The Battle of Garlic vs. High-Blood Pressure

Image Gallery ILLUSTRATIONS: BARI GOODMAN LLOYD

Home Remedies

Taming America's number one killer.

By Christopher Nyerges

Is there a good herbal remedy for high blood pressure? I spoke with several doctors and consulted my many books and files to come up with a meaningful response.

I spoke with Dr. Wayne Flicker from Sierra Madre, who sent me a thick wad of data from various sources, mostly medical journals. He pointed out that high blood pressure—referred to as hypertension—is a complex topic and that innumerable books have been written on this subject. Dr. Flicker pointed out that the causes are many, and doctors simply don't always know what they are. Not a particularly encouraging finding, since high blood pressure (and the heart disease which inevitably proceeds from it) is given credit for killing more people each year than virtually all other natural causes of death (save cancer) combined. Its specific cause is ascertained in about 1 in 20 cases. Doctors refer to hypertension as "essential," which is medical jargon for "we don't know the cause:"

However, I was able to come up with some concrete advice, some dietary, some herbal.

For starters, if you are overweight, lose some. If you smoke, stop. Excessive alcohol consumption may elevate the blood pressure. Hypertensives should limit alcohol consumption to less than one ounce of ethanol daily. That means less than 8 ounces of wine or less than 24 ounces of beer. Even better is to eliminate alcohol from your life altogether.

In at least half of the cases of hypertension, the reduction of salt in the diet proved to be helpful. The elderly and African Americans are the most likely to benefit from restricted salt intake. Read the labels of foods, since you might be surprised to find out which foods are high in salt/sodium. A food is considered high in sodium if it contains over 250 milligrams of sodium per serving, and this includes most cheeses, sausage, Danish pastry, many salad dressings, many olives, bouillon, etc. Read those labels.

Though the above recommendations are considered some of the best ways to reduce high blood pressure, there has also been some consideration of including calcium, magnesium, potassium, and fish oil in the diet.