Lower blood pressure herbal remedies, garlic, hawthorn - alternative treatments

“Limited and inadequate evidence is available to support the use of garlic, herbal and other complementary medicines to lower blood pressure.”

This is the conclusion of the British Hypertension Society Guidelines 2004 when asked for a statement regarding herbal remedies.

The fact that herbal remedies are natural does not guarantee that they are safe.

Many country dwellers favour such remedies in the same manner as opting for a land rover when other more modern and effective methods are now available.

You should be very careful about taking herbs to treat your high blood pressure. They should not be used in place of conventional treatments and if you do decide to take them as a supplement to your regular medication, you should tell both your doctor and your herbalist about the other medicines you take. Some herbs can interact with conventional medicines and may be harmful.

Will hawthorn products lower my blood pressure?

Hawthorn is an country-folk remedy for many cardiovascular issues. There's little evidence of real benefit and none that hawthorn helps to lower blood pressure.

Can eating lots of garlic lower blood pressure?

In the absence of large, properly controlled experiments and studies of garlic that show that eating lots of garlic can lower blood pressure. Whilst garlic supplements aren't recommended to take to help lower high blood pressure, using it in your cooking as a flavouring can help you reduce the salt and help your low sodium diet!