May lower blood pressure

Hawthorn berry is one of the most widely suggested foods in traditional Chinese medicine to help treat high blood pressure. According to animal research, hawthorn can function as a vasodilator, which means it helps relax constricted blood vessels, decreasing blood pressure. In 10-week research, 36 patients with modestly raised blood pressure were given hawthorn extract.

The researchers discovered that those who took 500 mg of the extract daily had lower diastolic blood pressure – the figure at the bottom of a blood pressure reading. In a 2006 trial, 79 patients with type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure were given 1,200 mg of hawthorn extract every day for 16 weeks. People who took the extract had lower blood pressure readings than those who received a placebo. More research is needed to back up these conclusions. It's also worth noting that consuming berries is not the same as using an extract.