Plant-based foods may be good for hypertension and heart health.
High blood pressure is associated with hypertension. This health issue is increasingly becoming a cause of concern as many people across the globe are grappling with hypertension. Apart from medications, a good diet may greatly help in dealing with it. A recent study suggests that consuming plant-based foods could prove to be really helpful in lowering blood pressure level. You can consume plant-based foods even with a limited amount of animal-based foods like meats and dairy. You don’t have to completely omit animal-based foods from your diet.
The study was carried out by a team from Warwick Medical School. The researchers claim that increasing plant-based foods in your diet even with the combination of meats in small quantities can be beneficial in regulating blood pressure and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases like heart attack and heart stroke. The findings were published in the Journal of Hypertension.
The researchers studied previous research from controlled clinical trials to compare seven plant-based diets, several of which included animal products in small amounts, to a standardised control diet, to evaluate their effect on individuals’ blood pressure.
Lead author Joshua Gibbs, a student in the University of Warwick School of Life Sciences, said: “We reviewed 41 studies involving 8,416 participants, in which the effects of seven different plant-based diets (including DASH, Mediterranean, Vegetarian, Vegan, Nordic, high fibre and high fruit and vegetables) on blood pressure were studied in controlled clinical trials. A systematic review and meta-analysis of these studies showed that most of these diets lowered blood pressure. The DASH diet had the largest effect reducing blood pressure compared to a control diet, and ‘usual’ diet.”
“This is a significant finding as it highlights that complete eradication of animal products is not necessary to produce reductions and improvements in blood pressure. Essentially, any shift towards a plant-based diet is a good one,” Joshua Gibbs added.