than 160, please see your health provider.
Ref: Dr. Houston, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Hypertension.