High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a serious condition that affects about one in three American adults, and two-thirds of people over age 65. Blood pressure is the force of blood as it pumps through your arteries. The more blood your heart pumps and the narrower your arteries are, the higher the blood pressure. High blood pressure raises the risk of heart disease and stroke, the leading causes of death among Americans. It is called the “silent killer” because most people dont have any symptoms when blood pressure is too high. Hypertension, high cholesterol, and obesity are the biggest reasons people get atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.
Most people can control their high blood pressure and reduce their risk of heart disease. Talk to your doctor about how to lower your high blood pressure. In some cases, making changes in your diet and exercising can get blood pressure under control. In other cases, you may need medications. Coffee is made from roasted coffee beans. Unroasted coffee beans are green. An extract made from these green coffee beans is being investigated as a possible health-promoting supplement, including as a way to lower blood pressure. Like green tea, green coffee bean extract (GCBE) contains strong antioxidants.
Green coffee extract, made from coffee beans before they are roasted, may help lower blood pressure in people with mild hypertension. Researchers need to do more studies, but two studies found that green coffee extract worked better than placebo to lower blood pressure slightly. Some green coffee extracts have caffeine, which can interact with many prescription drugs. Caffeine might also raise blood pressure. To be safe, ask your doctor before taking green coffee extract.
Recent studies suggest that Green Coffee Bean Extract may have a multitude of health benefits, mainly in dealing with health challenges that stem from oxidative stress (such as heart disease or cancer). The most convincing evidence supports the claim that GCBE may help reduce blood pressure. The key compound within Green Coffee Bean Extract that is thought to have anti-hypertensive effects is chlorogenic acid, which is a part of the primary polyphenol antioxidants family. In green coffee bean extract are in a family known as chlorogenic acids (CGA).
Some things to look for in a green coffee supplement:
1) 100% pure.
2) Purity of ingredients and chlorogenic acid level should be verified by an independent testing lab.
3) Chlorogenic acid level should be at least 42%
4) Minimal caffeine.
6) No additives.
7) Ideally the ingredients label should indicate only one (1) main ingredient.
8) The “other” ingredients should indicate what the capsule itself is made of.
9) There should be no “fillers” or flowing agents. Fillers are unnecessary ingredients used to make the capsule look full.
The “pure” factor is extremely important. A potential problem, however, is that many of the green coffee supplements on the market are not pure. They often contain fillers, flow agents and other ingredients and these ingredients could cause side effects, depending on what those added ingredients are.
So to minimize the potential of having any negative side effects from green coffee bean extract, it would be prudent to use only 100% pure green coffee extract with no additional ingredients.
