High Blood
Pressure and Hypertension – Drinking low-fat Milk may help Lower Blood
Pressure
June 27th, 2006
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Researchers from
Harvard Medical School in Boston found that people who eat low-fat dairy
along with a low-fat diet had lowered their blood pressure more than if
they didn’t drink milk. The study was first reported in the July issue
of Hypertension which is published by the American Heart Association.
The systolic blood
pressure reading, which is the top number, was lower when the people
would eat low-fat dairy products. The higher the systolic number the
higher the risk for a person having heart disease.
The study
consisted of collecting and analyzing data from 4,797 participants that
answered a food questionnaire. These participants are part of the
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Family Heart Study.
The participants
who reported eating more than 3 servings of dairy each day had a
systolic blood pressure that was on average 2.6 points lower compared to
participants who answered that they eat less than half of serving of
dairy a day.
When the
researchers narrowed down the participants that had an overall low-fat
diet had the largest improvement in lowering their blood pressure. The
low-fat diet along with the low-fat dairy had lowered their systolic
blood pressure on average 3.5 compared to those that ate the least
amount of dairy each day.
The researchers
also calculated other high blood pressure factors such as age, diabetes,
body mass index, and heart disease. There was a 36 percent lower chance
for high blood pressure when including these factors of people that ate
the most dairy products every day.
The researchers do
not believe it is the calcium alone that is helping in lowering the
blood pressure. They suspect that the potassium and magnesium also may
play a role in helping to control blood pressure.
Another
possibility as to why the low-fat dairy eaters have lower blood pressure
is that they are eating a healthier diet all around. Possibly, the
participants that lack in eating dairy also lack elsewhere in their
diets. The researchers said that the participants that ate less dairy
also ate more butter, hot dogs, and burgers.
Nicole Wilson
Best Syndication
Books on Dieting
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