Manage High Blood Pressure With Regular Yogurt Intake

A higher intake of yogurt is associated with lower blood pressure in hypertensive individuals, according to a recent study from researchers at the University of South Australia and the University of Maine. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a serious condition that affects more than a billion people worldwide. High blood pressure is defined as a blood pressure of above 140 mm Hg (systolic) and/or 90 mm Hg (diastolic). High blood pressure puts them at a greater risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) such as heart attack and stroke. CVDs are the leading cause of death worldwide. In the United States, one person dies from CVD every 36 seconds, and in Australia, one person dies from CVD every 12 minutes.

Certain dietary interventions are known to control high blood pressure, but the connection between fermented dairy products and blood pressure is still vague. To explore this, researchers conducted a study on 915 community-dwelling adults from the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study. Regular intake of yogurt was measured using a food frequency questionnaire.

The study results showed that even small amounts of yogurt lowered blood pressure in people with high blood pressure. In people who regularly consumed yogurt, the blood pressure readings were nearly seven points lower than those who did not consume yogurt.

Fermented Dairy Products May Be Capable of Controlling Blood Pressure

Fermented dairy foods such as yogurt may help reduce blood pressure because it contains a range of micronutrients, including calcium, magnesium, and potassium. These nutrients are involved in the regulation of blood pressure.

Since it is a fermented food, it also contains bacteria that promote the release of proteins that lower blood pressure.

This study findings provide new evidence that yogurt could be the easily available snack for people with high blood pressure, which has positive outcomes for hypertensive people.

Yogurt helped people who already had high blood pressure in this study. Still it did not find evidence of an association between yogurt consumption and lowering blood pressure in people who did not have hypertension.

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Observational and intervention studies in the future should also continue to focus on at-risk individuals to examine the potential benefits of yogurt.

Other Effective Ways to Lower Blood Pressure

• Get physically active.
• Reduce salt intake.
• Lose weight.
• Eat less processed food.
• Limit alcohol intake.
• Stop smoking.
• Reduce stress.
• Cut back on sugar and caffeine.
• Eat more protein-rich foods.
• Take prescribed medicines and monitor blood pressure levels regularly.

References :

1. Long-Term Yogurt Consumption and Risk of Incident Hypertension in Adults - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6613217/)
2. Understanding Blood Pressure Readings - (https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/understanding-blood-pressure-readings)
3. High Blood Pressure Symptoms and Causes - (https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/about.htm)

Source-Medindia