Arginine, N Acetyl- Cysteine for Hypertension

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Tony (Windsor, Ontario) on 05/13/2015:
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Hello Art, I wonder what brand you are taking ?

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Artworks (California) on 05/09/2015:
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Rebel, I'm not sure why, but my blood pressure stabilized in the normal range and I slowly withdrew from taking NAC, arginine and lysine everyday. My blood pressure has stayed normal after removal of the three. I don't think that happens with the prescription BP meds......I've always heard that you have to take those for life. If you do much research on NAC, it has many potential health benefits when taken at proper dosing consistently all by itself.

This more recent rodent study may give a clue why:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3877599/

Apparently NAC may help prevent high blood pressure from getting started in the first place. It's only a rodent study and that does not mean it will be the same for humans, but NAC and arginine have very good safety profiles with generally positive side effects as compared to the negatives of many BP prescriptions. There are many studies on the benefits of NAC.

It's actually pretty sad that after the original study from May of 2008

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

that produced such impressive results and led me to try arginine / NAC in the first place, there were no follow on studies to help confirm the efficacy of this cheap and safe combination in larger groups. If it was patentable, I'm sure it would have been a different story though.

Obviously people should not attempt this combination without their doctor's approval and supervision as high blood pressure can be dangerous and sometimes deadly.

I still use all three for different things, but not everyday anymore . The lysine was needed at the time to keep my arginine / lysine ratio in balance as I felt I was getting more frequent colds than what is normal for me when using just the arginine and NAC. Overall I would rate this combination of natural supplements very high at a level somewhat similar to the borax remedy that is frequently discussed here.

Art

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Art (Tustin, Ca. Usa) on 08/24/2012:
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Just thought I would update as I have been taking the nac/arginine combination for almost a month now. I just took my blood pressure and the reading was 117/76 so this combination appears to be working very well for me and the first reading at two weeks of supplementing apparently was not a fluke at 123/83.

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

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Art (Tustin, Ca. Usa) on 08/08/2012:
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My blood pressure has averaged around 130/85 for quite a few years, but in the past two years it has been inching up until it recently started hitting the 160/100 area despite regular use of magnesium, potassium, vitamin d and other supplements and vitamins as well as the apple cider vinegar/bs protocol which seemed to have no effect on my blood pressure. I also tried hibiscus tea as mentioned by others on this site, but that actually caused me to put on weight and worsened my high blood pressure....... I suspect, due to the sugar that I used to sweeten the tea. I've tried other ideas also, but to no avail and I didn't want to go on prescription drugs due to the potential negative side effects.

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

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