I’m a Cardiologist. Three times this week, patients came to me in tears because their doctor threatened to “document their refusal.” This pattern has to stop.
I need to tell you about a pattern I’m seeing in my practice. It’s happened three times this week alone.
A patient sits across from me. Mid-fifties. Professional. Takes care of themselves reasonably well. Their blood pressure has been creeping up—nothing dramatic, but progressively worsening over two or three years. Stage 2 hypertension. Numbers like 148/94 or 151/97.
They’re not there for an emergency. They’re there because they switched doctors or their longtime physician retired, and the new doctor had a very different approach.
The patient’s hands are shaking slightly. They’re trying to maintain composure, but I can see the tension in their jaw. Their shoulders are pulled up near their ears.
Then they tell me what happened.
“My new doctor said I have to start Lisinopril immediately. She said my previous doctor was negligent for not putting me on medication years ago. She said if I refuse, she’ll document it in my chart as non-compliance against medical advice.”
The voice cracks slightly on that last part. Non-compliance. Those words carry weight. They follow you through every future medical interaction. Every insurance application. Every specialist referral.
I see this almost daily now. Patients who had working relationships with physicians for twenty, thirty, even forty years. Doctors who knew their family history. Who understood their father died from kidney failure caused by blood pressure medication. Who were taking a measured approach—diet, exercise, regular monitoring.
Then that doctor retires. The new physician looks at the chart for twelve minutes and issues an ultimatum.
The patient feels trapped. Cornered. Bullied into a decision they’re not ready to make.
Here’s what makes it worse: I ask them what they’re most afraid of.
They don’t say “high blood pressure.” They say “the medication.”
Because they watched it happen. Their father on Lisinopril for fourteen years. The persistent dry cough that kept everyone awake. The dizziness that led to falls—hip fracture, shoulder surgery. The fatigue that turned an active man into someone who could barely get off the couch. The kidney function declining year after year until dialysis became necessary.
The medication controlled the numbers on paper. It didn’t prevent the decline. It didn’t prevent death at 64.
Now they’re sitting in my office. Same age their father was when he started the medication. Same blood pressure readings. Being told by a doctor they just met that they have no choice.
Their spouse is terrified. “I watched your father die,” she told him the night before. “I can’t watch you die too.”
So they’re caught between two fears: the fear of high blood pressure causing a stroke, and the fear of medication destroying their quality of life like it destroyed their father’s.
That’s not a medical decision anymore. That’s an emotional crisis.
I started tracking this pattern about eighteen months ago. I’ve now seen over 1,200 patients in this exact situation. Different names. Different doctors. Same story.
Here’s what they tell me they’ve already tried before coming to see me:
They cut salt. They joined a gym. They lost weight. Their blood pressure dropped five or eight points—not enough. Still Stage 2.
They tried beetroot supplements. Three, four, sometimes five different brands. Nature’s Heart from Amazon. SuperBeets from television. Organic powder from Whole Foods. They took them religiously for two months, three months, even six months.
Their blood pressure stayed the same. Maybe dropped two or three points. Not enough to avoid medication.
They’re running out of time. Their follow-up appointment is in four weeks. Six weeks. Eight weeks. The deadline approaches and the pressure builds and they’re searching for answers at three in the morning on their laptop while their spouse sleeps beside them.
They ask me the same question, phrased slightly differently but meaning the same thing:
“Is there actually another way? Or am I just delaying the inevitable?”
For years, I didn’t have a good answer for them.
I could explain that lifestyle changes help. I could review the research on DASH diet and exercise. I could talk about stress reduction and weight management.
But if they’d already tried those things for two or three years and the numbers were still climbing, what was I supposed to tell them?
The medications work. They lower blood pressure effectively. But the side effects are real. And for patients with family history of adverse reactions—especially kidney complications—the fear isn’t irrational. It’s based on lived experience.
About fourteen months ago, I started digging into the research on dietary nitrates more seriously.
I’d known about beetroot for years. The studies were solid. Multiple clinical trials showing 8-12 point reductions in blood pressure from dietary nitrate supplementation. The mechanism made sense—nitric oxide production, vasodilation, improved endothelial function.
But my patients were already trying beetroot supplements. They weren’t working.
That’s when I discovered something that changed how I approach these cases.
The problem wasn’t beetroot. The problem was manufacturing.
Most beetroot supplements are processed with high-heat spray drying. It’s cheap. It’s fast. It’s the industry standard.
But heat destroys up to 90% of the dietary nitrates—the active compounds that actually lower blood pressure.
Then I looked at dosing. The clinical studies showing blood pressure reduction used 400 to 500 milligrams of dietary nitrates daily.
Most supplements contain less than 50 milligrams. Some have as little as 5 or 10 milligrams.
My patients weren’t failing. The supplements were failing them.
They’d been taking one-tenth to one-eightieth of the clinical dose, and what little nitrate was present had been largely destroyed during manufacturing.
It wasn’t their fault. They did everything right. The industry had sold them products that couldn’t work.
I started researching manufacturing methods. Cold-extraction versus heat processing. Standardization versus proprietary blends. Third-party testing versus vague label claims.
I found one company doing it differently. BeetWise by Zenther.
Cold-extracted so the heat-sensitive nitrates survive processing. Standardized to exactly 400 milligrams of dietary nitrates per serving—the actual clinical dose from the research. Third-party tested with published Certificate of Analysis showing exact nitrate content.
Everything the other products weren’t.
I didn’t recommend it immediately. I wanted to see data. So I started tracking patients who tried it.
The first was a 58-year-old attorney named David. Blood pressure 149/96. New doctor threatening immediate Lisinopril or documentation of non-compliance. Father died at 64 from kidney failure related to blood pressure medication.
David had already tried three different beetroot supplements over four months. Nothing changed.
I explained the cold-extraction difference. The dosing gap. The transparency of published testing. I told him to track his blood pressure daily and report back in four weeks.
Week one: 146/93. Down three points systolic.
Week two: 141/89.
Week three: 137/85.
Week four: 133/82.
Sixteen point drop in systolic pressure. Eleven points diastolic.
Below 140/90. Out of Stage 2 hypertension.
His follow-up appointment with the doctor who’d threatened him? She took his blood pressure three times. Looked at his previous readings. Asked what he’d changed.
When he told her, she researched BeetWise herself right there in the appointment. Read the published studies. Reviewed the Certificate of Analysis. Saw the third-party testing.
She told him to continue what he was doing. Monitor every eight weeks. Hold off on medication.
I’ve now tracked 47 patients using this same approach over the past year.
Not all achieve the same results. Some see eight-point reductions. Some see twelve. A few see fifteen or more.
But the pattern is consistent: properly formulated beetroot supplementation—cold-extracted, clinically dosed, transparently tested—produces measurable blood pressure improvements in most patients within four to six weeks.
More importantly, patients report something else. Within fifteen to twenty minutes of taking it, they feel different. Mental clarity improves. The afternoon energy crash doesn’t come. That’s the nitric oxide pathway activating. It’s immediate feedback that something is working.
Then over weeks, the blood pressure numbers confirm it.
For patients trapped between medication fear and doctor pressure, this creates a third option.
It’s not a guarantee. It’s not a cure. It’s not a replacement for medical supervision.
But it’s a legitimate attempt to address the problem through a properly formulated natural approach before resorting to pharmaceuticals.
Here’s what I tell patients now when they come to me in that trapped, scared, bullied state:
“You have more control than you think you do. The supplements you tried before weren’t formulated correctly. They couldn’t work because they were either underdosed or heat-damaged or both. That wasn’t your failure—that was a manufacturing failure.
“There’s a different approach. Cold-extracted beetroot standardized to 400 milligrams of dietary nitrates. The actual dose used in clinical research. Third-party tested with published results.
“I’ve tracked forty-seven patients using this over the past year. Most see measurable blood pressure reductions within four to six weeks. Not everyone reaches the same numbers, but most see improvement.
“Track your blood pressure daily. Give it an honest eight-week trial. If your numbers improve and stabilize below 140/90, bring those readings to your doctor. Numbers are objective. They’re hard to dismiss.
“If it doesn’t work, you’ve lost eight weeks and the cost of the supplement. But you’ll have the data showing you tried a legitimate approach. That’s not non-compliance. That’s attempting evidence-based intervention before pharmaceuticals.
“If it does work, you’ve potentially avoided medication and the side effects you’re afraid of. You’ve proven to your doctor—and yourself—that you’re capable of managing this through other means.”
The company offers a 90-day guarantee. If it doesn’t work, full refund. No questions asked. That removes the financial risk.
I’m not affiliated with BeetWise. I don’t get paid to recommend it. I’m recommending it because I’ve seen it work for enough patients that I can’t in good conscience not mention it when someone sits in my office scared and cornered and asking if there’s another way.
Is it right for everyone? No.
If you have severe hypertension—readings consistently above 160/100—you likely need medication. If you’ve had a cardiovascular event, you need medication. If your doctor has valid clinical reasons for immediate pharmaceutical intervention, you should follow that guidance.
But if you’re in that middle zone—Stage 2 hypertension, no other major risk factors, doctor pushing medication primarily because of the numbers rather than acute risk—you might have time to try something else first.
Most doctors will respect an eight-week trial if you’re monitoring closely and the numbers are improving.
David told me something during his six-month follow-up that stuck with me.
“For three months, I felt like I was choosing between dying from high blood pressure or dying from medication side effects like my father. Those were my only two options. I couldn’t sleep. My wife was crying. I felt backed into a corner with no way out.
“Finding out that the supplements I tried weren’t even formulated correctly—that I wasn’t failing, they were failing—that changed everything. It gave me hope that there might actually be another option I hadn’t exhausted yet.
“When my blood pressure started dropping and my doctor backed off the medication threats, I got my life back. Not just my health. My autonomy. My ability to make decisions about my own body based on evidence rather than ultimatums.”
That’s what I’m seeing repeatedly now. Patients regaining a sense of control in a situation that felt completely out of their control.
If you’re reading this because you’re in that same trapped position—new doctor, medication ultimatum, family history of side effects, fear of non-compliance documentation—here’s my guidance:
Talk to your doctor about trying cold-extracted beetroot standardized to 400mg dietary nitrates for eight weeks while monitoring your blood pressure closely. If they won’t support even an eight-week trial, consider getting a second opinion from a physician who understands integrative approaches.
Track your numbers honestly. If they don’t improve, you have your answer. If they do improve, you have objective data to show your doctor.
BeetWise is the only brand I’ve seen that publishes everything—Certificate of Analysis, exact nitrate content, third-party testing, manufacturing process. That transparency matters when you’re trying to show a skeptical physician that this isn’t just another “supplement.”
The 90-day guarantee means you risk nothing financially.
You’re not refusing treatment. You’re attempting evidence-based intervention. There’s a difference.
Most of my patients in this situation aren’t anti-medication. They’re pro-informed-decision. They want to try everything reasonable before committing to lifetime pharmaceuticals.
That’s not unreasonable. That’s not non-compliance. That’s responsible healthcare decision-making.
If you’re that patient sitting across from a doctor who’s demanding immediate medication or threatening documentation—the patient with family history, with legitimate fears, with questions that aren’t being heard—you deserve to know there might be another option worth trying.
The research is real. The mechanism is sound. The results I’m seeing in my practice are consistent enough that I can’t stay silent about it.
Your health. Your body. Your decision.
Make it an informed one.
Dr. Sarah Martinez, MD, FACC
Board Certified Cardiologist
P.S. — The patients I’m seeing respond best are the ones who track their blood pressure daily, stay consistent with dosing, and maintain open communication with their doctor. Most notice the energy difference within the first week. Blood pressure improvements typically appear within two to four weeks. Your timeline may differ.
P.P.S. — If your doctor won’t support an eight-week monitored trial, that’s worth noting. A physician confident in their recommendation should be comfortable with you exploring properly-researched alternatives under supervision. Refusal to even discuss it might indicate it’s time for a second opinion.
About the NutriBlast® Hypertension Blend
One day when I visited a mate, his name was Tom too, he told me had just taken his blood pressure and it was 205 over 108! I said, “Mate! That’s LETHAL material!”.
He tried blood pressure medications but they gave him blackouts. And I have heard that those medications don’t work on at least a third of the people taking them.
I went home and took the basic recipe from Rudolf Breuss’ anti-cancer juice and added a few other things to it. Tom took his BP then a glass of juice then two or three hours later he took his BP again for comparison. Here are his results:
Day 1
Reading 1 – 205 over 108
Reading 2 – 162 over 94
Day 2
Reading 1 – 155 over 89
Reading 2 – 138 over 80
Day 3
Reading 1 – 170 over 88
Reading 2 – 147 over 80
Day 4
Reading 1 – 179 over 94
Reading 2 – 154 over 91
A week later after reading the chapter on Hypertension in my book ’How To Live The Healthiest Life’, he has cut down to two coffees a day and no salt. He rang me jubilant this morning (31st December 2010) to report his blood pressure was 130 over 70!
So I further researched the ingredients that had proven or reputed ability to lower blood pressure. This current formula is the result of that endeavour.
I cannot guarantee that my blend will work for you because every spirit, mind, body combination is unique and there may be non-physical factors (like stress)helping raise your blood pressure.
A cautionary note. You do not want to be double dipping – lowering your blood pressure once with medication and a second time with a full dose of this powder. That would be bad. So if you are on medication I recommend you liaise with your primary health care provider as to the best protocol for you to ease off the medication so you are not at risk.
