This week, I examined a few newly diagnosed hypertension patients, who expressed frustration at the conflicting information on the net, specifically with diets that should be followed – whats good for you, what prevents high blood pressure, etc.
The problem with browsing the net is that many opinions are published without scientific proof. I always advise my patients to first check if the article is talking about anecdotal evidence, or scientific evidence.
When it comes to food products and hypertension, we can see a few published articles that can give us some direction. This will also guide you on how to recognise quality articles.
A recent article showed that the use of Whey protein for 8 weeks lowered ambulatory blood pressure and other risk factors for cardio-vascular disease (Whey protein decreases blood pressure). Another article investigated the effects of daily dairy consumption in Chinese adults (Dairy food intake decreases the risk of hypertension)- over 37 000 adults where investigated over many years, and the authors concluded that the amount of dairy consumed had an inverse relationship with the risk of high blood pressure. The final food related article I have investigated a group of Taiwanese adults, and found that vegetarians had a 34% reduced risk of developing hypertension when compared to non-vegetarians (Vegetarian diet reduces the risk of hypertension).
I want to conclude the article review with a mention of exercise on blood pressure. GA Kelly evaluated over 700 adult woman and found that aerobic exercise reduced systolic and diastolic resting blood pressures (Aerobic exercise and blood pressure) – it reminds me of 2 of my previous posts – Dancing your high blood pressure away, and Tai Chi – its effects on blood pressure, weight and quality of life.
That’s all for now. Please feel free to comment or share this if you feel that it may benefit others.
Dr Essack Mitha
Newtown Medical Research Blog 