Striction BP is said to be able to lower your blood pressure safely and naturally... as well as lower your cholesterol, balance blood sugar and more.
But is this just another over-hyped health product? Or perhaps Striction BP is a scam?
Or is this the real deal?
Upon first glance everything seems to look good. Striction BP...
- is made in the USA in a FDA registered facility
- has pretty good customer reviews overall
- and is for sale at GNC
I would say the most positive sign is the fact that it is available at GNC, which means a lot. After all, a trusted and reputable major brand like GNC isn't going to let some crap product onto their shelves... or at least I would hope not.
Hypertension Explained:
About 1 out of every 3 people in the USA have high BP, aka hypertension, (according to the CDC), which is a huge problem.
Blood pressure is the amount of force that a person's blood exerts on their blood vessels, and if you have hypertension this means that the amount of pressure is too much.
Hypertension is often referred to as the "silent killer" because it is a sneaky problem that often doesn't show any symptoms until something big happens, such as having a stroke, heart attack, etc. Even if the pressure is dangerously high, there still may be no noticeable symptoms.
An increased pressure on your blood vessels can cause all sorts of complications. After all, blood is what feeds your entire body and all of its organs.
- Heart attacks
- Strokes
- And even things like metabolic syndrome and memory problems like dementia can be caused by hypertension.
Having high blood pressure used to be when your readings were 140/90 or higher, but now the diagnosis is if you are 130/80 or higher (source: patient.info).
But you maybe already knew all of this... and if so, I'm sorry to have bore you.
Anyways... let's get into this review and see if this really is the miracle supplement it is promoted as being.
Striction BP Review
- Name: Striction BP
- Manufacturer: Optimal XT
- Price: Varies depending on quantity bought (starts at ~$50/bottle)
- Recommended?: Somewhat
- Where to Buy: Discount offer here
Striction BP is a natural supplement by the company Optimal XT that is mainly for lowering blood pressure, but is also said to be able to help your heart and cardiovascular system out in a number of other ways, including...
- Lowering BP
- Improving circulation
- Lowering cholesterol
- Balancing blood sugar levels
- and providing antioxidants for overall health
This supplement is formulated with only "3 key ingredients", but unfortunately there isn't all that much evidence backing their effectiveness.
Ingredients
As mentioned, Striction BP has "3 key ingredients", as you can see here...
Let's go over each and see what evidence there is, if any, that they actually work.
- Ceylon Cinnamon -
In the promotional material for Striction BP we are told that there are many varieties of cinnamon and that Ceylon is considered to be the "true cinnamon". It is one of the rarest and most expensive, but has been shown to have great health benefits.
A 2013 article published in Nutrition that I came across looked into the short-term effect that cinnamon has on BP in patients with diabetes and prediabetes... and found pretty good results. In this article they looked at multiple studies that had been conducted and estimated that the use of cinnamon decreased SBP and DBP by 5.39 mm Hg and 2.6 mm Hg respectively.
If you've looked for studies on this matter you've likely came across this same finding before, since it is mentioned in just about every article online that has to do with cinnamon's effects on blood pressure--the reason being that there are a very limited number of studies available.
How It Works:
While the mechanism behind cinnamon's ability to lower BP and whether or not it is very effective overall are still very under-researched, according to at least one animal study on dogs and guinea pigs cinnamon works by causing peripheral vasodilation (source: Pharmacognosy Research). What this means is that it helps relax the blood vessels, causing them to expand and blood pressure to drop.
But this study is very old and, again, this area is very understudied.
Dosage:
Striction BP contains 1000 mg of Ceylon Cinnamon, or 1 g. According to a study mentioned on WebMD, this seems to be around the minimum you want to take to see results--although the study mentioned wasn't focused on blood pressure.
- Magnesium -
Magnesium supplements are commonly taken to lower BP. They are cheap, safe, and there is a fair amount of research suggesting they are indeed effective.
A large meta-analysis from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition of various randomized trials on the effectiveness of magnesium for lowering BP found that supplementation "significantly lowers BP in individuals with insulin resistance, prediabetes, or other noncommunicable chronic diseases." This meta-analysis included 543 participants taking anywhere from 365 mg to 450 mg per day.
An even larger meta-analysis aptly titled Effects of Magnesium Supplementation on Blood Pressure , this one involving 34 trials with 2028 participants, found magnesium to have significant effects on lowering BP. The median dose of magnesium in these trials was 368 mg per day for 3 months--and the results were reductions of systolic BP by 2.00 mm Hg and reduction in diastolic BP by 1.78 mm Hg.
A dose of 300 mg per day for 1 month was found to be enough to raise serum MG and reduce BP.
And lastly, a 2018 study in Nutrients was performed on 48 patients with hypertension and found that magnesium supplementation "significantly decreased" both systolic and diastolic BP's. In this study patients supplemented 300 mg for at least 1 month. It is believed that this is likely due to the decrease in systemic vascular resistance and left cardiac work.
Dosage:
Striction BP only contains 32 mg of magnesium, which is much lower than any study I've come across that has proven it to be effective for such. This is disappointing, but I guess some is better than none.
- Vitamin B6 -
This water-soluble vitamin is very important for a number of reasons, some of the most notable being it's involvement in the creation of red blood cells, neurotransmitters, and white blood cells that are essential for a strong immune system.
While the effects of this vitamin on BP is yet another area that is very understudied, there are a few studies I came across that have found it to be effective. For example, one study in Journal of Hypertension found that high doses of vitamin B6 (about 5x the normal amount) resulted in "complete attenuation of hypertension" in obese rats--and that after stopping supplementation the hypertension returned within 2 weeks.
Ya, I know the study is on rats, but the evidence to go off of here is limited.
Dosage:
This supplement contains 5 mg per serving, which is 250% of the daily value you need to get... a decent dose.
Problem: Limited Evidence
While this supplement definitely has potential, it isn't the sure-cure that it is promoted as.
Overall, with every ingredient, there is limited evidence proving effectiveness in the area of reducing blood pressure.
Cost
The cost varies a bit depending on where you buy it. On the official website they are for sale in 3 different packages. The more you purchase the bigger discount you get per bottle, as expected.
- 1 bottle = $49.90/bottle
- 3 bottles = $32.93/bottle
- 6 bottles = $29.64/bottle
And at GNC it is actually selling for quite a bit more,... $59.99 per bottle, which I guess should be expected.
Free Bottle Offer
They also have an offer going on where you can get a free bottle of Striction BP. It's not a free trial, but if you purchase 2 bottles you get one free.
You may have come across this type of offer on a sales page like this...
> You can get this free bottle offer here if interested <
Money-Back Guarantee
Another piece of good news is that they do offer a money-back guarantee, which is on the table for 60 days after purchase.
They state that there are "no questions or explanation required" and that if you do not see or feel the results you expected you can simply call their support team at 844-248-3717 to get a refund.
But... of course it's never as good as it sounds at first!
The catch is that there is a $9.95 restocking fee per bottle!
Yes... $9.95 'restocking fee' per bottle. How ridiculous is that?
And I'm fairly certain you will have to pay for return shipping as well, which pretty much makes this refund policy useless in some cases.
Customer Reviews/Complaints
Upon first looking briefly at the customer reviews I could find online things looked pretty good. However, after digging around a little more and seeing more complaints, things don't look quite as positive.
Amazon is a great source of independent customer reviews (although you can't trust all of them) and as I'm writing this Striction BP has 83 total reviews with an average rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars... which is okay but not 'good'.
I want to make this review as unbiased as possible, so the customer reviews I'll be going over below are in chronological order, starting from the latest I found on Amazon. The only reviews I left out are those that either don't make any sense or don't provide any value... such as a 5 star rating for fast shipping... which has nothing to do with the actual product.
The latest review at the time of me writing this is from someone who experienced some pretty bad side effects from Striction BP, which she believes are a result of the vitamin B6 content...
And then there is this guy who "noticed no difference"...
The next review claims the product is working, from a woman who purchased it for her husband, but it doesn't give any details...
And then this person claim it did absolutely nothing for their BP after taking it for 2 weeks...
The same goes for this person.. it "did nothing"...
But to leave off on a good note... and to show that some people really do swear by this stuff, here is a review from someone claiming that Striction BP worked better than the prescription meds he was on...
There are definitely some very positive reviews out there, but there are a lot of negative ones as well, from people who simply did not experience any positive results or even had bad side effects.
*Note: There was the review mentioned above from the woman who had bad side effects, but this seems to be an outlier. Overall I haven't heard from many people experiencing side effects and I wouldn't expect to based on the ingredients.
On the optimal-health.com website this supplement has an overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars...
While I don't particularly like reviews from official websites like this, due to concerns of bias, these do seem to be authentic... and overall positive.
Pros v Cons
Pros
- Fairly trusted brand (sold in GNC)
- Made in the USA
- All natural
- Little chance of side effects
- Free bottle offer
- Generally good reviews from customers
- Money-back guarantee
Cons
- Pricey
- Limited evidence suggesting its effectiveness
- Won't work for everyone
Is Striction BP a Scam?
While I was a bit more disappointed than I was expecting to be after digging deeper into this supplement, there is no reason for me to call it a scam by any means.
Striction BP isn't going to work for everyone, but it is not some scammy supplement that is a load of crap, like some similar health products I've reviewed, including Blood Pressure Protocol and Vedda Blood Sugar Remedy for example.
Why It Doesn't Work for Everyone
Just like everything, people's bodies react differently to different supplements.
The main ingredient, cinnamon, has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries and there is some evidence suggesting it's effectiveness, yet some people claim it doesn't do a thing for them.
Even the best prescription drugs don't work for everyone.
To make it even more complicated, often times the cause of high blood pressure isn't known.
Conclusion - Worth a Try or Not?
In my opinion Striction BP could very well be worth the try, especially if you want to avoid synthetic medications and take the natural route.
Just don't expect it to be a guaranteed success like some of the marketing pitches lead you to believe it will be.
Again, if interested here is the discount offer I mentioned earlier.
I hope it works for you and I hope you found this review helpful. Please leave any comments or questions below and let me know what you think of Striction BP 🙂
Been using this stuff for over a week, and nothing is happening. I suspect just another scam.
I tried StrictionBP for one day and I experienced Diahrrea all night long. I tried to return it but was not given a good choice to return. 1. was told if I returned it would cost me 9.99 each for 3 bottles or I would be given 1/2 of the 88.45 cost. I chose the 1/2 of the cost. In their advertisement shown on the website it clearly stated that your money would be returned if for any reason you had it was not a problem to return all your money. They have a false advertisement on their website. I have notified the Better Business Bureau about their false advertisement.
I have been taking this and it’s working. However, I am nauseated and don’t know why. I have also taken this form of B6, P-5-P. 33 mg. and it is not really an overdose with no side effects. I believe you can take 100 of B6 without overdoing it. But the company is not honest and the web site sucks you in and you can’t verify or change your mistake. Would never deal with them again. They sent me 6 and then 3 and charged me. Eventually they gave me some money back because i questioned it with my charge company. They could have a good product but they’ve hired unscrupulous marketing co.
IVE been trying to place a order and been hung up on or disconected 4 sepersate times so some body better call me asap at 561-602-2995 so I can place a order
I was told by GNC that stiction bp was discontinued. Why was this drug discontinued.?
Purchased the 6 bottles– in lieu of taking my own (from Amazon) Ceylon Cinnamon 1200mg BID, Magnesium Oxide 500 mg BID, and B6 500mg BID. Taking my own mixture lowered my BP and stabilized it quite well.
Saw the ad for StrictionBP and was excited that someone was actually using alternatives to the medical model (i am a retired RN– and do NOT believe in big Pharm nor do I trust the FDA for obvious reasons- I’m into Natural Remedies these days. Big Pharm has made me very ill over the years.) Tried StrictionBP for 2 weeks– my BP went back UP. Dangerously UP! SCAM. Yes, I know that some people might benefit from it– but there is not enough Magnesium, Cinnamon, nor B6 in it to truly make a difference if you have dangerously high BP.
I called them– yup! They want you to pay for return shipping, Restocking at 9.95 a bottle… that takes off half of what I paid for it to begin with– $133. something. They GENEROUSLY offered to refund me 66.00 back on my card– but would not send me an e-mail to that effect. I need stuff documented. I won’t believe it till I see it– and it’s a total RIP OFF.
I’d advise anyone to get their own Ceylon (must be Ceylon Cinnamon), Magnesium CHELATE (not MALATE), and B6 (natural)– and take it in doses that agree with them slowly increase dosage over a month to see excellent results in high Blood Pressure.
STRICTION BP is a SCAM. Take care everyone– my best to all reading this.
Ibeen taking Strictio BP for 3 weeks an I lost weight is this normal