One of the earliest health problems people experience is high blood pressure. It’s often the first sign we see before other health issues develop. That’s because your blood pressure is a clear indicator of your underlying health. We know that any kind of inflammation in your body can push your blood pressure up. Many inflammatory conditions can increase your blood pressure.

High blood pressure isn’t just a sign of an underlying problem. It also can cause serious health problems. High blood pressure causes approximately 62% of strokes and 49% of heart attacks. And it’s not a small problem. Nearly 972 million adults worldwide have high blood pressure. It kills 7.6 million people every year. And it disables another 92 million. So if you have high blood pressure, it’s time to take action. Here’s where to begin.

Women’s Health Letter readers are smart and know the problems that some drugs may cause. In those who take antihypertensive drugs, numerous adverse reactions, including headache, dizziness, orthostatic hypotension, and decreased sexual function, limit the clinical use of many antihypertensive drugs. In fact, antihypertensive drugs help only 25% of the patients who take them reach their blood pressure goal.

One of the best blood pressure treatments in natural medicine is the mineral magnesium. You probably already know how great magnesium is for your heart. If you have any heart problems or just struggle with high blood pressure, you may have read some of the impressive information in this newsletter through the years about magnesium.  It truly is a powerhouse heart mineral. In fact, magnesium is remarkable in that it allows your body to better use other nutrients. And it works well with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herbal formulas.

In TCM, there are four different main strategies that are used to control high blood pressure.

The first is eliminating dampness and resolving phlegm. This is vital if you hold water. Another way to know if you need this is to pay attention to your legs. When you get off of an airplane or a long car ride, do your legs and/or ankles get swollen? If so, it’s important you eliminate excess body fluids and wastes. This sounds daunting, but it’s really not. All you have to do is encourage your body’s own fluid elimination system. The primary way to do this is through urination. Some herbs and foods you can use to encourage this are corn silk, plantain seed, water plantain, parsley, and celery. In addition, consider a bath. Relax in a warm bath with the water up to your neck for 20
minutes. You’ll quickly be urinating.

The second TCM strategy for relieving high blood pressure is soothing and calming the liver and removing wind. This sounds strange too, but in TCM the liver controls the nervous system. By calming the nervous system, it lets the blood vessels naturally relax and it balances calcium metabolism. So how can you know if your liver has “wind” in it? It’s quite simple. You’re easily annoyed. This can become so strong you sometimes don’t recognize yourself. So how can you relieve this issue? In Chinese medicine, we use herbs such as white peony root, chrysanthemum, poria, and bupleurum root. These can be found in a variety of Bupleurum Formulas, such as Bupleurum and Peony.

The third strategy is moving blood and resolving stagnation. This involves relaxing blood vessels and improving circulation. Most of us can use some relaxing, especially in today’s highly stressful world. The herbs TCM uses for this issue are danshen (salvia), motherwort herb, Chinese safflower, and Crataegus (Hawthorn root).

The fourth TCM strategy for lowering blood pressure is removing excess heat. This involves calming the body and using anti-inflammatory herbs to rid the body of “heat.” These herbs include baical skullcap root, radish seeds, peony bark and moutan. How do you know if you need to remove excess heat? You’re more impulsive than you used to be, your complexion is more ruddy than it once was.

High blood pressure is considered an imbalance of yin and yang. Most hypertensive individuals are excessive in the yang or heat department and deficient in the yin or cool arena. So it’s important to include yin foods in your diet. These include onions, garlic, celery, cucumber, broccoli, sprouts, green beans, sour jujube seed, and other vegetables. But don’t stop with magnesium and vegetables.

Some of the best natural tools for maintaining a healthy blood pressure come from herbs. The most effective way to use Chinese herbs is to get them in a formula, specifically for your type of blood pressure. But here are some individual herbs that you can consider no matter what causes your high blood pressure.

Several studies have found that Danshen, or Salvia miltiorrhiza, can reduce pressure in the arteries. In a large study that evaluated the effectiveness of a number of herbs on patients with hypertension from 2003 to 2009, researchers analyzed the different herbs that the patients used to treat hypertension. There were 154,083 patients involved in this study, 80% of whom had used TCM at least once. Salvia was the most frequently prescribed herb for treating the patients’ hypertension, indicating that both doctors and patients were seeing good results.

Salvia not only helps lower blood pressure, it also exerts antimicrobial effects thanks to one of its active ingredients, tanshinone. A study recently published in Natural Product Research indicated that tanshinone can help kill off bacterial strains that include Staphylococcus aureus and Esherichia coli and the fungi species Candida alibicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Salvia also has antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects. It’s so effective, researchers are now investigating its ability to treat multiple sclerosis.
Another popular herb in TCM is Rehmannia glutinosa (RG). RG is useful in treating not only high blood pressure but diabetes as well. It has both anti-hyperglycemic and anti-hyperlipidemic effects. In one study conducted with diabetic mice, researchers found that injecting them with RG lowered not only blood glucose levels, but total cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL cholesterol levels as well. Even better, it increased beneficial HDL cholesterol levels.

If you’ve already investigated ways to control your blood pressure, you probably are familiar with nitric oxide (NO). NO is notable for its ability to keep your blood vessels in good shape, which helps keep blood flowing and prevents pressure from increasing too much. You can and likely should take supplemental NO to protect your cardiovascular health. But did you know that your body makes some NO on its own?

However, one of the reasons that our risk of cardiovascular disease goes up as we age is that our natural production of NO goes down. Fortunately, the herb Scutellaria baicalensis (SB) can help. SB is known to help regulate blood pressure. One of the ways it does that, according to a study published in the journal Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, is by stimulating the endothelial cells that line our blood vessels to produce more nitric oxide.

SB also has antibacterial and antiviral properties, making it a good tool not only in keeping blood pressure down, but in fighting off staphylococci, cholera, dysentery, pneumococci, and the influenza virus. SB even contains a flavonoid called baicalein that has anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor effects. Because baicalein is so good at hunting down dangerous free radicals, it helps keep endothelial cells healthy.

If you’d like even more ways to lower blood pressure, one strategy is to drink hibiscus tea. And no, it’s not because the pictures on the box might make you feel like you’re on vacation. Hibiscus plants are tropical, so they flourish in places like Hawaii. But it’s a very effective medicinal plant as well. One clinical trial found that drinking three cups of hibiscus tea a day for six weeks lowered systolic blood pressure by 7.2 points on average compared to only 1.3 points for a placebo group. Those who had the highest blood pressure at the start of the study had even better results.

TCM is unique in that herbs are used in combination. The intention of a formula is to influence and balance as many of the different organ systems as possible. In order to accomplish this, several herbs are usually used in a formula. Their complementary action is much stronger than they are by themselves.

So if you go to the store and buy one of these herbs by itself, you might see a little of its action, but not much. However, if you use them in combination, you'll have much more success. It's also unlikely that you'll find a formula specifically for blood pressure that can address all causes of blood pressure. Chinese medicine has several different formulas for treating blood pressure. This can be confusing if you're not trained in TCM. That's why we've tried to address this and make one formula that will work for most types of hypertension.

These herbs can add an advantage to blood pressure regulation you won't find in any antihypertensive drug. Plus, they offer a number of other benefits that can protect other systems in your body, not just your heart. There is no known formula that contains these efficacious herbs along with magnesium that gently lowers your blood pressure naturally.
That's why we formulated

Advanced Blood Pressure Support. This formula contains a 5:1 concentration of the most synergistic blood pressure herbs: Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza); Peony; Scutellaria baicalensis; Rehmannia and Chrysanthemum. Together, along with just enough magnesium and a good dose of Hibiscus (750 mg), this formula can work to lower blood pressure naturally. For more information on Advanced Blood Pressure Support, please call 800-791-3395 and give them special offer code WH4316.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3686073/

The Ingredient in Cookies That Can Reduce Heartburn and Even Treat Cancer

Did you know that there’s an ingredient in cookies that can help you work out harder, have whiter teeth, reduce heartburn, and possibly even treat cancer? I wish I could tell you that this amazing, powerful ingredient is chocolate chips. While those might put a smile on your face, they won’t help your teeth get whiter. This ingredient is much humbler and quite a bit less flashy. But if you’ve ever forgotten to include it in baking, you know how powerful it is.

This ingredient is sodium bicarbonate, but you probably know it as baking soda. And I bet you have a box sitting in your pantry or deodorizing your refrigerator right now. Baking soda is able to neutralize acids, chemically eliminate odors, and even put out fires, so it’s a common ingredient in many household products and recipes. But if you use it only when you’re baking, you could be missing out on some of the ways baking soda could benefit your health.

This is particularly true for those of us who really push ourselves when we’re active and/or exercising. You probably know the feeling of being sore the day after a tough workout. Sometimes those muscle aches can discourage you from wanting to exercise again. But according to a study recently published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, sodium bicarbonate may be able to help.

For this study, the researchers investigated sodium bicarbonate’s effects on eleven participants who completed a repeated sprint ability test. In this test, they completed 10 six-second cycling sprints with 60 seconds of recovery in between. The researchers found that those who consumed 300 mg/kg of sodium bicarbonate mixed into 450 ml of flavored water were able to complete more work during the sprints than those who consumed a different drink or no drink at all. Their blood work also was improved compared to those in the other two groups.

These results suggest that sodium bicarbonate helps reduce the onslaught of acidity from exercise that taxes our muscles. If you’re regularly sore after exercising, try mixing a small amount of baking soda in water and drinking that before you work out. You may find that this simple trick can help you minimize the aftermath of giving your all in the gym or simply working in the garden.

You may have seen toothpastes that contain baking soda. That’s because it’s a cheap, effective way to clean and whiten your teeth. However, because sodium bicarbonate on its own doesn’t taste very good, many manufacturers add sweetening and flavoring components to their products. You can avoid these by making your own whitening paste at home. Just mix half a teaspoon of baking soda with a few drops of water to form a paste. You can apply this directly to stains and let it sit for a couple of minutes before brushing and rinsing. Just don’t do this more than once or twice a week. Sodium bicarbonate is abrasive, so using it too frequently can begin to break down your enamel.

However, since sodium bicarbonate is so abrasive, you can take advantage of that property elsewhere. If you make another paste of baking soda and water, you can apply it to your feet. Leave it on for 10 to 15 minutes then rinse to reveal softer feet, thanks to this natural, inexpensive exfoliator.

While your feet are soaking, you can even use baking soda to clean your hair brush or comb. Simply mix two teaspoons into a cup of hot water. Let the brush and comb soak for 15 to 20 minutes then rinse clean. You’ll be left with fresh-smelling, gunk-free hair tools.

You probably know that baking soda works well for absorbing odors in your home. But did you know that it can do the same for your body odors? You can sprinkle baking soda in stinky sneakers to eliminate their odor and even use it as deodorant. In fact, my favorite commercial deodorant, Agent Nateur (www.agentnateur.com), is primarily
made up of baking soda. If you’d prefer to go the DIY route, you simply make another paste with water. You can apply this paste to your underarms or feet.

You can even apply your baking soda paste to bug bites to eliminate the itch. Last summer, I was eaten alive by mosquitoes. Baking soda was the only thing that brought relief. You can apply the paste three to four times a day to soothe the skin.

Baking soda can soothe your stomach too. You may know already that baking soda can help with heartburn and indigestion. A few sips of baking soda and water can put out those internal flames. But baking soda can help even if you’re suffering from a stomach ulcer. An old-fashioned gastroenterologist taught me this many years ago. He used to prescribe one teaspoon of baking soda in eight ounces of water, sipped as needed to reduce ulcer pain. The baking soda seems to help neutralize harsh stomach acid. And baking soda is a much safer first step option than commonly prescribed PPIs.

Sodium bicarbonate is so powerful that the University of Arizona Cancer Center has even been investigating it as a cancer treatment. In mice studies, they’ve found that consuming sodium bicarbonate helps stop cancer tumors from spreading. Now they’re researching its effects on breast cancer patients. This research is exciting, as sodium bicarbonate is far less harmful to the rest of the body than many traditional cancer treatments. I’ll have more on this as it develops.

Not bad for something you can pick up at the grocery store for less than a dollar!

Brazilian Plant Extract Washes Away Laugh Lines and Crow’s Feet

Laugh lines and crow's feet are often the result of decades of smiling. But when they show up, they're more likely to make people frown than laugh. Fortunately, we don't have to become poker-faced to have smooth, youthful-looking skin. Instead, we can use what my friend Dr. David Wood calls "Brazilian magic" to help turn back the clock.

Despite its exotic nickname, Brazilian magic is simply an extract from a plant that grows in Brazil. It's called Spilanthes acmella. But its effects do seem downright magical! That's because this plant contains a powerful natural muscle relaxant that helps our fine lines and wrinkles melt away. Even better, the plant also contains alkylamides that can tighten the collagen fiber network around the eyes. Spilanthes also has significant antioxidant properties that help to encourage the health of the skin when you apply it topically.

When I first heard about this extract, I thought it might be too good to be true. But, it was actually better than I realized.

One study had a group of women — aged 45 to 65 — try the extract on their crow's feet. Another group used a placebo. Generally, researchers conduct scientific studies over several weeks so they can see effects over time. In this study, the women saw results the very next day. They already had 36% fewer lines and wrinkles than the poor women in the control group.

Starting from day one, 53% of the participants noticed that their skin was firmer, and 61% said it looked smoother. The more they used it, the better their results were.

With results like that, I knew we had to include spilanthes extract in the Système 41 Revitalizing Eye Treatment. We made sure to use the same amount that was used in the study to ensure similar results. Apply the Eye Treatment in the morning and evening. You can order it by calling 800-791-3446.

Nutrition Detective

The Mineral Required to Beat Diabetes

If you suffer from diabetes, it's likely you have several nutritional deficiencies. Most people focus on chromium and zinc deficiencies, but new research has uncovered some of the many problems associated with another deficiency. This is a mineral deficiency — and it can have a profound impact on your ability to control your diabetes.

This deficiency appears in the vast majority of Americans. But this recent study, which appeared in the journal Diabetes, showed the dramatic connection between this deficiency and diabetes.

Scientists have known for some time that there was an association between magnesium deficiency, or hypomagnesemia, and type-2 diabetes. But they weren't sure why they were related. All they knew was that patients with hypomagnesemia experienced more rapid progression of their diabetes and were at an increased risk of complications.

Recent clinical studies have determined that magnesium-deficient diabetes patients are more insulin resistant. Conversely, supplementary magnesium improves glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity. It turns out that magnesium is an important factor in the development of insulin resistance, while insulin activates magnesium excretion. This creates a vicious cycle. A magnesium deficiency leads to insulin resistance. That excess insulin in return increases the excretion of magnesium — causing the deficiency to worsen.

If you have type-2 diabetes, there’s a good chance your magnesium levels aren’t what they should be. And if you’re prediabetic, ensuring your magnesium stays where it should be may help you avoid developing insulin resistance.

Magnesium also benefits your bones, heart, and digestive health, so you should be sure you have sufficient levels even if you aren’t worried about diabetes. I recommend taking magnesium to bowel tolerance. That means if your stool gets loose, stop for one day and cut back accordingly.

One of the most common questions I get about magnesium is which form to use. The easiest types of magnesium to try are:

Magnesium citrate – Magnesium citrate is the most popular magnesium supplement, probably because it is inexpensive and easily absorbed. Since citric acid is a mild laxative, magnesium citrate functions as a constipation aid as well as a magnesium source. It is a great choice for individuals with rectal or colon problems, but is unsuitable for those with loose bowel movements.

Magnesium taurate – Magnesium taurate is the best choice of magnesium supplement for people with cardiovascular issues, since it is known to prevent arrhythmias and guard the heart from damage caused by heart attacks. Magnesium taurate is easily absorbed (magnesium and taurine stabilize cell membranes together), and it contains no laxative properties.

Magnesium malate – Magnesium malate is a great choice for people suffering from fatigue. Malic acid – a natural fruit acid present in most cells in the body – is a vital component of enzymes that play a key role in ATP synthesis and energy production. Since the ionic bonds of magnesium and malic acid are easily broken, magnesium malate is also highly soluble. This is the one magnesium that will serve you better taken in the morning, as it will help in improving your energy.

Magnesium glycinate – Magnesium glycinate (magnesium bound with glycine, a non-essential amino acid) is one of the most bioavailable and absorbable forms of magnesium, and also the least likely to induce diarrhea. It’s the most gastrointestinal friendly option for correcting a long-term deficiency.

http://www.nutritionalmagnesium.org/magnesium-and-prediabetes/.

LETTERS

Q: Are there any promising new treatments for bipolar syndrome? – Emma H., via email

Dear Emma,

More naturally oriented psychiatrists are recognizing that bipolar syndrome is not a simple issue that will respond to one or even several medications.

Naturally oriented psychiatrists often follow these steps:

(1) They start by taking images of the brain and determining which part of the brain is deficient or inflamed.

(2) They then scrutinize the rest of the body to look at imbalances or dysfunctions in, for example, the digestion or immune system.

One such controversial psychiatrist is Dr. Daniel Amen. He has several clinics throughout the United States. You may want to look into what he is offering: www.amenclinics.com/conditions/bipolar-disorder/. Dr. Amen has a few clinics throughout the United States.

Q. What do you think of bitter melon for treating cancer? What do you recommend as a dosage for someone in remission from pancreatic cancer and for someone who is in stage 4? – Denise, via email

Dear Denise,

In July 2013, a research study demonstrated that the juice of bitter melon actually activates cellular energy sensors AMP-activated protein kinase. This causes apoptotic death of human pancreatic cancer cells.

Given this result, many naturopathic and functional medical doctors are now using bitter melon juice as an adjunctive therapy. So I think it’s worth talking to an integrative physician about using in your cancer therapy.

There are a few things to consider, though. First, the juice has a very strong taste. If it’s too strong, you can begin by using the tea and work up to the juice.

Second, if the cancer patient is having issues with low blood sugar, please note that bitter melon juice will lower blood sugar further. So they need to be aware of this. The lowering of the blood sugar is actually a good thing, as cancer thrives on sugar. But it’s important not to allow the sugar to get too low.

At the University of Michigan, there are a group of doctors recommending
bitter melon juice specifically for diabetes. They recommend approximately 2 oz. daily. In Chinese medicine, we also use a decoction, or tincture (1 teaspoon two
to three times daily) as well as the tea and fresh juice.

Finally, in April 2015, a fascinating study demonstrated that bitter melon
juice actually targeted the molecular mechanisms underlying chemotherapy drug resistance in pancreatic cancer.

The researchers suggest that for those patients resistant to chemotherapy, bitter melon juice may be a significant medical intervention. Talk to your doctor about this to see if it’s right for you.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23475945

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25672620