Natural ACE inhibitors for heart health
The topic of blood pressure has become very important lately, because heart attacks, strokes, myocarditis, hypertension and other cardiovascular conditions are on the rise.
One of the most effective and popular categories of medication to help support these diseases are called ACE inhibitors. “ACE” stands for angiotensin-converting enzyme.
The ACE receptor is where the spike protein (coronavirus itself, or the vaccines) bind to, and enter the cell. ACE receptors sit on cells in the nose, mouth and lungs, which explains the potential respiratory distress caused by the virus. The ACE receptors are all over the body and in super high concentrations in the heart tissue. The enzyme is partially responsible for maintaining blood pressure.
The ACE inhibitor medications are a blockbuster category including these popular agents: Lisinopril, enalapril, captopril and ramipril.
There are natural herbal extracts that act like ACE inhibitors, but they’re not as strong as the medications. If you see something below, please ask your doctor if it’s right for you. Start low and go slow with any new food supplement, and get your physician’s blessing.
Here are five strong natural ACE inhibitors, in alphabetical order:
1. Garlic
Garlic is a delicious spice that you can cook with. Garlic is a natural ACE inhibitor. It helps to dilate arteries and supports the health of your heart, blood vessels and immune system.
2. Grape seed extract
The delicious grapes and their skins show ACE inhibition and you can also find dietary supplements of grape seed extract. It helps with cytokine balance, too. Grapes are so easy to incorporate into your diet. In a study evaluating the benefits, grape seed extract significantly reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure over 6 weeks.
3. Lion’s Mane mushroom
This is a mushroom you can eat and sauté, plus it’s found in high-quality memory dietary (nootropic) supplement formulas. Most people know it is useful for the brain, but did you know it has mild ACE inhibition activity? Taking a comprehensive medicinal mushroom blend could help support your entire cardiovascular system.
4. Pomegranate juice
We’ve known for about 20 years that pomegranate juice is an ACE inhibitor. Drinking it is easy and delicious; however, don’t combine it with warfarin (Coumadin) or other antihypertensives.
5. Royal jelly
Worker honeybees produce a white-colored secretion that is used to nurture their queen bee, and you can find this in dietary supplements of “royal jelly” at health food stores. Obviously, do not take this if you’re allergic to bees!
Caution
While life-threatening occurrences of hyperkalemia (high potassium) are extremely rare, I still want you to be aware that ACE inhibitor drugs cause your body will retain potassium. So you should minimize or avoid eating too much of potassiumrich foods. For example, spinach, tomato sauce, bananas and others. Salt substitutes are often made of potassium so those should be avoided as well.
This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. For a longer version of this article, visit Suzy Cohen’s website at www.suzycohen.com.