Natural Choices — Health Food, Organic Produce, Gluten Free, Vitamins, Supplements — Columbus, Bartholomew County, Indiana

As I noted in my last post, February is “American Heart Month.”

There are many vitamins and other supplements that are good for your heart. Of course, nutrition and health practices that are good for the body as a whole are also good for the heart. We are fully ready to support you in that regard here at Natural Choices with healthful foods and supplements of every variety.

One herb that has been in use for over a thousand years is hawthorn (Wikipedia article). The ancient Chinese recognized hawthorn as essential in the treatment of various ailments, and modern studies bear out their wisdom. According to the Wikipedia link above,

Several pilot studies have assessed the ability of hawthorn to help improve exercise tolerance in people with NYHA class II cardiac insufficiency compared to placebo. One experiment, at (300 mg/day) for 4 to 8 weeks, found no difference from placebo. The second study, including 78 subjects (600 mg/day) for 8 weeks, found “significant improvement in exercise tolerance” and lower blood pressure and heart rate during exercise. The third, including 32 subjects (900 mg/day) for 8 weeks, found improved exercise tolerance as well as a reduction in the “incidence and severity of symptoms such as dyspnea” and fatigue decreased by approximately 50%.^[13]

In the HERB-CHF (Hawthorn Extract Randomized Blinded Chronic HF Study) clinical study, 120 patients took 450 mg of hawthorn extract twice daily for 6 months in combination with standard therapy and a standardized exercise program. “No effects of hawthorn were seen on either quality-of-life endpoint (Tables 1 and 2), or when adjusted for LVEF“.^[14]

One research program, consisting of 1011 patients taking one tablet (standardized to 84.3 mg procyanidin) twice daily for 24 weeks, found “improvements in clinical symptoms (such as fatigue, palpitations, and exercise dyspnea), performance and exercise tolerance test, and ejection fraction“.^[15]

As is usual, Wikipedia tends to be on the skeptical side and underemphasize the potential benefits. You can find plenty of websites and blog posts on the Internet raving about hawthorn.

The important thing is whether it can work for you as an individual. When it comes to heart health, hawthorn definitely will come up close to No. 1 in any herbalist’s book. We invite you to discuss this important herb with your doctor or herbalist and come to your own conclusion.

As in every case, we will be happy to answer questions about our supplements containing hawthorn–or about any of our products!

–Matt