Table of contents
Why are we afraid of high blood pressure?
High blood pressure can initially manifest as headaches - be it a dull headache, a throbbing temporal headache - or even loss of concentration and dizziness. These can all be signs of high blood pressure, but may not seem like a serious enough problem to seek medical attention. For this reason, we tend to ignore it, dull the symptoms with painkillers and only see our GP when it's more serious (click here for more information). Prevention is important and it is good to know that there are natural ways to control blood pressure.
Reducing high blood pressure with herbs
Korean researchers studied the effects of ginseng on blood pressure and blood vessels in the late 1990s. Initially, they monitored systolic blood pressure and heart rate in animals. The research proved that Korean ginseng saponin (100mg/kg) reduced systolic blood pressure. This occurs because ginseng promotes the production of nitric oxide, which has vasodilating effects.
Blood pressure
***BLOOD: The aorta and its direct branches are elastic (elastic) type arteries. They dilate when the heart contracts and store the energy from the contraction of the heart: a windmill function. When the heart relaxes, blood pressure is maintained by the elasticity of these blood vessels. This is how the two values of blood pressure are formed: (systolic) and (diastolic) blood pressure (denoted by systolic/diastolic and the measurement system used, e.g. 120/80 mm Hg.) An increase in the diastolic value is more a characteristic of hypertension, whereas an increase in the difference between the systolic and diastolic values, in the absence of other causes (e.g. valve insufficiency), indicates a decrease in the elasticity of the blood vessels (atherosclerosis in old age).*** Source: Wikipedia
Ginseng blood pressure research
In 2016, a scientific study in South Korea investigated the effects of one of the active compounds in ginseng, Rg3 ginsenoside. The results show that Korean ginseng has a beneficial effect on blood pressure control, so it can help to regulate blood pressure naturally.
Another 2016 Korean study reported that a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (a trial in which neither the patient nor the doctor knows whether the subject received a drug containing the active ingredient or a placebo without the active ingredient) was conducted. Participants consumed 10 capsules containing 5g of red ginseng or placebo per day. After 12 weeks, participants who had consumed red ginseng experienced a reduction in blood pressure (systolic and diastolic blood pressure showed an average reduction of 6.5 and 5.0 mm Hg, respectively). It is very important to note that all the studies used a highly active 6-year-old ginseng plant grown in Korea! You can read why this is important here, click here!
In another Korean clinical trial, the effects of 8 weeks of ginseng consumption (4.5 g/day) were monitored in participants with 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. In 26 participants with hypertension (high blood pressure), 24-hour mean systolic blood pressure was significantly reduced (p = 0.03), while diastolic blood pressure showed a decrease (p = 0.17). Blood pressure reductions were observed during the daytime (8 am to 6 pm) and dawn (5 am to 7 am). 
In summary
It has been shown that Korean red ginseng (Panax ginseng) helps to make blood vessels more elastic, thus exerting a blood pressure regulating effect. Black ginseng can be even more effective at regulating blood pressure, as it contains nearly 2 times more Rg3 than 'plain' red ginseng (not compared to the ones we have). BTGin's ginseng capsules are specifically formulated to contain as much Rg3 ginsenoside as possible. Currently, the products that contain the most Rg3 ginsenoside are Ginseng Saponin Plus - Extra Strong capsules and Royal Rg3 300 - Enzymes Fermented Korean Red Ginseng , the latter is recommended for people with serious illnesses such as cancer.
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Sources:
- Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, 6 Munhwa-dong, Tung-gu, Taejon 301-131, Korea.
- Effect of Korean red ginseng on blood pressure and nitric oxide production
- Tae Woong Cha, Minjoo Kim, Minkyung Kim, Jey Sook Chae & Jong Ho Lee, Hypertension Research (2016) doi:10.1038/hr.2016.7: Blood pressure-lowering effect of Korean red ginseng associated with decreased circulating Lp-PLA2 activity and lysophosphatidylcholines and increased dihydrobiopterin level in prehypertensive subjects
- Effect of Korean red ginseng on the blood pressure in conscious hypertensive rats
- Am J Chin Med. 1998;26(2):199-209., Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Korea: Effect of red ginseng on blood pressure in patients with essential hypertension and white coat hypertension