Yogurt May Protect Women from Developing High Blood Pressure
04 May 2016 --- Women who ate five or more servings of yogurt per week had a lower risk of developing high blood pressure compared to those who rarely ate yogurt, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology/Lifestyle 2016 Scientific Sessions.
“I believe that this is the largest study of its kind to date to evaluate the specific effects of yogurt on blood pressure,” he said.
During 18 to 30 years of follow-up, researchers documented 74,609 new cases of high blood pressure in the three study groups. After adjusting for other risk factors and diet, they found:
Women from the two NHS groups who ate five or more servings of yogurt per week (compared with those consuming one serving per month) had about a 20 percent reduction in the risk of developing high blood pressure, which was statistically significant.
The benefit of eating five or more servings of yogurt on the risk of high blood pressure was strongest among those with the highest DASH scores – that is, those who ate more fruits, vegetables, nuts and beans, other low-fat dairy and whole grains. In the pooled analysis, men and women who had a higher DASH score and who consumed yogurt five or more times per week had a 31 percent lower risk of developing high blood pressure compared with those who had the lowest yogurt intakes (one time per week) and the lowest DASH scores, Buendia said.
Additionally, researchers noted that several servings of milk and cheese each day also had beneficial effects on blood pressure “although the effects of yogurt seemed stronger than other forms of dairy,” Buendia added.
“Our study shows that daily intake of dairy products, particularly yogurt, lowers the risk for developing high blood pressure, which is a key risk factor for the development of heart disease and stroke,” he said.
Researchers had no information on the types of yogurt participants had eaten. “It would be interesting to see if popular yogurt types, such as Greek yogurt, had different effects than regular yogurt,” Buendia noted.
In the future, researchers hope to analyze yogurt intake among different subgroups such as African Americans, who are at higher risk for high blood pressure, he said.
This study was funded by the National Dairy Council.
This feature is provided by Nutrition Insight’s sister website, Food Ingredients First.
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