February 26, 2014

How To Lower Your Blood Pressure: Scientists Advise Going Vegetarian

From HuffPost Lifestyle

How To Lower Your Blood Pressure: Scientists Advise Going Vegetarian
The Huffington Post UK  |  Posted: 25/02/2014

Vegetarians tend to have lower blood pressure, but with medical opinion split over why that may be, a Japanese research team undertook a study to find out why.

They found that giving up meat can lead to falls in blood pressure similar to losing 5kg in weight or going on a low-sodium diet.

"The diet achieves around half the drop expected from prescription drugs," reported the Mail Online.

The researchers looked at the findings of seven clinical trials - which included 311 participants - and 32 observational studies (looking at 21,604 participants).

A vegetarian diet was defined as excluding or rarely including meat, but including dairy products, eggs and fish.

Medical News Today reported: "The researchers measured the difference in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) - the unit blood pressure is measured in - between participants who followed a vegetarian diet and participants who followed an omnivorous diet. In terms of systolic blood pressure (the pressure in the arteries when the heart beats), the researchers found that the blood pressure of vegetarians was 4.8 mm Hg lower overall than omnivores in clinical trials and 6.9 mm Hg lower in observational studies.

"In terms of diastolic blood pressure (the pressure in the arteries between heartbeats), the researchers found that the blood pressure of those following a vegetarian diet overall was 2.2 mm Hg lower in clinical trials and 4.7 mm Hg lower in observational studies."

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