Hypertension-Natural Cures for High Blood Pressure

I have begun the ACV protocol and I am noticing substantial improvement over the last few weeks. But more importantly, several studies have been done in Japan (medically accepted double blind studies). Please note that in Japan, vinegar is a part of the food (sushi has vinegar/rice). Here is one such study.

The key is to look for impact of acetic acid on hypertension. Acetic acid is the primary component ACV. Acetic acid has a substantial and sustained impact on high BP AFTER SEVERAL WEEKS. I have quoted one study here. There are many more. No wonder there is not a whisper about these studies in the medical circles here - the drug companies cannot make a buck on this. There are may causes of hypertension, I suspect that ACV affects only a few of the pathways, hence the variation in results.

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=18069221

BTW, it would appear that acetic acid is used to reduce tumors on the adrenal gland (functional adrenal adenoma) by injecting acetic acid directly into the tumor using Computed Tomography. This fixes a condition called aldersteroma (?) which lowers BP for people who have essential (cause unknown) hypertension.

Life is Good.

Regards
Murali

I recently read a 2008 study about people with diabetes and hypertension who were treated with a combination of arginine and n acetyl cysteine (nac), two commonly available substances at online vitamin sites.

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/31/5/940.long

At the dosages used in this study, arginine and nac have a fairly good safety profile and from the study results, they not only lowered blood pressure, but produced side effects that were also positive such as lowering ldl cholesterol while raising hdl cholesterol (the good one) and lowering levels of adhesion molecules vcam1 and icam1. It also lowered high sensitivity crp, a common marker of inflammation in the body. Add in the antiatherosclerotic effects and it seems like a good combination so I started taking them two weeks ago. One drawback to this study is the small number of participants, but the results were striking enough to make me want to try it.

Nac by itself has hundreds of studies suggesting it has many health benefits in humans, some related to its efficacy as a potent antioxidant.

I just took my blood pressure reading and it was 123/83. I am taking more than what was used in the study, at least initially and plan to go down to the study dose after a month or so.

I take 600mg of nac with 1 gram of arginine, three times per day for a total of 1.8 grams of nac and 3 grams of arginine per day.

Art

Thanks for your site and all the responses.

I've been taking BP meds for over a decade now. When I was put on them, I asked the doctor what I could do to get off of them, to which he responded by telling me, even if I did everything perfectly—like a perfect diet, exercising like I was training for an Olympic marathon, and meditated to mitigate stress—I NEVER would get off of them. I'm currently proving him wrong.

It's worth noting that I've hated being dependent on meds since the day I was put on them and have tried MANY different supplements, remedies, and diets over the years with no real success. The dietary changes I'm referring to in this post are the ONLY thing that has truly made a difference for me. In my case, there was no quick fix or magic pill.

A couple of months ago, I had a bit of a hypertensive crisis. For whatever reason my BP went way up to the point I was having some concerning symptoms. Checked my BP: 170/110. Yikes! This was despite having faithfully taken my meds without fail every single day.

Went to the doctor; they decided to increase my dosage to 2 tablets of lisinopril (up from 1 tablet). Also checked my lipid panel while I was there. Triglycerides were high at 237, LDL was a bit elevated at 139, and HDL was low at 29. Time to go on a diet. After spending a while with ChatGPT and figuring out ways to optimize my diet, I had a plan.

So I did. Within a couple of weeks, with the new dosage, my BP was staying lower than I've ever seen it—110/70ish usually or sometimes even lower. Was getting dizzy a lot. Went back for a follow-up after a month; I had lost 15 lbs, mostly water weight. Told the doc I didn’t want to be on BP meds forever and asked about a plan to get off of them. (This is a different doc than the one that put me on the meds years ago.) She told me we could absolutely try that, and told me to go ahead and start taking 1 tablet less of my lisinopril since my readings had been looking so good. I did. Now, 3 weeks later, still waiting to go to the follow-up here in a couple of weeks, I'm seeing readings as low as 99/63—lower than the readings I was seeing with the double dosage even. I'm very confident that I will be taken off of Lisinopril altogether at the next follow-up. And I'm not even making any effort to exercise; I am moving a bit more simply because I have more energy, but nothing crazy. And this is also despite drinking about 5 cups of coffee per day on average, because I just happen to like coffee. I used to wrongfully assume that caffeine was a trigger of high BP for me.

An important thing to note that I was NOT aware of for many years: If you're on BP meds like Lisinopril, you will NOT know if you can get off of them by seeing readings get down to a certain point. They only help your body CONTROL your blood pressure and keep it in an optimal range—they don't keep forcing it down. Your body could be perfectly capable of controlling it without the meds, but you won’t know that until you actually try. But this is something to do with the supervision of a doctor, of course. So if you've been taking them for years, and assume, like I did, that since it's not "too low" or exceptionally low, that you must need to take them, that may not be the case if you've long since got your health under control. But again, talk to your doctor.

So, what's the secret? Simply eating good food, avoiding excess salt, avoiding added sugars, avoiding processed foods, and avoiding refined carbs like white bread/white flour. And only consuming healthy fats like REAL extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil. I eat real butter as well, but in careful moderation as I'm trying to get my lipid panel under control at the moment. I don't eat seed/vegetable oils at all. I decided on the idea of only eating foods that are not only "acceptable" but also medicinal in some way. It needs to provide more benefit to me than just a full stomach and calories for my body to burn. For instance, the fat I use most is extra virgin olive oil (2 or 3 tbsp per day typically) due to how beneficial it is to consume. I try to include a lot of high potassium items like bananas, potatoes, and tomatoes. Though I don’t go crazy with bananas as they're sugary. But potassium is exceptionally important for keeping BP under control, and unfortunately most of us don't get nearly enough on average. I can't remember the exact number, but the RDA is something like 4000 mg+ per day for most people or some crazy number, and you can't take that all in supplement form without it being dangerous—you've gotta get it through diet.

Some tips: the biggest one—use ChatGPT for pointers. Have it rate your meals and tell you how you can improve them. Use it to get well acquainted with your condition/situation and ask it for advice on getting better, etc. Knowledge is power. Of course, it's not a doctor and it does get things wrong sometimes, so make sure to double-check with a doctor.

The hardest part about eating this way is food prep. It doesn’t need to be expensive—it hasn't been for me—but cooking a gourmet meal is a lot of work. So look for ways to make your life easier. For instance, rotisserie chickens are AMAZING—buy them (check ingredients; make sure there's no seed oils in the brine), cut them up, bag them and freeze them. You have a delicious cooked healthy protein ready to toss in the microwave for multiple people or multiple meals from a single chicken. Canned foods are your friends! Get low/no sodium canned beans and veggies (avoid the flavored stuff; just get plain stuff). I eat a lot of lunches at work that consist of canned green beans, canned black beans, and some rotisserie chicken. I toss it all in the microwave, heat it up, drizzle some olive oil over my veggies/beans and some spices, and put some type of sauce on my chicken for flavor... delicious and simple lunch; hardest part of it is opening the cans and rinsing them. Eggs are one of the healthiest things you can eat; hard boiled eggs, if you leave them in the shell and put them in the fridge, will last quite a long while. Super easy to boil a bunch of them and have them ready to grab.

I eat MUCH less now as well. Eating this way leaves you fuller for longer. I typically eat 1 or 2 big meals per day. For instance today, my breakfast was a lean pork chop, 2 eggs fried over easy (avocado oil), pan-fried potatoes (for the potassium), sautéed onions, garlic, mushrooms, and bell peppers. I LOVE THIS MEAL—highly recommend, lol. Some days this is pretty much all I'll eat; I'll snack on walnuts and maybe a banana and a couple of medjool dates throughout the day if I get hungry. Maybe a string cheese stick. Sometimes I'll eat a big lunch or big dinner in addition—just depends on the day and how hungry I am.

Do some research on fish oil. If you like fatty fish like sardines or sockeye salmon, to the point you can eat it 5 times per week—awesome. But if not, the best way to get omega-3s is through a fish oil supplement. But not all are created equal. So much so, that many are kind of useless unless you're going to take a couple truckloads of pills per day. So do your research on them and learn what makes them good/worth taking. And obviously, talk to your doctor before taking any supplements.

Also, check your oils. Extra virgin olive oil is often adulterated with junk oils and there's no real oversight, so don’t just go buy the cheapest "olive oil" off the shelf. Check the label—make sure it's single origin (not globally sourced or whatever), make sure it has a harvest date and best-by date, and do a refrigerator test to see if it hardens. The brand I use is Terra Delyssa; it's like $15 for a bottle at Walmart. Avocado oil is kind of the same story. I typically just go with the Chosen brand one.

One more—and this one I think is pretty important—don’t be too hard on yourself. I allow myself to cheat occasionally. Not a lot, of course, not a regular thing. But if the family wants to go out for ice cream on a special occasion, I will definitely get myself a single dip hot fudge sundae and I refuse to feel guilty about it and refuse to dwell on it. I think allowing myself to cheat on some few/far-between occasions without remorse has empowered me to stay on the diet as I don’t feel I'm missing anything. I don’t feel like I'm a prisoner to it or feel that I'm missing out on the simple pleasures of life. Not to mention, I legitimately am extremely happy with the diet—the food is top-notch excellent... much better than most of the crap I'd regularly eat in the past. I've learned, when it comes to dietary health, it's a matter of habit that actually changes your health, not the 1-off anomalies. Though they're not without consequence—for instance, a cheat day might cause my body to carry a pound or 2 of extra water weight for a couple of days. So it's worth keeping in mind. The inverse is true as well; this is why "trying" to eat healthy—when you try to have a salad once a week or have a couple of healthy meals per week while eating pizza, ramen noodles, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every other day of the week—doesn't seem to make any real difference. It's the consistent everyday habits that impact you, not the anomalies.

Root cause is an important thing to consider. Some people have hypertension due to chronic stress, sleep deprivation, sleep apnea, etc. In my case, I haven’t suffered from any of those in any meaningful way to cause years of chronic hypertension. In my case, I'm fairly positive the root cause is insulin resistance and likely being deficient in potassium. There are other factors, such as a relatively sedentary lifestyle and an unhealthy early life throughout my childhood, teens, and early 20s, such as smoking and eating MOSTLY processed crap, fast food, and drinking mostly soda. Despite significantly cleaning up my lifestyle many years ago of all of that, it never impacted the hypertension. It wasn’t till I really buckled down and addressed insulin resistance and potassium that I actually saw a difference. I was never actually diagnosed with insulin resistance, but I'm pretty positive it was a factor for me as I had a lot of symptoms that come with it.

ACV had zero effect on my blood pressure, but quite by accident I found that baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) has a dramatic effect. I tried Xylitol, and it gave me such severe heartburn that I took baking soda to remedy it. I now add a pinch of soda to each glass of water, to my coffee grounds, etc. and I don't sense any taste of it. Anybody with a blood pressure monitor can test this. Test BP, take a glass of water with 1/8 or 1/4 tsp. baking soda, test BP again after 30 minutes. It will cost you about $1 per year to control BP this way, and most people already have the soda in the house.

The need for bicarbonate indicates that kidneys need to be detoxified... if you want to be less dependent on remedies.

Some points never addressed by doctors or pharmaceutical companies, for obvious reasons.

1.When taking BP measure, how much 'mmhg' to deduct for doctors 'white coat syndrome'?
2. How much to deduct, for the smaller stress of taking your own BP measure?
3. How much to deduct for circadian highs at - 6 a.m., 1200, 1700 p.m.?
4. How much to add due to side effects of drugs, such as, nervousness, fear, worry, anxiousness & stress?
5. How much to add for being 76 y.o. but deduct for being 52 kilos & exercise?

All doctors don't take any of this into account. It makes the difference between a good day or a stressful day.

My BP began with 2 vertigo experiences, a month apart. The second one, I went to a doctor, who frightened me with talk of strokes & heart attacks & sold me lots of drugs. From then on I was taking drugs for the last 4 years with all the side affects, plus 'inactive ingredients', which cause rebound, dependency, which is medi-speak for addiction. BP at the beginning was 160/99. Drugs got it down, around 140/80, but with odd peaks of 160/85. This last year they average around 135/83. No big deal but I continued to work on it with ECs help & recently touched 113/65. This with 10mg. a.m. Nifelat-R, a slow release Nifedipine & nothing at night. Side effects are, tremors, worry, anxiousness, stress which you have already guessed, pushes up the BP a little & you should have guessed also that 'side effects' are not - but are intentional. Paranoia? Think what you will.

My BP lows are due to one tablespoon [15mm] of Apple Cider Vinegar plus same water, plus teaspoon honey, plus 1/8 tsp. bi-carb soda [Pong Foo] 3 times a day. I like the way it froths & bubbles before I drink it. Tastes good too. Yum!

Earth Clinic, is so damn good if it was a woman, I'd marry her. John

According to Dr. Mercola, your blood pressure is driven up by your (HFCS) fructose intake, because uric acid is a byproduct of fructose metabolism, and it is the increased uric acid levels that drive up your blood pressure.

Further, according to scientific research papers, such as ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8538236, the higher your total (HFCS) fructose intake is from non-natural foods, the more elevated your blood pressure will be.

Therefore, you can and will cure your hypertension, if you avoid all foods that contain HFCS. Examples are candies, packaged sweets, sodas, juice drinks, fast foods, sauces, ice creams, ice pops, breakfast foods, fruit preserves, jams, breads, crackers, pancake syrup, dessert syrup, and applesauce.

Frank

My dosage given to my son was 2 pills daily 3X a day or you can start with 1 pill 3X daily, in severe cases take 3 pills twice daily. The Serpina pills were developed in India 1934 and were the worlds first hypertension medicine. After trial studies they learn that many other things it can help. I only found interaction with: Antipsychotic meds and cold or flu medicine, including Benadryl.

Also known as Indian Snakeroot, you can ask your Dr, however most aren't familiar with alternative meds that help the root of your problem, because they are only trained in conventional drugs that cure nothing, and has major side effects, including Death.

Thank you, I am sorry I could not have helped sooner. Joe A.

Ma'am,

I was put on a medicine that raised testosterone and affected hormones 100,000%. I understand how uncomfortable you may feel. I found using Two or more tablespoons of flaxseed flour daily raised the estrogen hormone levels and matched the testosterone levels, and it feels much better.

Exercise is also a good part of releasing the stressful feelings associated with it, a smooth gait focusing on relaxing and letting go of stress helps. Think of like you were running 5 miles, conserving your strength and relaxing. Releasing tension is very helpful. I had to run in high school. I did sports, worked and then studied until 11:00PM. I was tired from not enough sleep at the end of the day. Running like this, and being in prayer as I ran was very helpful. I was tired, but it helped me have enough to finish the run the coach wanted and it did relax me too.

I also dropped my dose down to just twice a day instead of three times per day, so I am currently taking 600mg of nac with 1 gram of arginine two times per day for a total of 1, 200mg of nac and 2 grams of arginine per day which is fairly close to the dosage used in that 2008 study.
Art

I do yoga too and it introduced me to meditation and relaxation. Because of this I like to play a game with my blood pressure meter. I first take and see what it is. Then I retake it to see if I can change it. I try light meditation or I can do savasana. All can lower your numbers. A simple one to do is just to make a fist with your right hand and place it over your hart while you take your blood pressure. Make sure your legs are uncrossed and you do not talk. I find just my thoughts can change my blood pressure, raising it or lowering it. I think anyone can do this with a bit of practice and yoga. I do sivananda yoga which is a non exercise type of yoga that emphasizes clearing your mind of rampant thoughts. The importance of this is to carry this throughout your day and thus lowering blood pressure during all activities.

There are many aspects that affect blood pressure such as dehydration, hardening of the arteries and plaque but stress is significant because it affects the whole body and not just blood pressure. Anything that helps you control stress is a major part of health that is overlooked. Do not fear your cuff because that just plays into stress but look at it as an opportunity to learn to control your thoughts and de-stress.

All I have to say is that the results for me were amazing. After 4 days of taking ACV, my numbers are already lower. I just took my BP this morning and it was 110/63, and this is the average since I've been taking ACV. My fiance and I work in the medical industry and have a very expensive, trusted digital BP cuff we use here at home, so I am not worried about these results not being accurate.

I was diagnosed with exercise induced hypertension about a month ago. I am very lucky as the cardiologist told me he believes in natural medicine and he gave me until February to get better before he would put me on blood pressure meds.

The apple cider vinegar has worked. I love it so much I drink it at least 3 times daily. I put 1 tablespoon in about 8 oz.water. I add 3 packet of real lemon and 2 packets of truvia. I add ice and it tastes like a tangy lemonade.
Initially when I was worked up they had to stop the treadmill because I went in with normal BP and in 2 minutes it was 220/118. I was shocked. Never in my life have I had this problem.

Last week I was running many errands and walked back and forth across Target twice..I felt so tired I thought uh oh I better check my B/P. I went to the pharmacy and it read 130/80. That is still not my usual low BP but I think that is great after running around all day

I have, in fact, buried my blood pressure cuff in a drawer for a good year and have, instead, pursued a number of healing modalities:

Walking 1-2 miles daily
Yoga
Iodine supplementation protocol plus companion nutrients
Changing my mind patterns to positive thinking especially with the help of the writings of Ester Hicks and Abraham
Healthful eating
Appreciation for all I have

It seems we can be in control of our health and destiny, if we are willing to take responsibility for ourselves, and do a bit of homework...

If not, perhaps it is not a part of ones path at this time....that is ok too....we all must go at our own speed and in a direction that seems appropriate.

When I had the burning feet, which was a B1 deficiency, my doctor had told me 6 months before that it was just anxiety. Thank god for natural remedies, and this wonderful site of course.