A person taking a blood pressure medication is usually doing so to keep his blood pressure in check. Most people will tend to use a prescription medication, which is really the tried-and-true method of treatment, besides a change in lifestyle to naturally lower blood pressure through diet and exercise. When a person has developed high blood pressure or hypertension there are a few natural medications, a term used loosely, that can help to lower blood pressure to a more healthy level under 120 systolic (the top number) and under 80 diastolic (the bottom number).
Folic Acid
One of the more common natural blood medications that people have been using today is folic acid. What folic acid does, according to the American Heart Association, is reduce the level of a certain amino acid in the blood called homocysteine. When there is too much of this amino acid in a person's blood, which can happen due to diet and genetics, it can begin to damage the arteries as well as cause heart disease.
CoQ10
CoQ10 is an enzyme that naturally occurs in our body, but can actually be taken in a supplement form. Currently, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has not evaluated its safety or efficacy, yet studies have shown that an increase in CoQ10, also known as coenzyme Q10 or vitamin Q10, can reduce a person's systolic blood pressure. However, it would be more effective in people who are prehypertensive, since it only reduces a person's blood pressure by a fairly small number.
Hawthorn Supplement
This medication is strictly an herbal supplement, but still used as a common natural treatment for hypertension, or high blood pressure. Something within this herb seems to have an effect on the diastolic blood pressure, so it could be effective to treat a person who has a diastolic pressure over 80. Again, this product has not been approved by the FDA to treat prehypertension or hypertension.
Calcium
In some individuals, a daily supplement of calcium has shown an improvement in the person's systolic blood pressure. Of course, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute recommends that a person should get her calcium through natural diet over a supplement, but both have shown to help with blood pressure.
Magnesium & Potassium
Along with calcium, both magnesium and potassium have also shown some benefit to improving a person's blood pressure or maintaining a person's healthy blood pressure. Both nutrients actually work in reducing a person systolic and diastolic pressure. This reduction wasn't to a great degree, so it would be of better use to people who are prehypertensive.
Tags: blood pressure, blood pressure, person blood, person systolic, amino acid, common natural, diastolic pressure