It appears some minor changes in diet can have affect on the BP, at least for me anyway. Here is my story. I made some minor adjustment on my diet around early May this year.

Before my changes. My BP was around 140/85 while taking Norvasc 10mg and Benica 40mg.

I noticed my BP has gone done a bit around early Auguest and stay low that way up to now. My current BP is around 130/70 with ONLY Norvasic 10mg.

Here are my diet changes:
- Switched from coffee to green tea. I used to drink 2 cups of coffee a day.
- Switched from milk to soymilk
- Eat whole wheat bread/cereal
- Increase intake of fruit. Mostly water melon (side effect more pee at night)

Yes high fiber also helps lower bp.

For what its worth. A study on BP and soymilk.

http://www.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/132/7/1900

Just an update. After one year of changing my diet, my current BP is about 125/70 with only 5mg of Norvasic for the past 6 months. I hope one day I can get off the BP drug completely.

That is terrific! Good for you. It is so good to hear such encouraging news.

I was able to get off BP meds last January after being on them for five years. Much of the improvement was due to a reduction in stress, but I finally got off the meds entirely after dietary changes, as well. My major changes were in reduction of bad carbs, lower meat consumption (though I was never a really big meat-eater), and increased fruit and vegetable consumption. My current unmedicated BP seems to be averaging around 125/70, but it is highly variable. In the last two weeks it has ranged from 96/66 to 160/79, and those are all resting pressures without feeling under particular stress. So if I can pare off a few more points from the higher readings, I'd be happy.

Thanks so much for the link to the soy milk study. I've never tried soy milk, but with an average reduction of 18 points systolic and nearly 16 points diastolic in that study, I've got to at least try it. Not that I have any desire to have it twice a day like in the study, but a smaller amount might still give some benefit.

Hello,

I have read that Caffeine raises blood pressure and in the same time I have read that Green Tea: Reduces high blood pressure. Drinking green tea represses angiotensin II which leads to high blood pressure.

Green Tea contains Caffeine so?????????
Thanks,
Michael

Michael - What? You expect things to make sense? LOL! My guess is that there is something else in the tea that is powerful enough to overcome the effects of the caffeine. Besides, there is typically less caffeine in tea than in coffee. About half as much in the typical cup, I believe. Maybe green tea has less caffeine than black tea; I don't know about that. My suggestion is to take your own pressure before and after drinking it and see how it affects you.

Not everyone reacts the same way to things. My blood pressure goes up with drinking a plain cup of coffee. But if I drink a Frappuccino, my BP goes down slightly. I'm one of those old-timers whose BP typically goes down 10-20 points after eating. (I understand that happens for about one-third of "older adults," but not to younger adults.) Apparently there is enough sugar and milk in the Frappuccino to overcome the caffeine for me. But others, especially younger people, would probably react differently.

My own experience seems to be that green tea lowers my blood pressure but black tea increases it. I'm not totally certain about that, as other variables could have been involved, too. I'll have to check a few more times. But that is what it appears so far.

I have read that green tea contains the same amount of Caffeine as the black tea, my doctor told me that tea is a diuretic.

You know when I eat onion I find that it decreases my diastolic blood pressure by 5-10 after few hours, I think that there are many natural components that effects blood pressure and I’m going to know a lot of them lol.

About coffee, I don't drink it at all. in Egypt we have French coffee which raises blood pressure lol, once I tried it and after few hours my blood pressure reading was 160/110 although that I was on medication (120/80 with medication).
I don't drink Alcohol at all (only in Christmas) so it's not a problem for me.
Thanks :-)
Michael