So last week I went to a clinic and found out that I have high blood pressure.  When they tested it, I was at 146/100.  This wasn’t a one time thing.  I’ve seen before that I had high blood pressure for probably a year and just didn’t deal with it.

The doctor and nurse were saying that I need to change my diet and exercise more and probably go on blood pressure pills very soon.  Two of these things are true, however, I don’t like taking medication if I can take care of myself naturally instead.  I’m not gonna get into why I don’t believe in the pharmaceutical industry or why I don’t trust their products, but I will share what I did to lower my blood pressure to nearly optimal levels in 3 weeks.

what’s recommended

I googled hypertension to find out some natural ways to lower my blood pressure.  Most of them were saying:

• Exercise more – I will
• Lose weight – I’m not overweight
• Quit smoking – I don’t smoke
• Lower sodium intake – I’ve done more research on this and found that lowering sodium actually doesn’t work very well.  It might lower your blood pressure a couple points, but nothing significant.  Long story short, I haven’t changed anything as far as my diet goes yet.  If you want to know more about the sodium thing, check out this site and video.
• take vitamin B – I’m taking a B Complex every day now
• Vitamin C – I take 1000 mg every day
• Vitamin D – I take 5000 mg every day
• Vitamin E – I take 1 pill every day, but I’m not sure how much that is
• Ginkgo – I take this every day
• Co-enzyme Q10 (CoQ10) – I’m not taking it, but I might later.  I’ll see how things go
• 2 cloves of garlic per day – I love garlic and I have no problem with this, but I’m not currently doing it
• Hawthorn – I’m not taking or using it
• Fish oil – I’m not taking it
• Folic acid – This is possibly in my vitamin B complex pills, but I’m not sure
• the DASH diet – 7-8 servings of grain per day, 4-5 servings of fruit…this is the stupidest diet I have ever seen!  Read Gary Taubes book called Good Calories, Bad Calories and The Dark Side of Fat Loss.  This diet will make you diabetic and overweight in no time.
• Calcium, Magnesium and Potassium – I’m taking 2 calcium/magnesium pills every day. I’m not sure how much that is.
• Mind-Body Interventions – I need to do more of this and I will be also.

Of the things that I tried, I only noticed a 2 point drop in my blood pressure.  I’m not necessarily going to stop taking the vitamins because I do feel good taking them, but I don’t think they’re helping the blood pressure.

what worked

I was out eating at an Asian market and noticed a Chinese herb store.  While I was eating I googled Chinese herbs and noticed that ginseng can have an effect on your blood pressure.  Taking 3-5 mg can lower your blood pressure, however taking 30 mg or more can raise your blood pressure.

I went into the store and spoke to one of the people in there and he recommended a certain ginseng which for blood pressure.  He said I will see results right away.  I was really skeptical about this because of the vitamins not really working, but I bought a month worth of ginseng anyway to try it out.  I asked him about what I read where it can raise your blood pressure, and he said yes that is the case if you take Korean ginseng, however if you take American ginseng, it will lower your blood pressure.

He was very confident in what he was saying so I thought, I don’t really have much to lose.  The pills only cost $5 per bottle which is cheaper than anything else I’m taking.  I started taking them right away.  I’m supposed to take 3 pills, 3 times per day.  I went to test my blood pressure at the end of the day and my BP came down 3 points.  I waited a couple of days and tested again today and my BP is now down to 126/90!  While this isn’t perfect yet, this is only after 2 days of taking it.  I’m very impressed and will definitely continue taking the ginseng while closely monitoring my blood pressure.

i want to grow it

Ginseng will be the next thing that I research for how to grow it.  I have looked a little bit so far and have seen that it takes 3-5 years to grow to maturity.  Also, some years it just lays dormant and doesn’t grow at all.

If anyone has any information or experience growing ginseng, I would love to hear from you in the comments section.

Thanks for reading

Caleb