Health care providers often recommend various lifestyle and diet changes as well as certain prescription medications for treating high blood pressure. But some herbal treatments may help to reduce blood pressure as well. Consult your doctor before taking any herbal remedy for treating high blood pressure, and don’t stop taking any conventional blood-pressure medication unless directed by your physician.
Description
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a serious medical condition that can lead to cardiovascular diseases, heart attack, stroke and even death. If your blood pressure is constantly higher than 140 mm Hg over 90 mm Hg, your doctor may diagnose you with hypertension, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Chronic high blood pressure can put a great strain on your cardiovascular system, wearing out your heart and blood vessels quickly. Regular vigorous exercise, quitting smoking and a low-salt diet can all help to reduce blood pressure, says the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Herbal Treatments
Certain herbs may also help to lower your blood pressure. To help treat hypertension, you might take herbal remedies containing stevia, barberry, black tea, cordyceps, garlic, green coffee bean extract, grape juice, maca, olive leaf or hibiscus. Herbal treatments containing Achillea wilhelmsii or reishi mushroom might also help to lower blood pressure. Other potential herbal treatments include hawthorn, coleus, onion, Indian snakeroot and European mistletoe, according to the University of Michigan Health System. No widely-accepted, conclusive medical research confirms the use of any herbal treatment for reducing high blood pressure, however.
Scientific Evidence
A one-year-long, double-blind medical study of 106 individuals with hypertension found that taking 250 mg of stevia’s active substance called stevioside three times per day lowered blood pressure by about 10 percent, according to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The study was published in the "British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology" in 2000. Another double-blind clinical trial that was published the same year in the journal "Drugs Experimental Clinical Research" involved 60 people with mild hypertension and found that taking Achillea wilhelmsii extract substantially lowered blood pressure.
A 1994 review of 10 double-blind clinical trials published in the "Journal of Hypertension" found that taking 600 to 900 mg of garlic extract daily provides mild antihypertensive effects, according to the University of Michigan Health System. Another clinical trial published in the "Journal of Ethnopharmacology" in 1999 found that taking hibiscus infusions in water or black tea helped to reduce blood pressure in people with hypertension.
Finally, two double-blind studies published in 1994 in "Phytomedicine" and in 2006 in the "British Journal of General Practice" revealed that taking hawthorn extract substantially reduced blood pressure in people with type 2 diabetes and those with chronic congestive heart failure.
Dosages
You might take 400 mg of standardized garlic extract two or three times daily, 15 to 20 drops twice daily of Achillea wilhelmsii tincture, 150 to 300 mg of reishi mushroom two or three times daily, or 2 tablespoons of dried hibiscus herb steeped in 1 cup of water once daily, says the University of Maryland Medical Center. You might take 0.5 mL of European mistletoe tincture three times daily, or 1,200 mg of hawthorn extract daily standardized to contain 2.2-percent flavonoids, according to the University of Michigan Health System. If you use stevia to reduce blood pressure, you might take standardized extracts containing 250 to 500 mg of stevioside three times daily, according to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Ask your doctor about the safe and effective dosage of any herbal remedy before taking it.
Warnings
Although many herbal treatments have the potential to reduce blood pressure, some herbs may actually increase your blood pressure. For example, herbal remedies containing bitter orange, or Citrus aurantium, might increase your blood pressure, according to a study published in a 2006 edition of the "Annals of Pharmacotherapy." You should avoid taking Asian, American and Siberian ginseng remedies if you have high blood pressure because these herbs may worsen your hypertension. Consuming herbs or other natural remedies containing isoflavones from soy may pose a rare but dangerous risk of severe hypertension, according to a case report published in "BMC Women’s Health" in 2005. Also, a double-blind clinical trial published in 2007 in the Journal of Hypertension found that taking vitamin C combined with grape seed increased blood pressure slightly.
