Does Hawthorn Berry Extract Lower Blood Pressure?

Q: Does hawthorn lower blood pressure and improve cardiovascular functioning?
-- Alan, via e-mail

A: Hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha), a flowering shrub, has been used to help heart problems since the first century. And guess what? It works. While the ancient remedy isn't a slam dunk for congestive heart failure and high blood pressure, there's evidence that it helps.

In lab research, using hawthorn extract after a heart attack helps prevent the kind of damage that leads to congestive heart failure. After many small human studies suggested that hawthorn lowers high blood pressure, a double-blind trial in 2006 found that when people with diabetes who took prescription meds for high blood pressure also took hawthorn extract daily, their pressure was even lower.

Hawthorn's leaves, berries, and lovely pink and white flowers all contain a host of plant nutrients called flavonoids. These substances increase blood flow, protect blood vessels, and, in animal studies, make bad blood fats skedaddle like bad guys in a western when the new sheriff hits town.

Despite all of this encouraging info, talk to your doc before taking it. Even though hawthorn extract is widely available without a prescription, it interacts with some prescription drugs, making them dangerously potent. (Eating one of these treats every day helps lower your blood pressure.)