Alternatives for High Blood Pressure

No medical claims made here, but simply a report on what happened to me. After several side effect-laden tries at my doctor's prescriptions for high blood pressure several years ago, I searched for natural alternatives and found two that worked: Pycnogenol (made from French Maritime Bark; only grown in France, though widely available) and fresh olive tree leaf tea, long a Mediterranean solution.

Pycnogenol really worked me (for more on it, go to http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-pycnogenol.html). Along with exercise, a healthy diet, modest weight loss, and stress reduction, I now have perfect blood pressure. Today, I only use olive leaf tea, which is rich in additional benefits, such as antioxidants, immune system support, and caffeine-free energy. One interesting website to read about olive leaf tea is: http://www.olivus.com/yahoo.htm (there are many others, so do the research).

Grow your own olive tree in a corner of your garden! Prune regularly to keep size in check. Consider growing frutiing varieties if you want to preserve your own olives. Or, a non-bearing tree will work just as well for the tea. I keep mine to semi-darf size, as I do with all of my fruit trees so that I still have enough sun for the vegetable in my boxes.

Take your blood pressure regularly to monitor whether these alternatives work for you and do not go off prescription medications suddenly or without telling your doctor. Everyone responds differently to both prescriptions and natural alternatives. I'm just sharing these to suggest there are possible options IF you can also change your lifestyle.