Lower Blood Pressure Naturally

A major study reviewed the diets of over 36,000 women for 7 years and they discovered an apparent correlation between a diet designed to lower blood pressure and heart failure.

The women in the study were between 48 and 83 years old and at the beginning of the study did not have a history of heart failure, diabetes mellitus or myocardial infarction. Using food-frequency questionnaires, the researchers compared participant’s diets to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet guidelines. After adjusting for variables such as age and socioeconomic background, they discovered that the women whose diet most closely resembled the DASH diet had a significantly lower risk of heart failure.

When they compared the quarter of women whose diets were the furthest from the DASH guidelines, to the quarter whose diets were the closest to the DASH diet, they found that the 25% of women whose diets most resembled the DASH guidelines saw a 37% reduction in their risk of heart failure. Upon further analysis, the researchers found that the 10% of women whose diet was most like the DASH diet saw a full 50% decrease in their risk of heart failure.
» More: DASH Diet Lowers Blood Pressure Naturally and Reduces Women’s Risk of Heart Failure

A common virus, usually devoid of symptoms, may play a role in hypertension according to a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS Pathogens.

The Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection infects between 50% and 80% of US adults by the time they are 40 years old and can cause serious illnesses, primarily in infants, although most people who have it never show any symptoms. However, researchers have found evidence that CMV causes an increase in rennin and angiotensin II, and when combined with a high cholesterol diet causes atherosclerotic plaque formation, which are all known to increase blood pressure.

“Increased expression of both renin and angiotensin II are important factors in hypertension in humans,” Dr. Crumpacker, one of the lead researchers. “What our study seems to indicate is that a persistent viral infection in the vessels’ endothelial cells is leading to increased expression of inflammatory cytokines, renin and angiotensin II, which are leading to increased blood pressure.”

The research indicates that antivirus treatments may be helpful in treating hypertension, although more research is needed.
» More: Common Virus Tied to High Blood Pressure

New research suggests that drinking at least three cups of either black or green tea made from the Camellia sinensis plant may significantly reduce the risk of ischemic stroke. Individuals with high blood pressure are prime candidates for ischemic stroke.

Researchers at UCLA conducted a meta-analysis in which they reviewed nine published studies involving almost 195,000 participants. The data indicated that there was a statistically significant decrease of 21% in stroke risk when participants drank three cups daily of black or green tea, and if the participant drank yet another 3 cups their risk of ischemic stroke decreased yet another 21%. A randomized clinical trial is the next step to confirming their findings.

While the exact reason for this relationship is unknown, researchers hypothesize that antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate or the amino acid theanine may be responsible for the decrease in risk. Theanine is a remarkable amino acid that may block the glutamate receptor in the brain, and since glutamate is known to be associated with stroke, this action could be contributing to the observed decrease in stroke risk.
» More: Green and Black Tea May Reduce Stroke Risk

Research indicates that calcium, the most abundant mineral in the human body, may play a crucial role in blood vessel dilatation and constriction. There is evidence which suggests calcium may inhibit the sympathetic nervous system and may improve the vascular smooth muscle membrane in cells, thereby possibly leading to lower blood pressure.

According a medical review published in the journal Hypertension, “More than 80 studies have reported lowered blood pressure after dietary calcium enrichment in experimental models of hypertension” (see http://hyper.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/23/4/513). The drop in blood pressure due to calcium varies significantly, with studies reporting blood pressure reductions of not even one full point to as much as 9% systolic, with calcium yeast leading to an almost 6 point diastolic drop.
» More: Calcium May Help Lower Blood Pressure Naturally

Obesity prone rats fed a low-fat diet high in blueberry enriched powder for 90 days were found to have less abdominal fat, lower triglycerides, lower cholesterol, lower body weight, lower total fat mass and improved insulin sensitivity when compared to similar rats receiving no blueberry powder. It is hypothesized that the high level of phytochemicals, a natural antioxidant, found in blueberries may be responsible for the health benefits. Similar antioxidants are also in pomegranates which have been shown to lower blood pressure naturally.
» More: Phytochemicals in Blueberries May Fight Cardiovascular Disease

Dairy intake has been shown to have an inverse relationship with hypertension and several studies show that fermented or sour milk may effectively lower blood pressure in humans.

There is a remarkable amount of support for dietary dairy intake to reduce your chances of becoming hypertensive, although there is little evidence that increasing your milk consumption will lower blood pressure. For instance,

• The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (over 10,000 participants) found that low milk consumption was associated a increased incidence of high blood pressure
• In middle-aged Puerto Rican men who drink no milk, hypertension rates were twice as high as in men who drank at least 1 liter per day.
• Lower milk consumption was shown to be a trend in American and Italian hypertensives
• Milk consumption has been tied to a lower rate of thrombotic stroke in men
• Dairy calcium has been associated with lower stroke risk than other forms of calcium in women

Fermented milk has been shown to lower blood pressure in hypertensive rats in at least 5 studies. In human subjects, there are a minimum of 9 studies that show that fermented milk lowers blood pressure. Two of the studies involved tablets containing tripeptides, 4 of the studies focused on milk with fermented tripeptides, and then there is one study focusing on fermented yogurt, one on fermented milk containing y-amniobutyric acid, and one on fermented milk containing whey protein. The duration of the studies varied from 4 to 21 weeks and included 17 to 94 subjects. The longest study (21 weeks) included 39 subjects and used fermented milk containing tripeptides saw an average drop in systolic blood pressure of 6.7 and 3.6 diastolic.

It is hypothesized that the primary mechanism by which fermented dairy products lower blood pressure is by acting as an ACE inhibitor. Several peptides in milk products are known to inhibit ACE, such as Ile-Prp-Pro and Val-Pro-Pro. Certain milk peptides are also known to have opioid-like characteristics.

While drinking fermented milk is not a recommended way to lower blood pressure, the DASH diet, which has proven to be quite effective in lowering blood pressure, does call for low-fat dairy products as part of a healthy diet.

For more information, please see “Milk Peptides and Blood Pressure” found in the 2007 issue of The Journal of Nutrition found at http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/137/3/825S.

A study comparing the effect of regular table grapes (in powder form) to hydrazine in salt sensitive rats was led by Michigan State University in late 2008. Over an 18 week period the rats, prone to developing hypertension, were fed a high sodium diet. It was discovered that while both groups had lowered blood pressure, the rats that received the grape powder also had better heart function, fewer signs of heart muscle damage and reduced inflammation throughout their bodies. It is hypothesized that it could be the antioxidant phytochemicals or flavonoids in the grapes causing the health benefits. A human would have to eat nine servings of about 15 grapes a day to reach the human equivalent of the rat’s diet, but it is still unknown if the observed health benefits would also occur in humans.
» More: Grapes may lower blood pressure naturally & improve cardiac health