"blood pressure" news and stories

Last month, MSN Health and Fitness put together a list of 10 ways to painlessly upgrade your diet so that you help yourself out health-wise while eating well. To me, their tastiest and easiest tip was to switch out your typical white button mushrooms in your cooking and replace them with shiitake and maitake mushrooms. Research is beginning to show that these Japanese 'shrooms are full of antioxidants and contain selenium, which, according to Dr. Donald Abrams, director of clinical programs at UCSF's Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, "lowers cholesterol and blood pressure, helps with anti-tumor activity, and possibly encourages better prostate health." Their more common cousins, including our button, crimini and portobello mushrooms, don't have the same benefits.

So next time you're looking to make a soup or stew, reach for the shiitake or maitake mushrooms at the grocery store and eat for your heart health.

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A study done by the USDA has shown that increasing the amount of whole grains in your diet can have multiple health benefits, including lowering the blood pressure of individuals who have slightly elevated cholesterol. The participants went on a controlled diet for a few weeks, then the refined carbohydrates they ate were all replaced with whole grains that had both soluble and insoluble fiber (barley, whole wheat and brown rice). Some diets had an equal amount of the two types of fiber, while others had more insoluble fiber. The blood pressure for all the study participants decreased on the whole grain diets, though women did better on the diet higher in soluble fiber (more barley).

One other interesting result of the study was that once whole grains were added to the diets from the controlled baseline diet, the number of calories that study participants also increased. Even so, they lost an average of 1 kg each (2.2 lbs) during the several-week program.

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A new study from the University of Negev in Israel suggests that tomato extract may help lower blood pressure. An extract called Lyc-O-Mato, made by Israel-based LycoRed, was used in a study tracking the blood pressure of 31 volunteers, ages 30 to 70. Researchers observed drops in blood pressure from the ranges that categorize grade-1 hypertension to less severe ranges known as high to moderate. The study lasted only 16 weeks and researchers say that longer investigations are necessary to determine any long-term benefits. Researchers suggested that the positive effects of the tomato extract are likely due to high concentrations of the antioxidant lycopene as well as beta-carotene and vitamin E.

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