In recent years, studies have shown that conventional medication is often not a very effective treatment for high blood pressure for one simple reason. Medication does not cure the atherosclerosis or thickening of the blood vessels. Instead it just masks the symptoms so you don't feel them. Long-term, people who take medication but don't try to improve the blood flow in their veins still continue to have medical problems. This is a critical issue because many people with high blood pressure die of heart attacks every year. If, however, these people had chosen natural treatments instead, chances are they might still be alive. Natural treatments, unlike conventional medicines, actually treat the medical problems and improve blood flow so people are much less likely to die of a heart attack. Knowing this, when I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, I chose to go the natural route and here's what I took.
1. Garlic - Garlic is really a wonder food. Over centuries of use, it has been seen to cure many medical problems and high blood pressure is one of them. If you take garlic when you have high blood pressure, it thins your blood causing your blood to flow much more freely through your veins. This in turn lowers your blood pressure and causes some of your medical problems to disappear. Taking just 1-2 cloves of garlic every day can lower your blood pressure in as little as a month. I began taking 1 chopped up clove of garlic in the morning and another at night before I went to bed. After two weeks, I increased this to a total of 3 cloves of garlic (one at lunchtime too), so I soon started to notice the benefits. You can also take garlic tablets, which many people say are just as effective. I like the natural garlic though, as my personal bias is I think it probably works a little better than in the pill form.
2. Fish Oil - Omega 3 found in fish oil is very important to help combat high blood pressure. I bought Salmon Oil tablets and I take two of these every day, one in the morning and one at night. You can also get the Omega 3 you need by eating fish - salmon and tuna are both great sources of Omega 3, as is a can of sardines (they taste great on a sandwich too!)
3. Bananas - Bananas are one of the most amazing foods when it comes to keeping us healthy as they have so many kinds of vitamins and minerals in them. In the case of high blood pressure, the potassium in the bananas works to lower the blood pressure, so eating 1-2 bananas a day can be fabulous for your health. I eat a banana every morning chopped up on a bowl of oatmeal and sometimes even eat another one for a snack or as part of my dinner. I live in Thailand where bananas are cheap and plentiful though, so it's not that difficult for me to be able to do this and much cheaper than paying for conventional medication.
4. Vitamin C - Taking high doses of Vitamin C is the fourth and final natural treatment I decided to try as Vitamin C has been shown to lower high blood pressure in many different studies. I take 2,000mg of Vitamin C with every meal - which seems to be enough to help with my high blood pressure but not so much that it gives me diarrhea (which can sometimes be a problem if you take too much of it).
I've been taking these four natural high blood pressure treatments for almost three months now. I could tell after the first month, even without going to the doctor, I was beginning to feel better than I had done in months. I also added a strict exercise program to my regimen, speed walking six nights a week for between 30 and 45 minutes, and began to eat healthier food. After two months I went back to the doctor's office to find out if my natural remedies regimen had helped my high blood pressure and here's what I discovered.
When I was first diagnosed with high blood pressure my blood pressure was 147 over 93 - this is in the moderately high blood pressure stage, but still serious enough that it must be controlled. After two months of natural treatment, I had my blood pressure taken at the doctor's office again and, this time, it had fallen to 128 over 82, which falls just in the normal range. Not bad for just taking a few cloves of garlic, a couple of fish oil pills, some Vitamin C and eating a banana or two every day.
So, if you're diagnosed with high blood pressure and you don't want to take conventional medication consider following the program I have been following. It's cheap, it's easy to stick with, and it's a natural way to help treat your high blood pressure. Just remember, if you do decide to go natural, you will have to continue doing this even when your blood pressure is diagnosed back in the normal range. Going back to the way you were eating before will only ensure your blood pressure begins to rise again.
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