One cup a day to lower blood pressure? Celery juice says: It's a tough job!

The saying "Medicine is three-part poison" makes many people, especially the elderly, very obsessed with the idea that "diet therapy is better than drug therapy". When there are some health problems, if they can be improved by "eating something", they are reluctant to take medicine, thinking that it will add burden to the body. However, the effect of diet therapy is often not as strong as imagined. If the best treatment time is delayed, the consequences are often disastrous.

01

Successfully lowered blood pressure by drinking celery juice

Weight loss is the real hero

Recently, the author encountered such a case at work: the patient was a male patient in his 30s, 180cm tall and weighing more than 200kg. He went to the hospital for a little dizziness more than a month ago. At that time, the high blood pressure (systolic blood pressure) was more than 180mmHg. The doctor suggested that he be hospitalized for examination, but the patient refused the doctor on the grounds that it was inconvenient; therefore, the doctor had to settle for the second best option and suggested that he take oral antihypertensive drugs and reduce his weight to control his blood pressure.

Tuchong Creative

The patient was worried that taking antihypertensive drugs would cause harm to his body. He found a solution by surfing the Internet and consulting friends: celery can lower blood pressure, so drink celery juice every day! At the same time, he also adjusted and controlled his diet, reducing his meal intake and eating less meat. More than a month later, he returned to the hospital for a follow-up examination, and his blood pressure actually dropped from the previous highest systolic pressure of 180mmHg to around 160mmHg. He firmly believed that celery juice played a major role.

The patient came back for a follow-up visit some time ago. The author carefully looked at his medical history and found that his weight had dropped from more than 200 pounds to about 180 pounds, which means he had lost 20 pounds in one month! In fact, this was the main reason for his lower blood pressure.

02

Celery contains ingredients that can lower blood pressure

But the intake through food is far from enough

In fact, celery is just a vegetable. Although studies have shown that the antihypertensive ingredients in celery, such as apigenin and 3-n-butylphthalide, can dilate blood vessels and have the potential to lower blood pressure, this only exists in the basic experimental stage, and there are very few studies on the population, which is not enough to prove that celery can definitely lower blood pressure. Moreover, as a natural ingredient, celery has very few antihypertensive ingredients that can be obtained by directly eating it. Therefore, at least for now, it cannot be said that celery can lower our blood pressure.

Tuchong Creative

03

You can eat celery

But we cannot deify its blood pressure lowering effect

However, on the other hand, celery is rich in potassium ions, which makes it a suitable vegetable for patients with hypertension. You know, for patients with hypertension, eating more foods high in potassium ions can help control blood pressure. But this does not mean that celery can lower blood pressure.

In fact, if you replace celery juice with other vegetables and fruits that are high in potassium, such as seaweed, spinach, bananas, mangoes, etc., the effect is actually the same. So, from this perspective, there is nothing "unique" about celery.

Tuchong Creative

04

Blood pressure control is not a joke

Follow your doctor's orders and maintain a healthy lifestyle

For patients with hypertension, if they want to control their blood pressure, they must start from many aspects. For example, they should maintain a healthy lifestyle such as eating less salt, controlling staple food, limiting meat intake, exercising moderately, controlling weight, quitting smoking and limiting alcohol. Once the blood pressure reaches the level where medication is needed, please use antihypertensive drugs reasonably under the guidance of a doctor, so that our blood pressure can be stably controlled.

Tuchong Creative

I would like to remind you that hypertension is a disease that has a significant impact on our health. Don’t easily listen to the advice of non-professionals. You must keep your eyes open to distinguish right from wrong, so as not to miss the opportunity for treatment and cause unnecessary losses. If you have any doubts, you can consult a professional doctor or read some professional popular science articles. If you are sick, see a doctor and take medicine according to the doctor’s orders. To use an online joke: If you can live a hundred years just by relying on folk remedies, what is the use of hospitals?

Author: Yang Hao, General Practitioner, Shenzhen Baoan District People’s Hospital

Review | Ding Rongjing Professor of Cardiology, Peking University People's Hospital

This article is produced by the "Science Rumor Refutation Platform" (ID: Science_Facts). Please indicate the source when reprinting.

The pictures in this article are from the copyright gallery and are not authorized for reproduction.