Stress Management

Alternative and Complementary Remedies for Hypertension

Vitamin/Nutrition Therapy

Use a basic vitamin/mineral formula and supplement it with several nutritional supplements that are proven useful for hypertension.

Potassium

Potassium helps to prevent and control blood pressure. Be sure to get enough potassium in the foods you eat. Some good sources are various fruits, vegetables, dairy foods, and fish.

Foods High in Potassium

Apricots
Lean pork
Prunes and prune juice
Bananas
Lean veal
Pumpkin
Catfish
Lima beans
Spinach
Cod
Milk
Stewed tomatoes
Dry peas and beans
Orange juice
Sweet potatoes
Flounder
Peaches
Trout
Green beans
Plantain
Winter squash
Potatoes
Yogurt

Magnesium

Magnesium deficiency has been implicated in high blood pressure. Magnesium levels are shown to be consistently low in people suffering from hypertension.

Leafy greens, legumes, whole grains, purslane, poppy seeds and string beans are good dietary sources for magnesium. (Or you can take a daily supplement of 400 milligrams of magnesium.)

Foods High in Magnesium:

Beans
Okra
Soy milk
Broccoli
Oysters
Spinach
Chard
Plantain
Tofu
Croaker
Scallops
Whole grain ready-to-eat and cooked cereals
Mackerel
Sea bass
Whole wheat bread
Nuts and seeds

Calcium

Calcium is an important nutrient for overall good health. Population studies indicate that hypertensive individuals consume less daily calcium. They may benefit from calcium supplementation. Several clinical studies have demonstrated the blood pressure lowering effect of calcium supplementation. Take 1 gram of elemental calcium daily.

Good sources of calcium are diary foods such as milk, yogurt, and cheese. Be sure to choose skim or low fat varieties. Low fat and nonfat dairy products have more calcium than the high fat versions.

Foods High in Calcium

Broccoli
Perch
Turnip greens
Cheese
Salmon
Tofu (made with calcium sulfate)
Mackerel
Spinach
Yogurt
Milk

Essential Fatty Acids

Increasing dietary linoleic acid decreases the blood pressure. Hypertensive patients are deficient in E series prostaglandins. Linoleic acid was found to normalize prostaglandins.

Coenzyme Q10

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is an essential component of the metabolic processes involved in energy production. Individuals with cardiovascular disease (including hypertension, angina and congestive heart failure) often are deficient in CoQ10 and require increased tissue levels of CoQ10. Clinical studies have indicated that CoQ10 is of considerable benefit in the treatment of hypertension and other cardiovascular disease.

See Also:

Vitamin C

The lower the serum vitamin C level, the higher the blood pressure in persons suffering from hypertension. Whether this is due to dietary habits or a blood pressure lowering effect of vitamin C has yet to be determined.

Zinc

Zinc has been shown to reverse cadmium induced hypertension effectively in rats.

Bovine Renal Extract

Bovine renal extract has shown to possess blood pressure lowering effects in animals and hypertensive human subjects.

Basic Vitamin/mineral Formula:

500 IU Vitamin A
4000 mg Vitamin C 
400 IU Vitamin D
600 IU Vitamin E 
100 mg Vitamin B15
50 mg niacinamide 
50 mg Vitamin B1 
1000 mg pantothenic acid 
50 mg Vitamin B2
300 mcg folic acid 
100 mg vitamin B6
100 mcg biotin
500 mcg vitamin B12

Supplements

Use the chelated form of the following minerals. They are important in treating cardiovascular disorders:

1.0-1.5 g

Related Topic:

Vitamin Therapy for Cardiovascular health

Vitamin therapy for Stress Management

Nutrition Infocenter in Holisticonline.com

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