High Blood Pressure & Complementary Approaches
September 24, 2019 | Evidence in Integrative Healthcare
Research shows mind body practices such as meditation, yoga and other relaxation techniques may offer positive results. These non-medication treatments can be added to medication to enhance results.
- Relaxation shows modest short-term reductions in blood pressure and may need to be practiced daily for life to maintain results. Most of the studies, however, are of poor quality.
- Meditation was shown to ‘modestly reduce blood pressure’ when examined in 2013 by the American Heart Association. Transcendental Meditation offers the best results.
- Yoga has low quality evidence, that shows it may also be helpful in lowering blood pressure.
- Garlic – There is evidence for blood pressure reduction in the form of small, preliminary and low quality studies.
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids (Fish Oil) Overall data suggests some benefit in lowering blood pressure.