Magnesium and High Blood Pressure: Can It Help?

Magnesium and high blood pressure are connected because this mineral helps regulate blood pressure, muscle function, and nerve activity. Getting enough magnesium supports heart health. However, the blood pressure benefits of supplements are usually modest.

Can Magnesium Lower Blood Pressure?

A review of 34 clinical trials involving 2,028 adults found that magnesium supplements lowered the top blood pressure number by about 2 points and the bottom number by about 1.8 points, on average.

The studies lasted about three months on average. These results suggest that magnesium may offer some help, but it should not replace prescribed blood pressure medicine.

Magnesium-Rich Foods for Blood Pressure Support

Food is a good place to start. Sources of magnesium include:

• Pumpkin seeds and almonds

• Spinach and other leafy greens

• Black beans and lentils

• Whole grains, such as oatmeal

These foods can help you meet your daily magnesium needs while adding other useful nutrients to your meals.

Should You Take Magnesium for High Blood Pressure?

Talk with your healthcare provider before starting a supplement, especially if you have kidney disease or take prescription medicines. Poor kidney function can allow magnesium to build up in the body. Supplements can also cause diarrhea and interfere with certain medicines.

For adults, the usual upper limit is 350 mg daily from supplements and medicines, unless a healthcare provider recommends otherwise. This limit does not include magnesium naturally present in food.

Continue checking your blood pressure and taking your medicines as prescribed.

Save on Eligible Supplements

If your healthcare provider recommends a supplement, visit my Fullscript store for an automatic 20% discount on eligible products. If you are searching for Fullscript discount codes, no code is needed through this link.

Disclosure: I earn a profit from purchases made through my store.

References

1. 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. Read the study.

2. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Magnesium: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals.

Tips to Reduce Blood Pressure

Blood pressure medications

Medications used in lowering blood pressure fast are diuretics, beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin antagonists, alpha-blockers, alpha-beta blockers, nervous system inhibitors, and vasodilators.

Diuretics help prevent retention of water by flushing out excess water and sodium from the body. Proper excretion of these elements in the urine helps alleviate congestion in the organs of the body such as the heart.

Beta-blockers decrease nerve signals to the heart and blood vessels, thus reducing the number of heartbeats and lessening the force of contraction of the cardiac muscle. As the heart works less hard, the blood pressure drops.

ACE inhibitors thwart the formation of angiotensin II, a hormone that narrows blood vessels. Drugs from this group relax the arteries and cause the blood pressure to go down. Angiotensin antagonists protect the blood vessels from angiotensin II.

Calcium channel blockers prevent the influx of calcium into the heart muscle and blood vessels, relaxing the blood vessels and lowering their pressure.

Alpha-blockers lessen nerve impulses, allowing easier passage of blood and causing the blood pressure to go down. Alpha-beta blockers, on the other hand, have the same effect as the addition of slowing the heartbeat, thus lowering the blood pressure. Nervous system inhibitors control nerve impulses in the blood vessels, relaxing them and lowering their pressure.

Vasodilators lower the blood pressure as they cause the blood vessels to dilate.

Lifestyle makeovers

Lifestyle practices which help lower blood pressure fast include exercising, strictly following a diet low in salt and fat content, good nutrition including eating lots of fiber from whole grains, fruits and vegetables, quitting smoking and limiting alcohol intake, maintaining normal weight, avoiding stress and taking vitamin and mineral supplements such as potassium, calcium, magnesium regularly

Beets Health Benefits

• Beets are a unique source of phytonutrients called betalains. Betanin and vulgaxanthin are the two best-studied betalains from beets, and both have been shown to provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support. The detox support provided by betalains includes support of some especially important Phase 2 detox steps involving glutathione. Although you can see these betalain pigments in other foods (like the stems of chard or rhubarb), the concentration of betalains in the peel and flesh of beets gives you an unexpectedly great opportunity for these health benefits.
• Unlike some other food pigments, betalains undergo very steady loss from food as the length of cooking time is increased. For example, one recent study has shown the red betalain pigments in beets to be far less heat stable than red anthocyanin pigments in red cabbage. The difference between 15 minutes of steaming versus 25 minutes of steaming, or 60 minutes of roasting versus 90 minutes of roasting can be significant in terms of betalain damage. For these reasons, we recommend that you keep beet steaming times to 15 minutes or less, and roasting times under an hour.
• An estimated 10-15% of all U.S. adults experience beeturia (a reddening of the urine) after consumption of beets in everyday amounts. While this phenomenon is not considered harmful in and of itself, it may be a possible indicator of the need for healthcare guidance in one particular set of circumstances involving problems with iron metabolism. Individuals with iron deficiency, iron excess, or specific problems with iron metabolism are much more likely to experience beeturia than individuals with healthy iron metabolism. For this reason, if you experience beeturia and have any reason to suspect iron-related problems, we recommend a healthcare consult to follow up on possible issues related to iron status.
• In recent lab studies on human tumor cells, betanin pigments from beets have been shown to lessen tumor cell growth through a number of mechanisms, including inhibition of pro-inflammatory enzymes (specifically, cyclooxygenase enzymes). The tumor cell types tested in these studies include tumor cells from colon, stomach, nerve, lung, breast, prostate and testicular tissue. While lab studies by themselves are not proof of beets' anti-cancer benefits, the results of these studies are encouraging researchers to look more closely than ever at the value of betanins and other betalains in beets for both prevention and treatment of certain cancer types.
• There has been some confusion about the nutritional value of beets in terms of their lutein/zeaxanthin content. (Lutein and zeaxanthin are two carotenoid phytonutrients that play an important role in health, and especially eye health.) Beet greens are usually a valuable source of lutein/zeaxanthin. One cup of raw beet greens may contain over 275 micrograms of lutein! Beetroots are not nearly so concentrated in lutein, although some beetroots - like the roots of yellow beets - may be valuable sources of this carotenoid. (Lutein can contribute to the yellow color of vegetables, and so yellow root vegetables—like yellow carrots or yellow beets—often contain more lutein than orange or red versions of these foods.)

Resourced From

Are Canned Beets Good for High Blood Pressure ?

• Are Canned Beets Good for High Blood Pressure?

     In studies, it has been shown that drinking beet juice can lower high blood pressure. Lowering high blood pressure can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. February is Heart Month awareness month and I will be focusing on prevention of heart diseases. 

     High Blood Pressure Statistics

• Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.High blood pressure puts you at risk for heart disease. 
• 80 million Americans have high blood pressure
• 33% of Americans have pre-hypertension
• Only 50% of Americans have their blood pressure under control
• Over 400,000 Americans die from high blood pressure per year
• High blood pressure costs around 50 billion dollars per year

A study was done that included 15 women and 15 men. The subjects were given 500mg of beet juice and 500g of random other juice. All of the subjects had a baseline blood pressure done. The subjects were evaluated after 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, the subjects who drank the beet juice had a lower systolic blood pressure. 

Why Does Beet Juice Help Lower High Blood Pressure

Studies have shown that nitrate helps lower high blood pressure. Beets contain a large number of nitrites. Nitrates from foods are rapidly absorbed in the small intestine. In the small intestines, nitrates have 100% bioavailability. The nitrite is reduced to nitric oxide by the bacteria on the tongue. Nitric oxide has the ability to dilate the veins which also decreases the blood pressure. Evidenced has proven that when the body has decreased nitric acid, the person has a tendency to have hypertension. 

What Foods Have Nitrite/ Nitric Acid

Vegetables have the highest amount of nitrites. Some of these foods are :

• Lettice
• Red beetroot
• Spinach
• Green leafy vegetables
• Celery
• Cress

The food that has the highest amount of nitrate is beets. These foods have also been beneficial for the prevention of coronary artery disease and strokes. Beets are a rich source of nitric acid. The Beetroot Juice was given to people with a systolic blood pressure of over 120.  The people ranged in age from 23-68 years of age. The people who consumed the beet juice saw an average of a 7 point drop in their systolic blood pressure.   

Preventive Blood Pressure is Associated with Reduced Risk of Death

Primary preventive blood pressure (BP) lowering is associated with reduced risk of death and cardiovascular disease (CVD) if the baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP) is 140 mm Hg or higher, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

High BP is the most important risk factor for mortality and CVD worldwide. Existing guidelines recommend treating high BP to a SBP goal below 140 mm Hg.

“We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the treatment effect of BP lowering on death and CVD across SBP levels,” wrote the authors of the study. “We aimed to achieve a more comprehensive study inclusion than previous meta-analyses, and we used nonstandardized methods, with risk ratios and SEs derived from raw data.”

The authors included trials with at least 1000 patient-years of follow-up that compared drugs with placebo or different BP targets against each other. Previous systematic reviews were assessed from PubMed, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effect (DARE). The authors then searched reference lists of the reviews for randomized clinical trials.

Randomized clinical trials published after November 1, 2015, were also queried in PubMed and the Cochrane Central Register for Controlled Trials during February 2017. They also accounted for risk of bias.

This resulted in 74 trials that corresponded to 306,273 unique participants and 1.2 million patient-years follow up.

The authors collected data on the numbers of participants, all-cause deaths, cardiovascular deaths, major cardiovascular events (MACE), coronary heart disease (CHD) events, strokes, heart failure events, and end-stage renal disease events.

In trials characterized as primary preventive, the association of BP-lowering treatment with MACE was dependent on the baseline SBP. In trials with a baseline SBP 160 mm Hg or higher, treatment was linked with a decreased risk for death (RR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.87-1.00) and a significant reduction of MACE (RR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.70-0.87).

For baseline SBP ranging from 140 mm Hg to 159 mm Hg, the association of treatment with mortality was similar (RR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.75-1.00). However, the association with MACE was less distinct (RR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.80-0.96). In trials with baseline SBP under 140 mm Hg, treatment was not associated with mortality (RR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.90-1.06) and MACE (RR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.90-1.04).

Trials that included participants with previous CHD and a mean baseline SBP of 138 mm Hg had showed an association between treatment and reduced risk for MACE (RR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.84-0.97), but it was not associated with survival (RR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.89-1.07).

“Treatment to lower BP is associated with a reduced risk in death and MACE if SBP is 140 mm Hg or above,” concluded the authors. “If SBP is below 140 mm Hg, treatment is not associated with any benefit in primary prevention, but may reduce the risk for several cardiovascular outcomes in people with previous CHD.”

Does High Blood Pressure Run in Your Family

The study, led by researchers at the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health, found that those who had a parent with high blood pressure but were highly fit had a 34 percent lower risk of developing high blood pressure themselves, compared to those with a low-fitness level who had the same parental history. The study involved more than 6,000 people.
“Understanding the roles that family history and fitness play in chronic diseases is critically important,” said Robin P. Shook, the study’s lead author and an Arnold School doctoral student.
“The results of this study send a very practical message, which is that even a very realistic, moderate amount of exercise — which we define as brisk walking for 150 minutes per week — can provide a huge health benefit, particularly to people predisposed to hypertension because of their family history,” he said.
Previous research indicates that parental history accounts for about 35 percent to 65 percent of the variability in blood pressure among offspring, with varying levels of risk based on which parent developed it and the age of onset.
Researchers followed a group of 6,278 predominantly Caucasian adults 20 to 80 years old for an average 4.7 years. The participants were patients of the Cooper Clinic, a non-profit organization dedicated to preventive medicine, research and education in Dallas.
Thirty-three percent of participants reported that a parent had hypertension. When the study began, all participants were healthy, reported no physician diagnosis of hypertension, and achieved an exercise test score of at least 85 percent of their age-predicted maximal heart rate. Researchers determined participants’ cardiorespiratory fitness using a maximal treadmill exercise test.
During the study, 1,545 participants reported they had developed hypertension.
Researchers found that:
• Combining those with and without a family history of high blood pressure, high levels of fitness were associated with a 42 percent lower risk of developing hypertension, and moderate levels of fitness with a 26 percent lower risk.
• People with both a low level of fitness and a parent with hypertension had a 70 percent higher risk for developing hypertension compared with highly fit people with no parental history.
• Those with a high level of fitness and a parent with hypertension experienced only a 16 percent higher risk of developing hypertension compared to those who were fit and had no parental history.
“The correlation between fitness levels, parental history and risk are impossible to ignore,” Shook said. “This awareness can serve the clinician and the patient, as they work together to find effective and reasonable ways to avoid the diseases that have affected their family members — in some cases, for generations.”
The research findings may not apply to all people because the majority of the study participants were relatively fit, well-educated, middle- to upper-class white men.
The findings support the American Heart Association’s recommendations of moderately intense physical activity, such as brisk walking, for 30 minutes or longer at least five days a week.

Although high blood pressure might run in families, that does not mean that a person has to get the disease. There are modifiable risk factors such as :

• Weight
• Exercise
• Cholesterol levels

Women Tips For High Blood Pressure

One in three American adults have
high blood pressure. Talking about
your blood pressure might just save
your life. According to the
American Heart Association, high
blood pressure is the single greatest
risk factor for stroke. Other complications
from high blood pressure
include heart disease, kidney disease
and peripheral vascular disease
(known as clogging of the arteries
or atherosclerosis in the legs and
neck arteries).
Blood pressure screening is done
at almost every visit to your health
care professional’s office. Yet, many
people don’t ask about their blood
pressure numbers when the blood
pressure cuff comes off. And sometimes
health care professionals
don’t explain your results.
Understanding your health risks
starts with knowing your blood
pressure numbers.
So, let’s get started working as a
team. Here’s what you need to
know about high blood pressure
and what YOU can do to help keep
your blood pressure under control.
Know Your Numbers
Blood pressure is the amount of
force the heart exerts against the
walls of your arteries as it pumps
blood throughout the body.
Normally, blood flows freely
through your arteries. But, if your
arteries become stiff or clogged, it’s
harder for the blood to flow freely,
and the heart has to work harder to
pump the blood around the body.
Blood pressure has two measurements:
• the systolic measurement
(or top number)
• the diastolic measurement
(or bottom number)
The systolic measurement is the
amount of pressure your heart uses
to push blood out. The diastolic
measurement is the amount of pressure
in your arteries between heart
beats. Medical experts now know
that the systolic number (the top
number) is the most important
number when it comes to tracking
blood pressure after age 50. But, we
always want both numbers to be
well controlled. Here’s a look at
blood pressure ranges. What’s yours?
High Blood Pressure
Women’s
Health Tips
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