Seven herbs that lower blood pressure
The following seven herbs, many of them popular and already in use in kitchens around the world, can help reduce blood pressure and the need for medications.
- Garlic: A study at the Clinical Research Center of New Orleans found that allicin, a substance in garlic, helped nine research subjects with severe incidences of hypertension experience its reduction.
- Onions: A Journal of Nutrition study found that the antioxidant flavonol, quercetin, caused subjects to experience a reduction of both their diastolic and systolic pressures compared with subjects who only took a placebo.
- Cinnamon: This herb has many health properties, including lowering blood pressure and fighting diabetes. Research subjects who ingested a water soluble form of cinnamon had an increase in the antioxidants that lower blood sugar levels.
- Oregano: An animal subject study found that a compound found in oregano, carvacrol, reduced arterial pressure, diastolic and systolic pressures and the heart rate.
- Cardamom: After taking this herb for only three months, 20 people who were recently diagnosed with severe hypertension saw their blood pressure levels significantly reduced.
- Olives: Olive oil, a staple in the Mediterranean diet, has been shown to reduce blood pressure, making people who live in that area some of the world’s healthiest.
- Hawthorn: When 79 people with Type 2 diabetes took 1200mg of hawthorn extract for sixteen weeks, their mean diastolic pressure was reduced.