Does hawthorn lower blood pressure and improve cardiovascular functioning?
Hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha), a flowering shrub, has been used to help heart problems since the first century. And guess what? It works. While the ancient remedy isn't a slam-dunk for congestive heart failure and high blood pressure, there's evidence that it helps.
In lab research, using hawthorn extract after a heart attack helps prevent the kind of damage that leads to congestive heart failure. After many small human studies suggested that hawthorn lowers high blood pressure, a double-blind trial in 2006 found that when diabetics taking prescription medicine for high blood pressure also took hawthorn extract daily, their pressure was even lower.
Hawthorn's lovely pink and white flowers, leaves and berries all contain a host of plant nutrients called flavonoids. These substances increase blood flow, protect blood vessels and, in animal studies, make bad blood fats skedaddle like bad guys in a Western when the new sheriff hits town.
Despite all of this encouraging info, talk to your doctor before taking it. Even though hawthorn extract is widely available without a prescription, it interacts with some prescription drugs, making them dangerously potent.
Health tip of the week: Good for you and tasty, too
Think a Hawaiian vacation makes you feel great just because, well, it's a vacation? No doubt about that. But it's possible that two of the islands' favorite goodies may be acting like secret agents to help that feeling:
Macadamia nuts. That macadamias are so rich in unsaturated fats -- more than almost any other nut -- appears to make up for the fact that they also contain some saturated fat. The heart-healthy proof: When people with moderately high cholesterol ate a diet with a handful of macadamia nuts mixed in daily for five weeks, they lowered total and lousy LDL cholesterol about 9 percent more than when they just ate an average American diet.
If you eat macadamias, though, use them to replace a source of unhealthy fat in your diet; don't just add them to what you already eat. (Walnuts help your arteries, too. Although we're talking Hawaiian specialties today, we'll say that walnut-crusted fish is a favorite).
Pineapple. This juicy fruit contains an anti-inflammatory enzyme called bromelain that may help tame an achy back or bum knee. Bromelain seems to soothe cells by reducing the migration of white blood cells to areas where there's inflammation -- like sunburned skin, injured muscles and arthritic joints.
If you're not a pineapple fan, you can get bromelain straight from a supplement. That might even be better, since you can get far more from it than you can from fresh pineapple. Try about 100 milligrams of bromelain a day for sore joints, if your doc approves.
Dr. Michael Roizen is chief wellness officer at the Cleveland Clinic and co-founder and chairman of the RealAge Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Mehmet Oz is a professor and vice chairman of surgery at Columbia University, as well as medical director of the Integrated Medicine Center and director of the Heart Institute at New York Presbyterian/Columbia Medical Center. To submit questions and find ways to grow younger and healthier, go to RealAge.com, The You Docs' online home.
