Can You Use Celery for High Blood Pressure Reduction?
Posted: Friday, April 20, 2007
by Paul Johnson
http://www.natural-blood-pressure-reduction.com/?source=sw
There are many people in the world today who suffer from either mild or moderately high blood pressure levels. And for centuries practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) have been promoting the benefit of eating celery for high blood pressure as a way to bring blood pressure levels back to normal.
But, it was not until the father of a medical student at the University of Chicago had mild blood pressure that modern research was carried out on this ancient remedy.
He proceeded to consume about a quarter of a pound of celery every day for seven days, but did not change the rest of his diet in any way.
Miraculously, his blood pressure reduced, back down to within the normal range.
This prompted the university to conduct specific research on the benefits of celery for someone suffering hypertension.
They proceeded to consider the potential active ingredients within celery to identify the component responsible for reducing blood pressure, and they chose a compound that celery is rich in, 3-n-butylphthalide.
They then went about injecting laboratory rats with small levels of phthalide, equivalent to about 4 stalks of celery for a human, and the rats showed a decrease in blood pressure by on average of 13%, and they also saw a reduction in cholesterol levels of 7%
The reason for the reduction in blood pressure seemed to be from the reduced levels of catecholamines in the blood. Catecholamines cause blood vessels to constrict, and raises blood pressure so an animal is ready to flee or fight.
However, although the use of celery has been in proactive in Asia for many centuries, it is not recommended that a person overdo it by overloading their diet with celery.
Celery is high in sodium, and this is one of the compounds that have been shown to actually increase blood pressure. Also, there are a number of other chemicals in celery that may be toxic if it is eaten in high quantities.
The general recommendation is to not have more than 4 sticks of celery per day, and make sure that it is part of any controlled diet you may have been given by your medical practitioner.
It would be wise to let them know that you are intending to eat celery for therapeutic reasons, as they can then balance the additional sodium intake by reducing sodium from other food sources.
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Eating celery for high blood pressure is really only practical if you ensure that it forms part of a lifestyle change that includes changes to diet, exercise and lifestyle. Without this, then you may be counteracting any benefits that the celery brings, and you will certainly not be combating the cause of the high blood pressure, which is essential.
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