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People with high blood pressure have an increased risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke. No wonder that millions of sufferers take antihypertensives in the form of medication. A recent study has now shown that regular consumption of yogurt can also lower blood pressure. However, some questions remain unanswered.
Yogurt is known to be one of the healthiest dairy products when it does not contain added sugar. Due to its lactic bacteria, it not only promotes digestion, but can also contribute to a healthy immune system. At least in theory, because in practice, commercial yogurt often does not contain enough bacteria to have a positive effect on the intestinal flora. Apart from this, an Australian study has now shown a completely different positive effect: according to scientists at the University of South Australia, frequent consumption of yogurt can help reduce high blood pressure.
High blood pressure greatest risk factor for cardiovascular disease
In collaboration with the U.S. University of Maine, Australian scientists studied how yogurt consumption affects blood pressure. That’s because, according to the study authors, high blood pressure affects more than one billion people worldwide, putting them at increased risk for cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes. Globally, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death. As a result, millions of high blood pressure patients take so-called antihypertensive drugs – medications that are supposed to regulate blood pressure and thus protect against a possible heart attack or stroke in the long term.
“High blood pressure is the biggest risk factor for cardiovascular disease, so it’s important that we find ways to lower and regulate it,” says study author Dr. Alexandra Wade of the University of South Australia.
In the study, scientists evaluated data from 915 subjects recruited as part of the U.S. “Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study” between 2001 and 2006. A questionnaire was used to ask the participants about their eating habits. In the questionnaire, they had to indicate how often they ate a particular food:
Never
rarely
once a week
two to four times a week
five to six times a week
daily
After analyzing the data, the researchers found that 28.7 percent of respondents never ate yogurt, 41.9 percent ate it about once a week, and 29.4 percent ate it twice or more. Of particular interest, study participants who consumed more yogurt were younger, better educated and predominantly female. All measured blood pressure levels were lower in this group than in the groups that ate less or no yogurt.
How do researchers explain the results?
But why does yogurt, of all things, have a positive effect on high blood pressure? “It’s because dairy products contain a number of micronutrients, including calcium, magnesium and potassium, all of which are involved in regulating blood pressure,” explains Alexandra Wade, PhD. In addition, yogurt is particularly interesting because it also contains bacteria that promote the release of proteins that lower blood pressure, she adds.
According to Dr. Wade, even small amounts of yogurt are enough to produce a lowering effect in hypertension patients. “And in those who consumed yogurt regularly, the results were even better, with blood pressure levels almost seven points lower compared to those who did not consume yogurt,” the researcher explains. However, no lowering effect was observed in participants who had normal blood pressure anyway. The responsible researchers point out that further observational and intervention studies are needed to investigate the benefits of yogurt on hypertension.
Is it really just the yogurt?
The study results make one wonder. Although a positive effect is only attributed to yogurt, other factors could play a role in lowering blood pressure levels. Because as the analysis of the data showed, participants with high yogurt consumption had better cholesterol values. Their body mass index (BMI) was lower, they consumed more energy, exercised more, drank alcohol less often and smoked less than participants who ate little to no yogurt.
All of these values suggest that people who eat a lot of yogurt generally lead healthier and more active lifestyles. Thus, it could be the mix of many factors – such as a healthy diet, plenty of exercise, not smoking and low alcohol consumption – that helps lower high blood pressure.
In addition, the study says little about which type of yogurt has a healthy effect. No distinction was made between sugary fruit yogurt, low-fat yogurt or high-fat yogurt. The health-promoting bacteria count in commercial yogurt also varies extremely. Many highly processed products contain relatively few bacteria, as mentioned earlier. However, the effect on health may depend greatly on these factors. So some questions remain and further research based on these positive study results is needed.
Sources
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1 Wade, A.T., Guenther, B.A., Ahmed, F.S. et al. (2021). Higher yogurt intake is associated with lower blood pressure in hypertensive individuals: cross-sectional findings from the MaineeSyracuse longitudinal study. International Dairy Journal.
University of South Australia: A daily dose of yogurt could be the go-to food to manage high blood pressure. (accessed 08.12.2021)
picture: Image by Bernadette Wurzinger from Pixabay
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