Keeping your blood pressure in the normal range protects you from heart attacks and strokes, as well as kidney disease, vision loss, and metabolic syndrome.
But here’s one more reason to get this dangerous condition under control…
A new Brazilian study shows high blood pressure speeds memory loss in middle-aged and older patients.
Over four years, the researchers analyzed blood pressure and cognitive skills for more than 7,000 adults. No matter their age, those with high blood pressure had faster declines in cognitive performance compared with people with normal blood pressure.1
Here in America, half of all adults have high blood pressure. Unfortunately, if you go to the doctor, you’re likely to leave with a prescription for one – maybe even two or three – of Big Pharma’s “solutions.”
We’ve talked about the dangers of these drugs before. And you know I consider them to be a last resort.
I help my patients find natural alternatives. In a moment, I’ll share some of the best, all-natural ways you can bring your blood pressure under control.
First, I want to tell you about a powerful herbal remedy that can crush hypertension.
I’m Talking About Medical Grade Cannabis
In an Israeli study published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine, researchers found that medical cannabis can reduce blood pressure in older adults.2
Amazingly… this study was the first of its kind to focus on the effects of cannabis on blood pressure, heart rate, and metabolic factors like weight, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels.
In the study, the researchers followed a group of hypertensive patients over age 60. They were given cannabis, then monitored with a 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure device. This monitor records readings every 15 minutes.
The patients were also given ECGs, blood tests, and had body measurements taken before the
study and three months afterward.Researchers found a significant reduction in both blood pressure values. The lowest numbers happened three hours after taking cannabis. Blood pressure decreased both day and night, with the most significant drop taking place in the evening.
Unfortunately, research in the U.S. is limited because cannabis remains classified as a Level 1 drug. So, I started looking into studies of CBD, the non-psychoactive compound in cannabis…
I was surprised.
Just one dose of CBD lowers blood pressure.
In the study, researchers gave healthy volunteers a single 600 mg dose of CBD oil and found it reduced resting blood pressure compared to a placebo.3
Then the volunteers were given a stress test that causes blood pressure to increase substantially. A single dose of CBD caused a much lower increase in blood pressure than normal.
And because it’s such a powerful antioxidant, several animal studies have found that CBD can reduce the inflammation and cell death associated with heart disease.4
2 Natural Therapies for High Blood Pressure
I’m continuing my research into using CBD as a blood pressure aid. Here are other natural solutions I recommend…
- Lower BP with CoQ10. This supplement helps most cardiac problems, especially high blood pressure and congestive heart failure. The journal Molecular Aspects of Medicine published an eight-year study on the effects of CoQ10 on overall heart health. Over 400 patients participated in the CoQ10 therapy. Approximately 87% of the patients had significant improvement for their various cardiac problems. Most patients were able to stop taking prescription drugs.5 I use 50 mg of the ubiquinol form of CoQ10 every day.
- Use nature’s own blood pressure “prescription.” Magnesium is your body’s natural blood vessel relaxer. It helps balance potassium, sodium and calcium, which all affect blood pressure.
In a review of 34 studies covering more than 2,000 patients, researchers found that taking magnesium daily for one month lowered systolic pressure by 2 mmHg and diastolic pressure by 1.8 mmHg.6
I recommend between 600 mg and 1,000 mg a day. Take it with vitamin B6. It will increase the amount of magnesium that accumulates in your cells.
1 Tele de Menezes S, et al. “Hypertension, prehypertension, and hypertension control association with decline in cognitive performance in the ELSA-Brasil Cohort.” Hypertension. 2021 Feb;77(2):672-681.
2 Abuhasira R, et al. “Cannabis is associated with blood pressure reduction in older adults – A 24-hours ambulatory blood pressure monitoring study.” Eur J Intern Med. 2021 Jan 20;S0953-6205(21)00005-4.
3 Jadoon K, et al. “A single dose of cannabidiol reduces blood pressure in healthy volunteers in a randomized crossover study.” JCI Insight. 2017 Jun 15; 2(12): e93760.
4 Rajesh M, et al. “Cannabidiol attenuates cardiac dysfunction, oxidative stress, fibrosis, inflammatory and cell death signaling pathways in diabetic cardiomyopathy.” J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010 Dec 14; 56(25): 2115–2125.
5 Langsjoen H, et al. “Usefulness of Coenzyme Q10 in clinical cardiology: a long-term study.” Mol Aspect Med 1004; 15 Suppl: s165-75.
6 Zhang X, et al. “Effects of magnesium supplementation on blood pressure: A meta-analysis of randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trials.” Hypertension. 2016;68(2):324-333.