Amaranthus Supplements & Health Benefits – High Blood Pressure

Living with high blood pressure can be really tough. If you suffer from hypertension, you run the risk of any number of unpleasant, painful, or even dangerous symptoms ranging from migraines, shortness of breath, and heightened risk of heart disease. Lifestyle changes like monitoring your blood pressure at home, switching to a low-sodium diet, and taking blood pressure medication regularly can help regulate hypertension, but wouldn’t it be great if there was a more natural way to lower your blood pressure? Thanks to new research into amaranthus, a flowering herb long-known for its medicinal properties, modern medical science has found that a number of amaranth varietals can help control blood pressure in surprising ways!

How Amaranthus Extract Fights Hypertension
Practitioners of traditional medicine have used amaranth flowers, roots, stems, and leaves for generations because it’s known to be such an effective medicinal herb. But what is it about this common flowering plant that makes it such a good choice for natural blood pressure control? Scientific research has begun to reveal its secrets, discovering evidence that amaranthus contains a number of beneficial phytochemicals. Amaranth, and amaranth extract, has been found to be high in anti-oxidants, has anti-inflammatory properties, and can even be used to provide excellent nutrition. In fact, the ancient Mesoamericans relied almost exclusively on amaranthus as a food crop!

Other Uses of Amaranthus
Speaking of using amaranthus as a food crop, this flowering plant has a strong connection with South and Central American history and cuisine. Other varieties of amaranth, which grow all over the globe, are a part of Asian cuisine as well as Asian traditional medicine traditions. Amaranthus is still cultivated to this day for its seeds, which can be ground and turned into a grain. Most commercial amaranthus seed is ground into flour and used, either on its own or as a mix with other types of flour, in dozens of baked products.

Many amaranth cultivars grow quickly and require few environmental resources. This, along with their proven nutritional profile, has led many to hail amaranthus as the “grain of the future”. Meanwhile, this was nothing new at all to the ancient Asians and Mesoamericans who used amaranthus in so many different aspects of their everyday lives from food to medicine and beyond.

Amaranthus Health Benefits
Amaranthus is so much more than just a staple in baked goods and in Central and South American cuisine. It also can do so much more than provide support for high blood pressure as well! Thanks to its ubiquitous nature, traditional healers from around the world have relied on amaranthus to help treat a number of different issues. Here are just a few of the ways amaranthus can help keep you happier and healthier than ever.

Cardiovascular Health
Amaranthus has more than just the ability to lower blood pressure. It has a number of well-researched cardioprotective effects on helping prevent coronary heart disease. Specifically, amaranthus contains proteins known as angiotensin-converting enzymes, which are very similar to modern drugs used to protect against congestive heart failure and reduce bad cholesterol.

Anti-Cancer Properties
As if protecting your heart health wasn’t enough, amaranthus extract has also shown some very promising anti-cancer properties. Again, it comes down to some very specific enzyme inhibitors present in amaranth that might block the growth of some types of cancer, including breast cancer.

Gastrointestinal Issues
While the jury is still out on whether there’s any concrete medical evidence to support these claims, amaranthus has been used for generations to help soothe stomach upset, treat diarrhea, and treat any number of gastrointestinal issues. Some researchers feel that amaranth’s strong anti-inflammatory properties may be behind this particular action.

How Much Amaranth Extract Should I Have Each Day?
The wonderful thing about amaranth is that there are almost no known side effects or interactions that you need to worry about in most situations. This has led most medical professionals to classify it as likely safe — with a warning that there’s no real standardized dose as far as how much amaranth extract you should take every day. As always, there are a few general common-sense warnings, which include checking with your doctor if you’re already taking a blood pressure medication, as amaranthus extract can work much the same way.

Otherwise, considering how amaranth has been used so widely and well across the world as a staple food grain for thousands of years, there aren’t many warnings to heed. Amaranthus is even considered largely non-allergenic as well. When it comes to the effects amaranthus extract has on pregnant or breastfeeding women there’s no specific data to be had, but considering that Mesoamericans thrived while amaranth consisted of 80% of their diet, you’re probably in the clear.

Amaranth: the New Grain of the Millennium
If you’re looking for a new nutraceutical supplement to add to your regimen, you can’t do much better than amaranthus extract. With its cardioprotective properties, its anti-inflammatory action, and its seeming ability to help fight cancer, and the possibility that it can help soothe a troubled stomach, there’s little that amaranth can’t do. When you add in the fact that amaranth’s nutritional profile makes it rich in the vitamins, minerals, and proteins your body needs to stay healthy, it’s easy to see why so many have referred to this humble plant as the new grain of the millennium!