One of my all-time favorites is the collaboration between Queen and David Bowie to create the musical masterpiece “Under Pressure.” However, I can’t listen to the lyrics “Pressure … pushing down on me … pressing down on you …” and hear that beating, building pulse of a rhythm without thinking of blood pressure. Maybe I am a medical nerd, but the song is perfect in expressing the feeling of building pressure and just wanting to find a way out. If you have high blood pressure, sometimes called hypertension, perhaps you are looking for relief as well.
We all need to pay attention to blood pressure, regardless of age, gender or risk factors. I understand that there are many things doctors check for that can be misleading. For example, if you have a normal thyroid test, you might still have some undetected dysfunction. Cholesterol levels are not as correlated to cardiovascular health as originally imagined. Heart rate can run a little low or a little high for reasons unrelated to illness. I understand that there is sometimes skepticism in the natural medicine world about medical tests and what they mean—but one test you can’t really argue with is blood pressure. Blood pressure is a direct measure of how hard your body is working to push blood through your blood vessels. It is a measure of how much pressure is being placed on your artery walls. It is also a sneak peek of how hard your heart is pumping to try to fulfill your body’s needs. It is a very important measurement.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is diagnosed when your resting BP is consistently over 130/80 mmHg. Chronically elevated blood pressure can cause significant damage to the heart, brain, kidneys, eyes and other vital organs. That’s because all of that pressure in the tiniest of blood vessels can cause them to become dysfunctional or rupture. That means the activity the small vessels support, whether it be eyesight or kidney filtration, will suffer. And if there is too much pressure in larger vessels, over time, weak spots can occur and start to bulge. We call these aneurysms, and if they rupture, our lives can be at risk.
High blood pressure affects over half of the adults in the United States, which increases to more than three quarters of people over the age of 75. That means over 115 million people are struggling with this problem and the numbers are climbing all the time. Despite the huge numbers of people with hypertension, only about one in four with this disorder have their blood pressure well-managed with medical care.
Chronic high blood pressure doubles men’s and triples women’s risk of heart failure and can double the risk of stroke. It is even associated with cancer. In a 2017 systematic review and meta-analysis, researchers found that hypertension led to a 20 percent increased risk of developing breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Even when it comes to COVID-19, people with hypertension are twice as likely to develop severe symptoms than people with normal blood pressure. Last, but certainly not least, it’s estimated that over two-thirds of men with hypertension also have issues with erectile dysfunction.
So of course, there is a lot of pressure (See what I did there?) to get those BP numbers closer to the normal range. One of the best ways to improve hypertension is to lose weight, as even 5 or 10 pounds can make a measurable difference. But if it was easy to lose weight, we’d all be swimsuit models. As it stands, I encourage people to make healthier food choices and increase daily movement, even if it is dancing to the radio or strolling around the block. Big changes are hard, and I don’t want people to get discouraged.
One of the easiest things a person can do to help improve his or her blood pressure is the use of healthy and beneficial supplements with a proven track record of efficacy. While there are many clinically validated herbs and nutrients that are useful with blood pressure management, including berberine, hibiscus, Indian gooseberry, olive leaf, benfotiamine and magnesium, we are going to look at three that can be highly effective.
Grape Seed Extract and OPCs
Most people eat grapes but not the seeds, though they are edible. Grape seeds have some amazing polyphenols called oligomeric proanthocyanins (OPCs) that have been shown in published studies to be of benefit for heart disease, cancer, liver disease, chronic venous insufficiency, diabetes, and both prevention of and recovery from strokes. Grape seed OPCs are powerful medicine, but they come in various sizes. The large size of OPC—called tannins—are not dangerous, but they cannot be absorbed. The small OPCs are easily absorbed and therefore much more beneficial. Grape seed products should be standardized to only absorbable OPCs and/or be tannin-free for optimal activity.
Two of the ways that grape seed extract (GSE) OPCs improve heart health is by strengthening blood vessels and reducing blood pressure. In an Italian clinical study, 119 individuals with pre- or mild hypertension were all given a diet and exercise intervention. They were then divided into three groups: high dose GSE (300 mg/day), low dose GSE (150 mg/day), and diet and exercise intervention only. At the end of the four-month trial, both grape seed groups saw a significant improvement in blood pressure, however, the higher dose group noticed more dramatic effects. Blood pressure actually returned to normal in 93 percent of the high dose group. This and other studies have demonstrated that a dose of 300 mg of a standardized and effective grape seed extract is highly beneficial for people struggling with blood pressure concerns.
Coenzyme Q10
Coenzyme Q10, usually abbreviated to CoQ10, is a nutrient that plays a crucial role in energy production inside the cell. This is the energy for the cell to do its job, whether it is a heart muscle cell’s energy to beat, or a kidney cell filtering or a liver cell detoxing. There are many theories of how CoQ10 helps people with hypertension. Some researchers focus on its ability to improve heart health and heart strength, others focus on its role in helping to normalize kidney function.
There are more than 200 studies published on CoQ10 and hypertension on the electronic database of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) called PubMed. One human clinical trial overseen by a prominent cardiologist focused on 109 patients with essential hypertension. They were given CoQ10 dosages averaging about 225 mg a day in addition to the blood pressure medications they were already taking. The doctors adjusted the COQ10 dose to attain blood levels over two micrograms, which is why the doses were a bit different for different people. Several measures of heart health improved, and after use for a little over four months, doctors were able to eliminate one to three blood pressure medications in 51 percent of the patients.
Of course, do not toss your blood pressure medications out the window. If you are interested in trying to reduce or eliminate these medicines, please consult with your health care practitioner for guidance and monitoring.
CoQ10 is a powerful nutrient with many health benefits even beyond heart health, but it is not the easiest to absorb. It may be useful to look at products with clinically validated formulations designed to boost absorption.
Melatonin
Most people think of melatonin as a remedy for sleeplessness, or to help jet lag by resetting our internal clock. But this powerful hormone is a master controller of the biorhythms in our bodies, dictating much more than sleep and wake cycles. Melatonin impacts our immune system, cancer prevention and recovery, liver function, intestinal motility—in fact, virtually every area of our body’s functionality. Blood pressure goes down at night as melatonin levels rise. Melatonin also impacts our blood pressure upon awakening. Because light exposure diminishes melatonin production, and so many of us are awash in light until the wee hours each night thanks to TV and smart phones, most adults could likely benefit from supplemental melatonin. Melatonin levels also diminish with age, so older adults may be especially interested in restoring their melatonin levels.
A study of 33 people with pre-hypertension and metabolic syndrome examined the use of melatonin 5 mg two hours before bedtime over the course of two months. On average, systolic blood pressure was 133 and diastolic was 82 (133/82) but dropped to an average of 125 systolic and 75 (125/75) diastolic by the end of the study. In a 12-week study of men with existing coronary artery disease and type two diabetes, use of 10 mg of melatonin each night improved many cardio factors, including blood pressure measures, significantly.
There is some discussion around sustained release melatonin being more effective for blood pressure than immediate release, and that would make sense, given that melatonin is metabolized rapidly. However, there have not yet been any human studies comparing the two head-to-head for optimal blood pressure benefits. Relieve the Pressure
High blood pressure can cause significant damage and shorten life, so it should be evaluated at least annually, and more often if your blood pressure is too high. It is important to get those blood pressure numbers down into a healthier range and keep them there. There are effective methods to help you get your blood pressure under control. Your blood pressure is not a number that you can ignore! VR
References:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hypertension Cascade: Hypertension Prevalence, Treatment and Control Estimates Among U.S. Adults Aged 18 Years and Older Applying the Criteria from the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association’s 2017 Hypertension Guideline—NHANES 2015–2018external icon. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2021. Available at: www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/facts.htm.
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Cheryl Myers is an integrative health nurse, author, and an expert on natural medicine. She is a nationally recognized speaker who has been interviewed by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Prevention magazine. Her many articles have been published in such diverse journals as Aesthetic Surgery Journal and Nutrition in Complementary Care, and her research on botanicals has been presented at the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the North American Menopause Society. Myers is the head of scientific affairs and education for EuroPharma, Inc.
