From a pharmacological point of view, can eating celery or drinking celery juice lower blood pressure?

A friend asked Huazi a very interesting question. He heard that eating celery and drinking celery juice can lower blood pressure, so he squeezed a cup of celery juice every day and drank it for a month. As a result, he found that his blood pressure really lowered.

However, he saw many articles on the Internet saying that eating celery does not lower blood pressure, so he was very confused and asked Huazi, since his blood pressure did lower after drinking celery juice, could he explain from a pharmacological point of view whether eating celery and drinking celery juice can lower blood pressure?

1. The role of celery from a pharmacological perspective 1. Potassium ions: Celery is a common vegetable that contains potassium ions. In the human renal tubules, there is a sodium-potassium exchange mechanism. When potassium ion intake increases, the excretion of sodium ions will be accelerated. Sodium ions will increase the excitability of vascular smooth muscle cells. When sodium ion excretion increases, the excitability of vascular smooth muscle cells decreases, which will lead to vasodilation and lower blood pressure.

2. Dietary fiber: Celery contains dietary fiber, which will not be digested and absorbed. It can absorb water and swell in the digestive tract, increase satiety, and reduce food intake. It can also absorb fat and cholesterol in the intestines and lower blood lipids. It delays the occurrence of atherosclerosis and indirectly plays a role in lowering blood pressure.

3. Apigenin: Celery contains apigenin. Studies have shown that apigenin can reduce the content of arachidonic acid, increase the level of nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandins in blood vessels, dilate blood vessels, and have a potential antihypertensive effect.

2. Eating celery to lower blood pressure is not reliable. Although from a pharmacological point of view, celery contains a variety of substances that can lower blood pressure, but don't forget one thing, that is, you can't talk about the effect without considering the dosage. The content of various antihypertensive substances in celery is not high, and the amount of celery we consume through our daily diet is difficult to produce enough antihypertensive effect. For example, if you want to take in enough apigenin, you need to eat about ten pounds of celery.

However, nutrients such as potassium ions and dietary fiber are not only found in celery, but also in other vegetables, and the content is even higher than that in celery. In terms of lowering blood pressure, eating other vegetables will also produce the same effect. Lowering blood pressure is not the "unique" effect of celery.

3. The truth about celery juice lowering blood pressure The reason why the friend was able to lower his blood pressure by drinking celery juice was that after he knew he had high blood pressure, in addition to drinking celery juice, he also controlled his diet and increased his exercise. In one month, his weight dropped by 10 kilograms and his blood pressure dropped by 10 mmHg.

In other words, his lowered blood pressure was not directly related to drinking celery juice, but was due to weight loss and exercise. Relevant studies have shown that if obese people can lose 10 kg, their blood pressure can drop by more than 20 mmHg, and if they increase their exercise, their weight can also drop by about 10 mmHg.

To control blood pressure, you should also pay attention to controlling the amount of salt you consume. Many people have a high-salt diet. Table salt is composed of sodium chloride, which directly increases the sodium ion level in the body, causing water and sodium retention and increased blood volume. Sodium ions also increase the tension of vascular smooth muscle cells, making blood vessels more likely to contract and increase blood pressure. Therefore, limiting the amount of salt to less than 6 grams per day can effectively lower blood pressure.

In addition, you should also pay attention to the adjustment of your mentality. Many people's blood pressure rises due to excessive pressure from work, life or emotions, which causes long-term emotional tension, increases the excitability of the sympathetic nerves, causes arterial contraction, and increases blood pressure. Therefore, you should pay attention to the adjustment of your mentality and don't get stuck in a "dead end" when encountering things.

To sum up, from a pharmacological point of view, celery contains a variety of substances that can lower blood pressure, but it is difficult to reach the amount required to lower blood pressure through normal dietary intake. Non-drug methods to lower blood pressure are exercise, weight loss, salt restriction and stress relief, rather than eating celery or drinking celery juice. I am pharmacist Huazi, welcome to follow me and share more health knowledge.