Low-Fat Dairy Products Can Help to Reduce High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure (or hypertension) is a serious health problem of modern times. It is estimated that currently, every third person above 50 suffers from hypertension, however, only 30% of such people are actually aware about high blood pressure as a reason of their poor health. Nowadays, hypertension becomes a malady of the people at much younger age than it was a century ago. Therefore, the results of a recent study carried out by a group of British and Dutch specialists, should not slip the attention of us all.


About 2245 people over 55 took part in this continuous experiment. They were grouped according to the type of dairy products they had to consume: high-fat dairy, low-fat dairy, cheese and cheese products, milk and milk products, fermented dairy. Every 6 years, the health condition of the participants was closely monitored by the scientists. It turned out that those people who followed a low-fat dairy diet (650 g a day) and regularly consumed milk products (651 g a day) had 7% lower risks of having hypertension. At that, positive changes in blood pressure could be noticed over 2 years of regular low-fat dairy consumption.

“Dairy provides minerals such as calcium and potassium which are important for blood pressure regulation. This study is an extra building block to an increasing body of evidence which suggests that dairy proteins and minerals play an important role in maintaining a healthy blood pressure,” Dr Judith Bryans, one of the leaders of the research explains. It is important that eating a low-fat dairy on a regular basis can also assist in maintaining a healthy weight and lower the risks of having high levels of bad cholesterol. The results of the Rotterdam Study were published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, April 2009.

by : Carla
source : guide2herbalremedies