The Effect of Cucumber Juice on Lowering Blood Pressure Among Hypertensive Patients: Literature Review

Abstract

Hypertension is a common disease in Indonesia and can affect all social, economic, and age groups. Hypertension patients whose blood pressure is consistently elevated will live dependent on drugs and regularly visit doctors for examinations and prescriptions. Cucumber has hypotensive properties because the water and potassium content in cucumber attracts sodium to the intracellular system and works by opening blood vessels (vasodilation), thereby lowering the blood pressure. This study aims to analyze the effect of giving cucumber juice on reducing blood pressure in patients with hypertension. This research is based on the literature review method. Articles were collected through an electronic database and Google Scholar, Garuda Portal, the National Library of the Republic of Indonesia, Academia.edu, and ResearchGate using the keywords: hypertension, blood pressure, cucumber juice. The results showed that the analysis of several studies conducted related to the administration of cucumber juice, namely five journals, concluded that it could reduce blood pressure in the intervention group, and also experienced a decrease in the control group. The control group experienced a less than maximal decrease in blood pressure. Frthe results of the study also showed that giving cucumber juice that was not according to the dose did not have an effect in reducing blood pressure. The results of the examination carried out in the intervention and control groups turned out to have differences in reducing blood pressure, even though the measurement results did not show the maximum value. But in general, measurements made in the intervention group were shown to decrease blood pressure.
 Keywords: cucumber, blood pressure, hypertension