blood pressure Archives

Can Probiotics Improve Your Blood Pressure?

Digestive Health, Disease, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

Summary: Probiotics may be helpful in lowering your blood pressure.

Nearly half of all American adults suffer from high blood pressure/hypertension for a lot of reasons, including consuming more sugar and salt from highly processed foods in their diets than ever before.

There are many ways to treat hypertension/blood pressure from simple lifestyle changes (getting more sleep, eating a less salty diet, incorporating more movement via exercise and maintaining a healthy weight) to taking medicines.

Unfortunately, many people rely solely on medications to help them manage their elevated blood pressure but 20 percent of all patients won’t respond to them at all, even when using multiple drugs.

Recent studies we’ve shared have shown how hypertension and your gut health are linked in very interesting ways with some medication combinations worsening blood pressure symptoms.

So, we weren’t surprised to learn that a multi-species probiotic formulated with strains from the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium families was responsible for lowering blood pressure numbers to normal levels, according to a recent study appearing in mSystems.

Multi-species probiotics for the win!

A team of Chinese researchers tested the benefits of multi-strain probiotics on hypertension in a study with mice fed water mixed with sugar that had elevated their blood pressures to unhealthy levels.

Over 16 weeks, scientists compared blood pressure readings of test animals that received a probiotic containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Bifidobacterium lactis to a group of mice that didn’t receive one and a control group fed water without sugar.

(These two strains of beneficial bacteria are among the building block species featured in EndoMune Advanced Probiotic.)

The most interesting finding from the report: Blood pressure levels among mice treated with a multi-strain probiotic were healthy and no different than mice only fed water. Also, scientists identified gut bacteria signatures in probiotic mice that were typical among people with lower pressures.

The results were so positive that this research team is planning a larger clinical trial to discover if these same probiotic benefits hold up for humans.

We expect to hear similar rave reviews for probiotics, given the results of a recent study touting the benefits of prebiotics lowering blood pressure levels among people equal to that of blood pressure medications.

Just another reason that taking a probiotic with multiple strains of beneficial bacteria and a prebiotic like EndoMune can make a world of difference to your health and your gut, the center of your immune system

References

mSystems

American Society For Microbiology

CDC

Mayo Clinic

Can Probiotics Improve Your Blood Pressure? Read More »

The Impact of Medication on Gut Health

Digestive Health, Drug interactions, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

Science is well aware of the problems antibiotics and heartburn drugs can create for your gut health, all while leaving you vulnerable to even deadlier infections if you rely on them a lot.

Unfortunately, the list of non-antibiotic drugs that can affect your gut has grown sharply too (coming on the heels of a report that found metformin, a go-to drug for diabetes alters gut health).

Out of more than 1,000 drugs tested by researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, 24 percent affected the growth of at least one bacterial species in the human microbiome, according to a study appearing in Nature.

Overall, 250 out of 923 non-antibiotic drugs tested on 40 samples of selected species of human gut bacteria (including one species of Lactobacillus) altered their growth.

What’s more, 40 drugs affected at least 10 strains of gut bacteria, and 14 of them were previously unknown to have an antibacterial effect on gut bacteria. The most dramatic inhibitors of gut bacteria include these commonly prescribed medications:

Calcium-channel blockers that treat an array of conditions, from Raynaud’s to high blood pressure.
Antineoplastic drugs that treat cancer.
Antipsychotic drugs that treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

What concerns researchers the most?

“This shift in the composition of our gut bacteria contributes to drug side effects but might also be part of the drugs’ beneficial action,” says Peer Bork, according to a press release.

“This is scary, considering that we take many non-antibiotic drugs in our life, often for long periods,” says Nassos Typas. “Still, not all drugs will impact gut bacteria and not all resistance will be common. In some cases, resistance to specific non-antibiotics will trigger sensitivity to specific antibiotics, opening paths for designing optimal drug combinations.”

Since this study finds that individuals taking any prescription medications are inadvertently harming their gut health, they should consider taking EndoMune Advanced Probiotic to ensure their gut health isn’t being comprised by their prescribed medications.

The Impact of Medication on Gut Health Read More »

12 simple steps to lower your blood pressure safely

Digestive Health, Healthy Aging / By @drHoberman

Have you been seeking alternatives to medicines to lower your blood pressure?

Hypertension is a very common medical problem, and there are very effective medications available to treat elevated blood pressure, but most people would prefer to avoid taking prescription drugs whenever possible.

A recent Journal of the American College of Cardiology study discovered an excellent reason for patients to seek out other options, based on an extensive review of some 400,000 patient records at Kaiser Permanente Southern California who were taking medications for hypertension.

Being over-treated or under-treated with medications above or below a “normal” range of 130-139 systolic pressure and 60-69 diastolic blood pressure increased a patient’s chances of death or the development of kidney failure.

Too Much or Too Little

“Physicians have often emphasized the need to bring a patient’s blood pressure down as low as possible for the best outcomes,” said lead study author Dr. John Sim. “However, the findings of our study suggest that treating patients with high blood pressure too aggressively may potentially lead to poor health outcomes.

“Through personalized treatment plans, we can minimize the lifestyle burden on patients and improve the safety of their treatment regimens, while reducing the cost to both patients and the health care system as a whole.”

A third of all Americans suffers from high blood pressure, according to the National Institutes of Health, amounting to nearly $100 billion spent on medications, services and missed workdays.

However, there are alternatives that can lessen your dependence on so many medications while being just as effective. Try these 12 simple steps to lower your blood pressure safely. (Any lifestyle alterations you make should always be discussed beforehand with and monitored by your doctor.)

The Top 12

1. Get moving with an exercise plan. Starting slowly by investing two days a week on activity is a good place to start, according to Men’s Fitness.

2. Find ways to better handle the stressors in your life, such as learning meditation or taking a yoga class.

3. Cut down on your body’s intake of salt by skipping extra condiments and limiting your intake of processed and fast foods to a minimum.

4. The best pathway to better health is exercising along with eating a better diet, rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and potassium that can reduce the damaging effects of sodium on your blood pressure.

5. Exposure to secondhand smoke along with smoking increases your risk of atherosclerosis, building up the fatty substances in your arteries that elevate your risk of death, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). This is one case in which you win by quitting something.

6. Because excess belly fat is a major contributor to hypertension, maintaining a body weight closer to your body mass index (BMI) is very important.

Too Much Everything!

7. Check with your doctor about all the medicines you’re taking that can elevate your blood pressure or create other health problems. Over-the-counter meds containing licorice root, ginseng and ephedra can cause problems, too.

8. Are you drinking a lot of caffeinated coffee, tea and soft drinks? Limit your intake of caffeine, considered by many to be the most popular drug in the world.

9. Limit your consumption of alcohol to a moderate, daily amount based on your gender (one drink for women and two for men).

10. Did you know the stress associated with visiting your doctor may be enough to elevate your blood pressure to hypertensive levels? Wirecutter offers great guidance on how to choose a home blood pressure monitor that will help you track your numbers more accurately every day.

11. Eating a small amount of minimally processed, flavanol-rich dark chocolate every day not only helps to lower your blood pressure, but the yummy brown stuff also interacts with the good bacteria in your gut to produce anti-inflammatory compounds.

The Probiotic Treatment

12. Taking a daily probiotic may lower your blood pressure, according to a recent study in the AHA journal, Hypertension.

Based on an analysis of nine studies examining the effect of probiotics on 543 patients with elevated or normal blood pressure readings, taking a probiotic decreased the systolic (top) number by some 3.5 milliliters and diastolic (bottom) blood pressure by 2.38 milliliters.

Patients who benefited the most took a multi-species probiotic like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic for at least two months.

Each timed-release capsule of EndoMune Advanced Probiotic contains 20 billion colony-forming units (CFUs) and 10 strains of bacteria that benefit your health in a growing number of ways.

12 simple steps to lower your blood pressure safely Read More »

Probiotics can improve hypertension

Digestive Health, Disease, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

Study after study shows that probiotics help treat gastrointestinal issues including IBS, diarrhea, gas and constipation. However, the benefits aren’t confined to digestive health.

Recent studies are also proving that probiotics can improve hypertension, more commonly known as high blood pressure. Primarily caused by environmental factors such as salt intake, minimal exercise, weight gain and high cholesterol due to bad diet, high blood pressure is a major risk factor for stroke, heart attacks and heart failure.

The International Journal of Molecular Science published a review on various studies conducted on how probiotics improved hypertension, particularly the effects on cholesterol and diabetes. Among their conclusions, researchers proved that probiotics could reduce the amount of cholesterol, thus decreasing the chance of high blood pressure. Additionally, probiotics provide a safe alternative treatment to drugs or hormone therapy, with milder or no known side effects.

Probiotics not only treat digestion problems, but they also help lower your risk for hypertension. Add a daily probiotic like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic to your diet to improve your chances for a healthier life.

Probiotics can improve hypertension Read More »