High Blood Pressure Related to Diet with Fruits and Vegetables

December 18th 2005

Dr. Lyn M. Steffen

According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition people that consume more fruits and vegetables and less meat reduce their risk of high or elevated blood pressure. This has been suspected to be the case, but based on this dietary assessments conducted for 15 years, it appears to be true.

An elevated or high blood pressure is defined as a systolic (upper number) pressure over 140 (and / or 85 diastolic). This study defined it as over 130. They compared 4,300 subjects between the ages of 18 and 30. They were roughly equal numbers of black and white men and women.

They found that individuals that ate more plant food reduced the risk of high blood pressure. They divided the subjects into five groups or quintiles. Relative to the lowest quintile of intake, the second through fifth quintiles of intake cut their risk from 27% to 36% respectively.

The lead author was Dr. Lyn M. Steffen from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. She also found that the opposite was true. The more meat a person consumed the more likely they would develop high blood pressure.

This boosts the clout of the Dash Diet. This diet was specifically designed to lower blood pressure. It includes several servings of both fruits and vegetables a day. According to the DashForHealth website “It is rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods and reduced in red meat, fats, and sweets.”

High blood pressure can also be related to high cholesterol. The journal of Hypertension reported this in one of the first studies to demonstrate that one condition may cause the other. Researchers are not sure which causes which, or if they develop at the same time. Usually if you have high cholesterol your doctor will recommend you stay away from red meat and greasy foods. This falls right in line with this recent blood pressure study.