Lowering blood pressure

Thanks Richard. Just got to "keep troshing" as they say here in Norfolk. It means keep going!!

Hi Tom. That's billiant. I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised by our results as the medical profession keep going on about these lifestyle changes. I do miss my wine/beer and do miss some processed foods that I used to eat but prefer my lower bp! My GP may decide to keep me on ramapril for the time being so will have to see how that pans out.

Hi where do you buy that tea from please jiaogulan..

This is from WebMd

Jiaogulan is a plant that grows wild in China. The leaf is used to make medicine. Jiaogulan is sometimes referred to as “Southern Ginseng” because it grows in south central China and is used in similar ways as ginseng.

Jiaogulan is used for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and improving heart function. It is also used for strengthening the immune system, increasing stamina and endurance, increasing resistance to environmental stress (as an “adaptogen”), improving memory, and preventing hair loss. 

Other uses include treatment of poor appetite, cough, chronic bronchitis, ongoing stomach pain (chronic gastritis), pain and swelling (inflammation), ulcers, constipation, stress, gallstones, obesity, cancer, diabetes, trouble sleeping (insomnia), backache, and pain. 

Some people use jiaogulan as an anti-aging agent, antioxidant, and detoxifying agent.    

How does it work?iaogulan contains substances that might help reduce cholesterol levels. 

The Side effects:

Jiaogulan is POSSIBLY SAFE when taken by mouth short-term (up to 4 months). It can cause some side effects such as severe nausea and increased bowel movements. 

Special Precautions & Warnings:Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Jiaogulan is POSSIBLY UNSAFE when taken by mouth during pregnancy. One of the chemicals in jiaogulan has been linked to possible birth defects. 

Not enough is known about the safety of jiaogulan during breast-feeding. Stay on the safe side and avoid use.  

“Auto-immune diseases” such as multiple sclerosis (MS), lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus, SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), or other conditions: Jiaogulan might cause the immune system to become more active. This could increase the symptoms of auto-immune diseases. If you have an auto-immune condition, it’s best to avoid using jiaogulan until more is known. Bleeding disorders: Jiaogulan may slow blood clotting. There is a concern that it might make bleeding disorders worse.

Surgery: Jiaogulan might slow blood clotting. There is some concern that it might increase the risk of bleeding during and after surgery. Stop using jiaogulan at least 2 weeks before a scheduled surgery.

 

Thank you for that derek not sure now after reading that what do you think I see it is called the immortality drink.... very interesting though...

Snake oil:-)

I drink Green Tea. I read that the tea bags are less efective that the loose.

 

Theres only one kind I can drink in green tea it ends in double oo don.t want tomention the name ok will stick with  that does.nt do anything for bp though...

Hi Tom. Been a week since last posting to you. The good news is that my weight is now under 12stone for the first time in years and years. I am still doing 30mins exercise per day and I am watching what I eat and drink. My readings today were 122/74. Brilliant. I have been helped a bit by an attack of diverticulitis, another problem I have, which puts me off eating too much as I get tummy cramps. So is weight loss the major contributor? 

Funnily enough I was thinking the same. Ditch the meds for a while and see what happens, but the cautious person in me says what if the results are due to long term build up of meds? A short abstention wouldn't help. I am now hovering around 12 stone, sometimes dipping below and sometimes creeping over. I am still walking briskly every day for 30 mins. My conclusion is that its a combo, not one particular thing and maybe the meds, ramapril and statins are playing their part. Readings this morning were 131/74. Yesterday was 120/78!!!! Where did that come from? Off to see my 94 year old mum today so bp will def go up!!!!

Good Day,

BP is going to wander about from day to day, its the average you need to observe, keep track and follow the trend, yr mother may send it up but that’s a flash observation, best check same time every day.
If you measure via an electronic device as many of us do, note the accuracy and the resolution, (see specs), they wander, partic. dependent on temp.
the state of the battery and where you place the cuff.

You can do so many things which influence your BP, what you eat, what you don’t eat, the exercise, the time oft he day, Alcohol. Red meat.

 

I have started to drink a cup of jiaogulan tea mornings, add Ginger and Lemon for more taste and goodness.

If you really want to get off the medication, talk to yr GP but an approach is try a few days with only half the medication and observe the trends.

Dropping your weight and exercise is without a doubt a significant contribution.

Bio feedback using Respite is another approach, I want to go that way in the future but I am convinced the weight and general physical and mental fitness is the key.

T

Fisherman, the medics do tell people that lifestyle changes can improve blood pressure so it might just be that in your case weight loss may have been the "major contributor".  

131/74 and 120/78 are excellent readings but it's it's difficult to know how muchthe Ramipril is contributing to the better readings, so why not just try dropping the Ramipril back down to the starting dose for a couple of weeks and monitor the subsequent readings.  Your systolic readings were never that high, but of course you have to take into account the familial risk in your case and your GP might want to err on the side of caution and keep you on the meds.

Very well done though.  Your Mum is 94 - Wow!  Hopefully you've got loads of her genes!  Enjoy your day with her whether it increases your BP or not.

Hi yes my mam puts mine up too she is 88 and her blood pressure readings are up for debate but she refuses to take any pills... when Itake mine when she is on the phone I also get an irregular heart beat she is a nightmare but love her.. what about your mam is sheon bp medsand if so for how long ..

Havealovely day

Hi so the respite method how does that work is it worth spending the money?  and what about jiaogulan tea does that work on bp never heard of it.

lemon and water is good for digestion

 

Mum does very well. Suffers from mild dementia when she drifts in and out of sensible/nonsense conversations. Its those that put my bp up! She takes Citalapram to ease feelings of anxiety, and they are good. She doesn't have high bp, it was dad who suffered from that.

Did you see the program on BBC2 tonight "Trust me I'm a doctor". Quite good. All about foods to reduce high bp.

Mum is a bit of a character to say the least. At 94 she thinks she can say anything she wants which can be really embarrassing sometimes! Mild dementia doesn't help either!! Did you see that program on BBC2 tonight, Trust me I'm a Doctor? Had a section looking at foods to lower bp, very good.

Just replied to a couple of other users who have been very supportive and I am grateful to you all. 

Watched a good program on BBC2 called "Trust me I'm a Doctor" when they discussed several foods proven to lower bp. Very interesting. It appears beetroot and garlic are good as is water melon to a lesser degree.

 

Beetroot no way, I tried the juice once. Garlic would be a No No for any on Warfarin. Water melon I can eat. 

In my mind and experience, it has a lot to do with life style and what you eat.

Its does not apply to everyone, some are really ill and have a real health disorder which a diat change alone will not change however, a greater number of us just need to observe a healthy diat and exercise change, this will certainly lead to an improved BP.

Its a fact of life, in advanced years the tissue is less supple and this leads to a higher BP, however.......

Get out there, excercise, eat less, eat fresh healthy food, drink less alcohol and consume little salt and sugar. You will be amaized how you feel and how yr BP drops.

Live well, even the mothers and worst of all Mother in Law's can be taken in your stride without significant BP jumps.

 

Yes, I saw the programme and now I know where I've been going wrong - I've been having one clove of crushed garlic each day, whereas it should have been two cloves!  Interesting programme - good to see Drs taking an interest in natural remedies.  The operation to insert a man-made thorax and stem cells is nothing short of a miracle for that young man.

I cut out salt in cooking and no longer added it to my food in 1983 and cut sugar intake down. I eat very few processed foods and yet in 2000 my BP was found to be 210/110. Four years after that blood tests said that I was T2. Salt and sugar are not the culprits in my case. As a non driver I have always walked for miles.  

And I have my two squares of 80% dark chocolate and my red wine.

How do you eat your garlic?

Well I used to have 3 squares of G&B's 70% chocolate daily (if you know G&B's, they are tiny squares!) but recently gave it up in an effort to cut out all caffeine to see if it woud help my BP.  So far it hasn't, but then neither has my daily beetroot or my daily stick of celery.  I don't think the anyone mentioned on the programme last night just how much beetroot or watermelon needed to be consumed to get the blood pressure lowering effect.  But they did say two cloves of garlic.  I have always crushed my garlic raw into my main meal at the point of eating (apparently the beneficial  allicin it contains is reduced on cooking).  I will now try the two cloves but although I like garlic, I think it might prove too much in those meals where it isn't completely buried in something such as casserole or risotto.

llicin it contains is re

Mr O and the cat will keep their distance:-)

I used to take garlic capsules and my wife said that she could smell garlic on my skin. I later took the odourless ones but had to stop them when taking warfarin.  I've been taking them again since stopping warfarin when I remember.

As programmes and write ups have said the difference anything makes is minimal. And for those like us with labile BP can we even be sure of any noticeable benefit?

 

cacao raw powder from holland and barrets reduces bp ifyou sprinkle on porridge or cereals

Yes, exactly what I thought when watching the programme last night - the results were, as you say, "minimal".  Just off to register with the gym now (GP referral) in yet another effort to get some benefit.  However, after a friend telling me yesterday that you have to ride an exercise bike, hit a punchbag, run around bouncing a ball, I doubt I'll last more than a few minutes - it's years since I ran anywhere!!  My breathing already gets a bit laboured after a half hour walk - and that's only since taking all these different BP pill.  Wish me luck.

good luck Mrs O  just go at your own pace  slowly

 

Did you find a noticeable difference.

Perhaps a cup of cocoa would be just as good. There is are a few chocolate powder covered cereals on the market but probably not very good chocolate and sugary.

Conclusion from an American government report:

Flavanol-rich chocolate and cocoa products may have a small but statistically significant effect in lowering blood pressure by 2-3 mm Hg in the short term.Our findings are limited by the heterogeneity between trials, which was explored by univariate meta-regression and subgroup analyses. Subgroup meta-analysis of trials using a flavanol-free control group revealed a significant blood pressure reducing effect of cocoa, whereas analysis of trials using a low-flavanol control product did not. While it appears that shorter trials of 2 weeks duration were more effective, analysis may be confounded by type of control and unblinding of participants, as the majority of 2-week trials also used a flavanol-free control and unblinding of participants. Results of these and other subgroup analyses based on, for example, age of participants, should be interpreted with caution and need to be confirmed or refuted in trials using direct randomized comparison.Long-term trials investigating the effect of cocoa products are needed to determine whether or not blood pressure is reduced on a chronic basis by daily ingestion of cocoa. Furthermore, long-term trials investigating the effect of cocoa on clinical outcomes are also needed to assess whether cocoa has an effect on cardiovascular events and to assess potential adverse effects associated with chronic ingestion of cocoa products. 

Well  yes it seems to lower it for a few hours for me, but the beetroot does aswell not sure about watermelon... its wortha try derek but as you say, nothing is prooved one hundres per cent we are looking  for a non medical remedy that lasts 24 hours a day I can.t do the garlic, what about garlic pills did they make any difference for you

The punchbag seems a bit extreme. A bike and treadmill should be quite enough.

I took the garlic pills for their blood thinning properties but did not notice any difference in my BP as it fluctuates so much.

I have been trying Losartan last thing at night for the past few weeks as my BP is always very high in the morning and dropped rapidly during the day. It has barely affected my morning readings and my BP still drops during the day but not so far. 

 

If they all work for an hour or two one would need to take them at different times of day and spread the benefit out

Yes its too much to think about much easier just to take losartan,  breathing with your mouth closed in and out through the nose slowly also lowers the bp give it a go for a few mins and let me know, deep breathing in through nose and out through the mouth seems to make mine go up, when you try too hard to lower it it seems to go up...

 

Perhaps mine is so high in the morning as I don't breath properly during the night.

OMG wasn't that stem cell op amazing?! That poor guy having to breath thru a hole in his neck. These medical breakthroughs are wonderful 

I actually like beetroot provided I smother it in pepper!! Garlic is OK as well but a bit anti social! Water melon is boring and to me a bit tasteless. Didn't know about the danger of garlic/warfarin combo.

The list of products you can't eat or drink with warfarin is endless.

I had a Greek meal the night before an INR check. WHAT have you been eating the nurse asked.

Juggling the "correct" foods to have must be a nightmare. My wife is T2 diabetic and she struggles to find the right combo to keep her blood sugars in check. I am in a coffee shop at Tesco as I write this and on my shopping list are beetroot, garlic and watermelon!!! That will help Tesco plug their £260m hole in their accounts!!

Buy some Ginger amd make some tea with a few clices and some of the other tea I recommended, works wonders.

http://www.horusmedia.de/2008-jiaogulan/jiaogulan-en.php