Drinks To Lower Your Blood Pressure Quickly

​Your daily habits can have a significant impact on your blood pressure, and that includes what you drink.  Beverages like skim milk, tomato juice, and beet juice may help decrease blood pressure.  But it is always important to remember that moderation, more of these drinks is not always better.
Do not feel discouraged if you need medication to help keep your blood pressure in a healthy range.  Depending on your situation, your provider can recommend the best diet to keep your blood pressure in check.

Drinks To Lower Your Blood Pressure Quickly
By Pierre Mouchette | Bits-n-Pieces

You may be curious about lifestyle changes to help lower your blood pressure if you have high blood pressure.  Many know a healthy diet and regular exercise can significantly impact cardiovascular health.  Researchers have also reviewed drinks that can help lower the risk for cardiovascular disease by their effects on blood pressure.
Evidence indicates that some drinks may be helpful.  There is evidence that the following drinks may help to lower blood pressure.

Skim milk:  Contains potassium, calcium, and magnesium minerals known to help decrease blood pressure.  Studies have shown that drinking 1 to 2 glasses of skim milk daily can help reduce blood pressure.  It is especially the case in people who are 55 years old or older.  And the change can happen in as little as four weeks.
 
Tomato juice:  Contain antioxidants like lycopene, which have been shown to have several different health benefits.  Tomato juice can decrease systolic blood pressure (top number).  Researchers found that when people 55 years old and older drank 200 mL a day (a little less than 1 cup), they saw an improvement in systolic blood pressure over one year.

Beet juice:  Contains nitrate, which can improve blood flow in the body.  A clinical trial showed that when someone drank more than 2 cups of beet juice once a day, their blood pressure decreased.  The drop can happen as soon as 30 minutes after drinking beet juice and lasts almost 24 hours.  This effect may be more pronounced in people who are 45 years of age or older.  Daily consumption may have a longer-lasting impact on lowering blood pressure, but scientists have not looked into this.

Hibiscus tea:  Contains the antioxidant anthocyanin.  Research shows that 2 cups of hibiscus tea daily for at least two weeks can help decrease blood pressure.  Most studies examine the effects after four weeks.  So it is difficult to say how quickly hibiscus tea can work.

Pomegranate juice:  Like hibiscus, pomegranate juice also contains anthocyanins, and it may also interact with an enzyme essential in regulating blood pressure.  A study showed that men who drank about ¼ cup or more of pomegranate juice daily for two weeks lowered their blood pressure.  Many researchers agree that pomegranate juice can help decrease blood pressure.

Grapefruit juice:  Contains potassium, lycopene, fiber, and other natural plant nutrients that help lower blood pressure.  But grapefruit juice has mainly been studied with additional juice or medications that lower blood pressure.  Grapefruit juice can also interact incorrectly with certain blood pressure medications.
 
Can You Drink Grapefruit Juice If You Take Blood Pressure Medication?
If you take specific blood pressure medications, you may need to avoid drinking grapefruit juice.  Grapefruit juice causes the body to absorb too much of the medicine, and it can cause your blood pressure to drop lower than it should.  Low blood pressure can be just as dangerous as high blood pressure.  When this happens, blood might not reach vital organs like your brain or heart, leading to problems like a heart attack and stroke.
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Grapefruit juice affects blood pressure medications such as calcium channel blockers.  The calcium channel blockers that grapefruit juice is most likely to affect include:

• Felodipine
• Nicardipine
• Nimodipine

The general recommendation is to wait 2 to 3 days after drinking grapefruit juice before starting one of these medications.  Other calcium channel blockers that may interact with grapefruit juice but lead to a less serious reaction include:

• Amlodipine
• Nifedipine
• Verapamil

If you take blood pressure or any medication, talking to your provider before changing your diet is a good idea.  They can help you avoid interactions or unwanted complications and adjust your medicines as needed.