Health Supplements with Effect on Blood Pressure

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It is widespread to hear sellers and retailers beating their chests, saying their supplements are good for you. Adding to the list could be a friend or a well-intention auntie next door. Who should you follow? What supplements are helpful for you?

In this first series, we would like to the health supplements that may benefit you and the considerations behind such recommendations, looking particularly into supplements with positive effects on blood pressure.

High Blood Pressure – The Silent Killer

Blood pressure is the driving force to send blood from your heart to all parts of your body, supplying all the needed nutrients and oxygen and taking out all waste and unwanted substances elsewhere. With high blood pressure, your heart and blood vessels do not get enough rest and get damaged by the direct force; when left unattended, it may lead to health issues such as heart attack and stroke. According to World Health Organisation, close to a third of deaths are caused by heart and blood vessels. 85% if these deaths are from heart attacks and stroke.

When diagnosed with high blood pressure by a medical doctor, the person should be treated with related medication and undertakes a healthy lifestyle.

One might ask – “can I take a health supplement instead? Why not? It is natural. It has no side effects.

The Good, Bad and Ugly of Supplements

Sure! Health supplements may be natural and have fewer side effects. However, health supplements are without any issues.

As health supplements tend not to have pronounced effects such as prescription medicines, they may not lower blood pressure to the extent needed to prevent heart & blood vessel diseases. As such, it may give you a false sense of security. It may make your daily pill-popping very complicated. It may cause you to neglect to take the prescription medicines needed to manage your condition.

Health supplements may also interact with your medicines. It may cause issues such as slower blood clotting. Most importantly, health supplements that lower blood pressure will do their job – lower blood pressure. When it is taken together with blood pressure medicines, it may lower the blood pressure to the extent where the person may faint and injure themselves.

Nevertheless, clinical trials, population studies or observational studies identify health supplements that reduce blood pressure without significant problems. In some cases, health supplements are added to prescription medicines to study whether they produce synergistic beneficial effects.

What are the supplements backed by sound science?

Without clinical studies, any recommendation to consume health supplements may be biased. For example, if we hear that a pill may bring a health benefit, the psychological effect of that recommendation and the zeal of trying to prove that you have made the right decision may cause you to attribute any positive findings to that pill.

Well designed studies may remove such biased.

Below are some supplements that may benefit the management of high blood pressure.

•Dash Diet • Potassium

•Berberine • Black Seed • Blue-Green Algae • Calcium • Casein Peptides • Chitosan • Conjugated Linoleic Acid

Important note:

The content of this article acts as health tips and is not a replacement for advice by your health professionals. Individual response to any supplement may differ from person to person. Taking health supplements may expose you to issues such as medication interactions and side effects. Always consult your health professional, especially if you have any chronic disease or are taking medicines concurrently.