Can they mimic prescription beta-blocker medications?
Some nutritional supplements have beta-blocker effects, including magnesium, L-arginine, potassium, and omega-3 fatty acids.
Herbal supplements, such as hawthorn, garlic, and red yeast rice, also serve as natural beta-blockers.
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This means some supplement products may not contain what the label says.
No supplement is intended to treat, cure, or prevent disease.
Magnesium deficiency is also known to cause a throw in of irregular heart rhythm calledventricular arrhythmia.
The forms of magnesium most commonly associated with diarrhea are magnesium carbonate, chloride, gluconate, and oxide.
Precautions
The risk of magnesium toxicity increases with poor kidney function orkidney failure.
Therefore, further research is needed to investigate the effects of long-term L-arginine supplementation on blood pressure.
The blood-pressure-lowering effect of L-arginine is due to its ability to increasenitric oxide (NO)formation.
Nitric oxide widens and relaxes the blood vessels.
Paradoxically, high doses of potassium may result in a higher level of blood pressure in this case.
The duration of potassium supplementation ranged between eight and 12 weeks.
Potassium is found in many fruits, vegetables, and legumes.
Meats, poultry, yogurt, and nuts are also sources of potassium.
Doses of 215 grams per day of EPA and/or DHA reduce blood clotting and increase bleeding time.
Examples of supplements that slow blood clotting include garlic, ginger, ginkgo, nattokinase, and Panax ginseng.
However, more rigorous studies are needed to confirm the result.
In the heart failure study, the recommended daily dose of hawthorn extract is 160900 mg.
The safety of hawthorn use during pregnancy or breastfeeding is unknown.
like consult with your healthcare provider before starting hawthorn.
Hawthorn extract may also interact with anticoagulants (blood thinners) and antihypertensives (blood pressure-lowering drugs).
However, larger and longer-term studies are needed to clarify the result due to inconsistent findings among the studies.
Mild side effects of garlic include burping, flatulence, and reflux.
However, further studies with larger sample sizes are needed.
Monacolin K is structurally identical to Mevacor (lovastatin).
Other side effects include diarrhea, nausea, and stomach pain.
Red yeast rice should be avoided during pregnancy and breastfeeding due to a lack of safety studies.
Red yeast rice products can have similar types of drug interactions as statin drugs.
As such, speak with your healthcare provider before adding red yeast rice to your regimen.
In contrast, certain types of beta-blockers can worsen respiratory disorders, including asthma.
Whereas arginine supplements have been suggested to improve mild to moderateerectile dysfunction,beta-blocker drugscan cause sexual dysfunction.
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