Hi, RArmant,
Pomegranate juice, Google it in sci.life-extension for
evidence from peer reviewed journals showing it to be as good as the
prescribed drugs at BP reduction and ACE Inhibition, and AFAIK the best
treatment known to man for reducing atherosclerosis, the biggest killer
known to man.  (If a small intervention trial I posted is verified)
I will also to take this opportunity to clarify my remarks as
they were I think not very well written. Drugs that reduce blood
pressure do not in general extend life span in hypertensives at hi risk
for heart attacks. This signifies to me that hi blood pressure is not
the killer its made out to be, perhaps within reasonable limits not a
killer at all. In fact Ive posted studies showing high BP is related
to slower brain aging and extended life span in studies done on elderly
people. Some BP drugs do give a modest 10% reduction in mortality.
Logically it would seem this is due to effects other than reduction in
BP.
ACEi are not a good stand alone treatment for BP in general.
One of their protective mechanisms seems to be that they inhance the
bodies natural antioxidative defenses. This effect may not be strong
enough to give protection to heart disease patients who are already
well down the road to heart failure. For those who are more healthy,
and especially older ones, who suffer more from oxidative stress they
may well be the best when given long term. See the paper I post below
which indicates so. Note that this study ran for four years which is
one of the longer ones. Even if not true, ACEi are well known to be
life extending when given with other BP drugs. These facts indicate
that ACEi are beneficial to people with hi BP and at hi risk for heart
attacks,  are probably beneficial to normaly healthy people,  and may
be an authentic anti aging intervention.
For normal healthy people natural health products long
recognized as safe which inhibit the ACE would seem to be indicated.
They are among others. Sour milk, bonito, tea, salt, grape seed/skin
extract, and pomegranate juice which is by far the strongest and best
researched in this respect.  There is some evidence that each of these
substances is life extending.

N Engl J Med. 2003 Feb 13;348(7):583-92. Related Articles, Links
Comment in:
ACP J Club. 2003 Sep-Oct;139(2):38.
Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2003 May;4(5):825-8.
J Fam Pract. 2003 Jun;52(6):436-8.
N Engl J Med. 2003 Feb 13;348(7):639-41.
N Engl J Med. 2003 Jul 3;349(1):90-3; author reply 90-3.
N Engl J Med. 2003 Jul 3;349(1):90-3; author reply 90-3.
N Engl J Med. 2003 Jul 3;349(1):90-3; author reply 90-3.
N Engl J Med. 2003 Jul 3;349(1):90-3; author reply 90-3.
N Engl J Med. 2003 Jul 3;349(1):90-3; author reply 90-3.
A comparison of outcomes with angiotensin-converting--enzyme
inhibitors and diuretics for hypertension in the elderly.
Wing LM, Reid CM, Ryan P, Beilin LJ, Brown MA, Jennings GL, Johnston
CI, McNeil JJ, Macdonald GJ, Marley JE, Morgan TO, West MJ; Second
Australian National Blood Pressure Study Group.
School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.
BACKGROUND: Treatment of hypertension with diuretics,
beta-blockers, or both leads to improved outcomes. It has been
postulated that agents that inhibit the renin-angiotensin system confer
benefit beyond the reduction of blood pressure alone. We compared the
outcomes in older subjects with hypertension who were treated with
angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors with the outcomes in
those treated with diuretic agents. METHODS: We conducted a
prospective, randomized, open-label study with blinded assessment of
end points in 6083 subjects with hypertension who were 65 to 84 years
of age and received health care at 1594 family practices. Subjects were
followed for a median of 4.1 years, and the total numbers of
cardiovascular events in the two treatment groups were compared with
the use of multivariate proportional-hazards models. RESULTS: At base
line, the treatment groups were well matched in terms of age, sex, and
blood pressure. By the end of the study, blood pressure had decreased
to a similar extent in both groups (a decrease of 26/12 mm Hg). There
were 695 cardiovascular events or deaths from any cause in the
ACE-inhibitor group (56.1 per 1000 patient-years) and 736
cardiovascular events or deaths from any cause in the diuretic group
(59.8 per 1000 patient-years; the hazard ratio for a cardiovascular
event or death with ACE-inhibitor treatment was 0.89 [95 percent
confidence interval, 0.79 to 1.00]; P=0.05). Among male subjects, the
hazard ratio was 0.83 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.71 to 0.97;
P=0.02); among female subjects, the hazard ratio was 1.00 (95 percent
confidence interval, 0.83 to 1.21; P=0.98); the P value for the
interaction between sex and treatment-group assignment was 0.15. The
rates of nonfatal cardiovascular events and myocardial infarctions
decreased with ACE-inhibitor treatment, whereas a similar number of
strokes occurred in each group (although there were more fatal strokes
in the ACE-inhibitor group). CONCLUSIONS: Initiation of
antihypertensive treatment involving ACE inhibitors in older subjects,
particularly men, appears to lead to better outcomes than treatment
with diuretic agents, despite similar reductions of blood pressure.
Copyright 2003 Massachusetts Medical SocietyPMID: 12584366