Sour milk

Dairy intake has been shown to have an inverse relationship with hypertension and several studies show that fermented or sour milk may effectively lower blood pressure in humans.
Fermented milk has been shown to lower blood pressure in hypertensive rats in at least 5 studies. In human subjects, there are a minimum of 9 studies that show that fermented milk and lower blood pressure are related. It is hypothesized that the primary mechanism by which fermented dairy products lower blood pressure is by acting as an ACE inhibitor.
While drinking fermented milk is not a recommended way to lower blood pressure, the DASH diet, which has proven to be quite effective in lowering blood pressure, does call for low-fat dairy products as part of a healthy diet. Read more…

Eggs

Canadian researchers reported in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that they have been able to identify peptides that act like ACE inhibitors in boiled and even more so in fried eggs. Further research is needed to determine if these proteins really do lower blood pressure in people.
Eggs got a bad name for the high concentration of cholesterol in the yolk about 40 years ago; however, there is evidence suggesting that healthy individuals can eat one to two eggs on a regular basis without being concerned. It actually appears that saturated fats and trans fats have more impact on blood cholesterol than dietary cholesterol (eggs). Read more…

Laughing

Researchers are now finding scientific evidence that laughing is not only good for us psychologically, but may play a major role in blood pressure and cardiovascular health.
One study revealed that those with a history of heart disease were 40% less likely to laugh than those without the disease, and another study showed that laughing may help keep the endothelium healthy which should theoretically improve one’s defense against heart disease and high blood pressure. Read more…

Noise

Living near an airport or busy street may not just be unpleasant, but unhealthy as well. Hypertension and a rise in blood pressure may be tied to noise, according to studies published in the European Heart Journal as well as the Environmental Health Perspectives Journal.
Researchers in both studies found that there was a direct correlation between noise and rise in blood pressure. In the case of airplane noise (at about 35 decibels), a 6.2 mmHg increase in systolic blood pressure and a 7.4 mmHg increase in diastolic pressure were recorded (a refrigerator hum is only about 40 decibels loud!). The researchers also found that the noise source did not seem to matter, as similar responses were found when the noise came from a snoring partner or road noise. Read more…

Happy marriage

If you are looking for a way to have naturally lower blood pressure, then being “married happily ever after” may be the answer! New research by Brigham Young University indicates that happily married couples have lower blood pressure than single adults.
The study results revealed that happily married couple’s blood pressure was lower by an average of 4 points when compared to the single adults, even when those adults has a supportive network of friends. Unhappily married couples had the highest blood pressure of the three study groups. Read more…