expensive blood pressure It’s a potentially fatal condition thought to affect one in three UK adults – although many may not be aware they have it – and it means your heart has to work harder than normal to pump blood around your body.
This puts extra pressure on the heart, blood vessels, and other organs.
If left untreated, high blood pressure can lead to serious consequences and medical emergencies, including: stroke and heart attack.
Like many other diseases, hypertension is caused by many lifestyle factors, but it can also be genetic and age-related.
diet Excessive salt intake is one of the main causes of high blood pressure and is one of these contributing factors.
Luckily, research shows that diet can also help lower blood pressure.
And one study suggests that drinking a cup of a certain red drink a day could do just that.
Scientists at Queen Mary, University of London have found that drinking beet juice daily can have a significant effect on blood pressure.
More specifically, one 250ml glass of beetroot juice was found to reduce blood pressure by an average of about 8/4mmHg.
This study High blood pressure This meant that many of the study participants’ blood pressure levels returned to a safe range, according to the journal.
This is especially important, as every 2mmHg increase in blood pressure is thought to increase the chance of death from heart disease by 7% and death from stroke by 10%.
The researchers say that beetroot’s blood pressure lowering effect is due to the plant’s high levels of dietary nitrates.
Other foods high in nitrates include spinach, rhubarb, celery, lettuce and watercress.
Lead researcher Professor Amrita Ahluwalia said: University Release“Heart and vascular diseases, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes, remain the leading cause of death worldwide.
“But unlike other serious illnesses, we are fortunate to have the ability to dramatically improve our heart and vascular health through lifestyle changes.
“This study proves that daily intake of inorganic nitrates is as effective as medical intervention in lowering blood pressure. And the best part is, you can get it from beetroot and other green leafy vegetables.”
Dr Shannon Amoyles, senior research adviser at the British Heart Foundation, which funded the research, added: “This exciting study builds on previous work by this team and finds that drinking a glass of beetroot juice every day can help lower blood pressure in people with high blood pressure, even those whose hypertension has not been controlled with drug treatment.”
“The possibility of using a natural product, rather than another pill, to lower blood pressure is very appealing.
“However, this study was small and the next step is to see whether the results can be replicated in a larger group of people with high blood pressure and over a longer period of time.”
Another study The forefront of nutrition In 2022, an analysis of seven existing studies concluded that nitrates in beetroot juice reduce systolic blood pressure in patients with arterial hypertension, but not diastolic blood pressure.
This meta-analysis found that consuming the juice daily for 60 days produced the best results.
