Cardiac arrhythmia is a term that denotes a disturbance of the heart rhythm. Cardiac arrhythmias can range in severity from entirely benign to immediately life threatening. If arrhythmia is suspected, a cardiologist should be consulted for confirmation. In addition, the use of natural substances for arrhythmias should always be supervised by a doctor.

Allergic reactions to foods and environmental chemicals have been reported to trigger arrhythmias.³ Consultation with a physician may help to pinpoint these sensitivities.

Three cases have been reported in which ventricular premature beats disappeared after supplementation with copper (4 mg per day in the two cases in which the amount was reported).⁸ In one of these individuals, supplementing with zinc had made the arrhythmia worse, confirming previous observations that excessive zinc intake can lead to copper deficiency.⁹

Gross deficiency of dietary selenium can cause many heart problems, including arrhythmias. Based on this finding, one author has theorized that correction of low selenium status may improve many arrhythmias, even in the absence of overt deficiency symptoms.¹⁰ This hypothesis is supported by the fact that experimental arrhythmias can be induced in laboratory animals by feeding them a low-selenium diet.¹¹

A case of long-standing sick-sinus syndrome (another type of arrhythmia) was reported to resolve upon supplementation with 800 IU per day of vitamin D prescribed for an unrelated condition. However, it was not clear from that report whether the improvement was due to the vitamin D.¹²

Patients taking hydrochlorothiazide for high blood pressure had a significant reduction in arrhythmias when supplemented with 1 gram twice per day of potassium hydrochloride. Those results were not improved by adding 500 mg twice per day of magnesium hydroxide to the potassium.¹³ Low serum concentrations of potassium were found to be associated with a higher incidence of arrhythmia in a large population study.¹⁴

Herbs that may be helpful: An animal study showed that an extract of hawthorn significantly reduced the number of experimentally induced arrhythmias.¹⁵ Although the use of hawthorn for arrhythmias in humans has not been studied scientifically, it has been used traditionally for this purpose.¹⁶

Checklist for Cardiac Arrhythmia

Information about the effects of a particular supplement or herb on a particular condition has been qualified in terms of the methodology or source of supporting data (for example: clinical, double blind, meta-analysis, or traditional use). For the convenience of the reader, the information in the table listing the supplements for particular conditions is also categorized. The criteria for the categorizations are: "Primary" indicates there are reliable and relatively consistent scientific data showing a health benefit. "Secondary" indicates there are conflicting, insufficient, or only preliminary studies suggesting a health benefit or that the health benefit is minimal. "Other" indicates that an herb is primarily supported by traditional use or that the herb or supplement has little scientific support and/or minimal proven health benefit.

1. Donnerstein RL, Zhu D, Samson R, et al. Acute effects of caffeine ingestion on signal-averaged electrocardiograms. Am Heart J 1998;136:643–6.

2. Dobmeyer DJ, Stine RA, Leier CV, et al. The arrhythmogenic effects of caffeine in human beings. N Engl J Med 1983;308:814–6.

3. Rea WJ. Environmentally triggered cardiac disease. Ann Allergy 1978;40:243–51.

4. Bashir Y, Sneddon JF, Staunton A, et al. Effects of long-term oral magnesium chloride replacement in congestive heart failure secondary to coronary artery disease. Am J Cardiol 1993;72:1156–62.

5. Tsuji H, Venditti FJ, Evans JC, et al. The associations of levels of serum potassium and magnesium with ventricular premature complexes (the Framingham Heart Study). Am J Cardiol 1994;74:232–5.

7. Hardarson T, Kristinsson A, Skuladottir G, et al. Cod liver oil does not reduce ventricular extrasystoles after myocardial infarction. J Intern Med 1989;236:33–7.

8. Spencer JC. Direct relationship between the body’s copper/zinc ratio, ventricular premature beats and sudden cardiac death. Am J Clin Nutr 1979;32:1184–5 [letter].

9. Porter KG, McMaster D, Elmes ME, Love AHG. Anaemia and low serum-copper during zinc therapy. Lancet 1977;2:774 [letter].

10. Lehr D. A possible beneficial effect of selenium administration in antiarrhythmic therapy. J Am Coll Nutr 1994;13:496–8.

11. Godwin KO. Abnormal electrocardiograms in rat fed a low selenium diet. Q J Exp Physiol 1965;50:282.

12. Kessel L. Sick sinus syndrome cured by...vitamin D? Geriatrics 1990;45(8):83–5.

13. Lumme JAJ, Jounela AJ. The effect of potassium and potassium plus magnesium supplementation on ventricular extrasystoles in mild hypertensives treated with hydrochlorothiazide. Int J Cardiol 1989;25:93–8.

14. Tsuji H, Venditti FJ, Evans JC, et al. The associations of levels of serum potassium and magnesium with ventricular premature complexes (the Framingham Heart Study). Am J Cardiol 1994;74:232–5.

15. Al Makdessi S, Sweidan H, Dietz K, Jacob R. Protective effect of Crataegus oxycantha against reperfusion arrhythmias after global no-flow ischemia in the rat heart. Basic Res Cardiol 1999;94:71–7.

16. Ellingwood F. American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy. Eclectic, Sandy, OR. 1919, 217–20.