About half of those with essential hypertension are resistant to insulin. For such people a blood sugar lowering diet would be very helpful.
Dr Atkins was able to bring down hypertension in his patients by cutting back on carbohydrates and adding nutritional supplements.
Most people are not drinking enough water and taking in too much salt. Increasing the water intake and reducing salt will often work very well. Six out of ten people with high blood pressure will respond to this.
Fatty Acids
The omega 3 fatty acids taken as fish oils can lower blood pressure. They improve pliability and flexibility of blood vessels, lower inflammation and relax blood vessels.
Garlic
Consuming garlic on a reguar basis lowers the risk of heart disease. A number of studies show that it can lower blood pressure.
Coenzyme Q10
A number of studies prove the benefit of this nutrient. In one of these the systolic readings fell from 164.5 to 146.7 on average. The diastolic readings fell from 98.1 to 86.1 on average.
Vitamin C
Since essential hypertension is associated with an abnormal antioxidant status and reduced levels of nitric oxide, in both of which vitamin C has important roles, one would expect this vitamin to be able to reduce high blood pressure and it does.
Vitamin C at doses of 500mg per day caused significant drops in blood pressure in men and women with hypertension according to one study.
Other Nutrients
The non essential amino acid l-arginine relaxes the blood vessels once it is converted to nitric oxide. Its blood pressure lowering effect is seen taking between two and nine grams per day.
Some minerals are particularly important in the cardiovascular system. These include calcium, magnesium and potassium. Taurine has a diuretic effect and can relax blood vessels.
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