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used was 3 grams daily. L-tryptophan has been available by prescription for two to three years now, but it also very recently became available over the counter once again (as it used to be until about 1989). At present, over-the-counter L-tryptophan can be found in a few natural food stores, compounding harmacies, and the Tahoma Clinic Dispensary.
Quantities of taurine used in the study were relatively large (but safe)––6 grams daily. However, when taurine is used in combination with other nutrients and botanicals, you need only 1 to 2 grams daily.
L-arginine has gained considerable “notoriety” lately as the precursor to nitric oxide (NO), the blood vessel-dilating metabolite essential to male sexual
function. However, that same blood vessel-dilating ability has been found to improve heart function in cases of congestive heart failure, and I’ve observed
cases in which this same blood vessel-dilating effect has lowered blood pressure. The benefits of metabolites: coenzyme Q10 and DHA
Metabolites are molecules made in our bodies from other (precursor) materials. Sometimes, directly supplying the body with extra quantities of certain
metabolites can be much more effective than supplying the precursor materials. This is definitely the case with coenzyme Q10, as our bodies make less and less of this metabolite as we grow older.
Coenzyme Q10 aids in metabolism in every cell in
the body. It’s found in greatest concentration in the mitochondria, the “energy engines” of the cells. It’s such an important metabolite that, even though it can be fairly expensive, I recommend a small amount (30 milligrams) for everyone over 60 and more (50 to 150 milligrams daily) for everyone with high blood pressure.
Another important metabolite that helps lower blood pressure levels is docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA (not to be confused with DHEA). This is an omega-3 fatty acid, a metabolite of the essential fatty acid called
alpha-linolenic acid. A recent study reported that 4 grams daily of DHA lowered blood pressure in hypertensive patients by a small but significant degree.
The garlic and herb recipe
for blood pressure success
Although you’ll encounter a few foods that your doctor will tell you to stay away from if you have high blood
pressure, there are certain foods and herbs that can help.
Garlic may not make for the freshest breath, but it does
usually help to lower blood pressure readings.
A lesser-known (but still important) blood pressurelowering botanical is olive leaf. Only powdered olive
leaf in capsule form is presently available in the United
States, and you should take 500 milligrams four times
daily. Like many of the items noted above, olive leaf
can take three to four months to show an effect.
Sarpaganda (better known in Western medicine as
rouwolfia) has been used in India for centuries to treat
ailments like fevers and snakebites. Early 20th century
pharmaceutical chemists searching for a “magic bullet,” single-ingredient, patentable, FDA-“approvable” drug treatment managed to isolate one of the active ingredients in sarpaganda––reserpine.
Herbalists have been telling us for most of the 20th century that it’s really better to use the whole herb containing the active ingredient(s), for at least two reasons. First, a smaller quantity of an active ingredient is usually effective because of synergistic effects of other parts of the herb––and the whole herb usually holds less potential danger than the isolated active ingredients. Second, herbalists have told us that combining the whole herb with other selected herbs can further lessen the quantity of each active ingredient necessary to achieve significant results and further lessen potential danger. But western physicians still went ahead using reserpine instead of whole natural sarpaganda to combat high blood pressure. Unfortunately, many of them prescribed excess dosages of reserpine. These excess dosages
caused various ailments, including depression and occasional suicide, so reserpine fell out of common use.

Unfortunately, since there’s not as much money to be made with the whole, natural herb itself, the medical world basically forgot about sarpaganda
after the problems with reserpine: Only a few practitioners outside of Ayurvedic medicine are even aware of its existence. Most of the sarpaganda products available these days combine this herb with others also useful forthe heart. Although side effects are rare and sarpaganda is definitely a very effective “big gun” in hypertension treatment, products containing sarpaganda are usually only available through health care practitioners.
I usually recommend sarpaganda as a part of the Ayurvedic combination, Cardiotone, which contains 50 milligrams of sarpaganda per capsule; take one
capsule three to four times daily. Cardiotone is available from the Tahoma Clinic Dispensary (425)264-0059; www.tahomadispensary.com.
An underactive thyroid: an often overlooked culprit
Incidence of hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid) is higher in individuals with high blood pressure than in those with normal blood pressure. Even the
most up-to-date thyroid blood tests can miss instances
of “subclinical” hypothyroidism. Some signs of an underactive thyroid are low body temperature, dry skin,and a slow ankle reflex. It’s best to talk to your doctor if you think there’s a problem.
Make sure you know how much metal you’re really carrying around
Heavy metal toxicity is another often-overlooked cause of high blood pressure. But even if your doctor does test you for heavy metal toxicity, chances are the results won’t be accurate. That’s because blood tests
for heavy metals are virtually useless.
Since these toxic substances are damaging to so many different cell structures, your body clears them from your bloodstream as rapidly as possible. If there’s too much toxic metal to be immediately excreted
through your liver and kidneys (and there usually is), it gets tucked away in your bones or other less metabolically active tissue where it causes less immediate damage. So a blood test won’t necessarily pick up any toxicity—even if there’s a ton of it stored in your body
(well, not literally a ton, but you get the idea).
Unfortunately, wherever the unexcreted toxic metal is stored, it still does some damage, and if and when it’sfinally released from storage, it can do further damage.
Hair testing for toxic minerals isn’t much better than blood tests. If one or more metals are found to be high based on a hair test, there’s definitely a toxic mineral problem. But if the hair test comes back negative, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re free from heavy metal toxicity.
The best test for the presence of heavy metals is a chelation test. In my experience, more than 50 percent of individuals with blood pressure higher than 140/90 have significant excretion of toxic metals found by a
chelation test.
And if you do have heavy metal toxicity, chelation therapy will usually help lower your blood pressure.
Chelation therapy is an intravenous process that binds to the heavy metals and removes them from the body Oral chelation can also be effective, but it takes considerably longer and doesn’t necessarily remove as
much toxic metal.
For more information or advice about both chelation testing and treatment for toxic metals, consult a physician from any of the groups listed below
• The American College of Advancement in Medicine: (800)532-3688, www.acam.org
• The International College of Integrative Medicine: (866) 464-5226, www.icimed.com
• The American Academy of Environmental Medicine: (316)684-5500, www.aaem.com
• The American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (866)538-2267, www.naturopathic.org
If you have high blood pressure, nearly all the diet
and supplementation ideas discussed (with the exception of sarpaganda) are safe to try with or without a doctor. If you don’t have high blood pressure but it runs in your family, it can’t hurt and may help in prevention to follow a few of the basic suggestions outlined in this section.