Acute effect
Eighty patients (28 male, 52 female, mean age 54 years, range 32-77) were divided into four groups. Mean duration of hy- pertension was 75 months (range 1-360 months) among these patients. Mean number of antihypertensive pills that the pa- tients were taking was 1.3. Twenty-five (31 %) of the 80 pa- tients mentioned that they had used lemon juice for high BP before. The details of the protocol are summarized below:
1. The measurement procedure began at 9 AM.
2. After 10-15 minutes rest BP was measured. According to the first BP readings the patients were divided into two groups:
A.Elevated: Systolic BP ≥ 140 mmHg and/or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg
B.Normal: Systolic BP < 140 mmHg and diastolic BP < 90 mmHg
The patients within each group received 50 ml of lemon juice or water randomly so that we had four groups: EL (ele- vated-lemon juice), EW (elevated-water), NL (normal-lemon juice), and NW (normal-water).
3. All patients lied down one hour after drinking fresh lemon juice which we prepared or same amount of water.
4. Blood pressure was measured by an ambulatory BP measurement device every 15 minutes for 24 hours.
5. All BP measurements were done from left arm.