High blood pressure is one of the most common reasons people go to the doctor. The first thing the typical doctor wants to do is prescribe an anti-hypertensive medication. I guess they believe that they can outsmart the body. If you ask a medical doctor, he will tell you that hypertension is a disease. Dr. Christopher taught us that hypertension is a symptom of something going on in the body. The body is intelligent, if the blood pressure is up the body is doing it for a reason.

It could be due to lack of exercise, too much body weight, too much salt in the diet, poor overall diet, low magnesium, low potassium, poor hydration, poor sleep, the list could go on and on. Dr. Christopher taught us to help the body find balance again and the so-called disease would correct itself. The problem with pharmaceutical solutions is that they don’t bring the body back into balance. In fact, drugs can throw the body even farther out of balance.

A few months ago I had a client come to see me. I asked him what was troubling him. He said that his blood pressure was averaging 160/90 every time he went to the doctor’s office. Of course, they wanted him to start taking a drug for it, but he told me that he didn’t want to and wanted to try something natural first. I asked him if he was taking his blood pressure at home. He said that he was and that his blood pressure was running high at home too. I said ok, tell me a little bit about your daily life. He said that he has to drive an hour and a half to get to work in Atlanta Monday through Friday. He stated that he usually didn’t have time for a lunch break and that his workday was hectic. Of course when his shift was over he had to drive an hour and a half again just to get back home. I asked him if the drive was stressful, and he said yes. I asked if he at least had time to relax on the weekends, and he looked at me and laughed. I then explained that hypertension is closely linked with too much stress. I asked him if he would commit to ten minutes of deep breathing once or twice a day, and he said he would try.

After this I asked him about his diet and if he would be willing to base his diet around fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and nuts and seeds. He then proceeded to look at me as if I had three heads. I said okay, but could you at least increase your water intake and try and find time for a walking routine? He said he would increase his water intake but finding the time for walking would be difficult. Do you have any herbs or supplements that will help me? I told him yes, but on the inside, I didn’t believe they would help him that much because his lifestyle was horrendous, full of stress and junk food.

A few years ago I would have told him that I couldn’t help him, these days I have gotten a lot softer and I try to help anyone who asks me no matter their circumstances. I told him to write the following formulas and supplements down. Dr. Christopher’s Hawthorn Berry Syrup, Dr. Christopher’s Blood Circulation Formula, Beet Root capsules, and magnesium taurate. I don’t like using or recommending synthetic supplements like magnesium, but his diet was poor and I was positive that he was low in magnesium. It is estimated that at least 80% of the population is! I felt good that I only had to recommend one synthetic supplement until he told me he suffered from recurrent kidney stones, so I changed the beetroot capsules to L-citrulline. Beetroot capsules and L-citrulline increase the production of nitric oxide production in the body which is a vasodilator for the arteries and veins.

I talked to him two weeks later and he was very excited. He told me that after using the recommendations his blood pressure was averaging 133/80 at the doctor’s office and sometimes at home it would be as low as 120/80! After he told me that, I was excited too! I guess the lesson is to never underestimate the power of herbs, but we should all be working toward establishing a healthier lifestyle for ourselves in the meantime.

Daniel Hardy is a Master Herbalist passionate about helping others regain their health with natural therapies. He also has degrees in exercise science and dietetics. Check out his website, danthenaturalman.com, and his YouTube channel: Dan the Natural Man, to learn more about natural healing.