Current Events > Study: plant based diet helps lower high blood pressure

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https://thebeet.com/to-lower-high-blood-pressure-switch-to-a-plant-based-diet-new-study-shows/

If you're one of the 108 million Americans with high blood pressure, you may wonder: What does it mean, how does it happen, and how can I get rid of it? Now there is a new study that shows one way to lower blood pressure to a healthy level is to switch to a plant-based diet.

Here's what you need to know: High blood pressure is caused when the force of blood passing through the arteries is too high, and over time, it leads to elevated blood pressure that if left untreated can cause serious health problems like heart disease and stroke. Blood pressure goes up when the arteries narrow or gets blocked by calcium deposits or plaque, often caused by eating too much saturated fat in the diet. But blood pressure can also become elevated by chronic stress which causes inflammation, studies show. In medical terms, this condition is called hypertension and it can affect nearly anyone even children. in fact, almost half of all adults in the US have hypertension, according to the CDC.

Now a new report that includes reviews of two separate studies on animals has found that a plant-based diet is protective against hypertension.

A report conducted by researchers at the Medical College of Georgia and Medical College of Wisconsin. The two studies found that our gut microbiota which is the bacteria in the intestines responsible for digestive health and that controls everything from arterial hardening to immune system support plays a role in how our body responds to salt. The findings provide more evidence of the potential power of nutritional intervention to improve the gut microbiota, and consequently our long-term health. wrote Dr. David L. Mattson, chair of the MCG Department of Physiology, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Hypertension and senior author of the two studies.

To find out if a specific diet made a difference in reversing and lowering high blood pressure, researchers bred lab rats to develop hypertension and progressive kidney disease on a high-salt diet and called them Dahl salt-sensitive rats. Some of the rats were fed a milk-based protein diet while others were switched to a grain-heavy plant-based diet. Both of these diets were relatively low in salt.

When high-salt content was added back into the rats' diets, the rats who were given the plant-based diet developed significantly less high blood pressure and kidney damage than the rats on the milk-protein diet. The animal protein amplified the effects of the salt, commented Mattson in an interview.

Since the gut microbiota has been implicated in chronic diseases like hypertension, we hypothesized that dietary alterations shift the microbiota to mediate the development of salt-sensitive hypertension and renal disease," the authors Mattson, along with physiologist, Dr. Justine M. Abais-Battad, and postdoc, Dr. John Henry Dasinger, wrote, in the journal ACTA PHYSIOLOGICA and Pregnancy Hypertension: An International Journal of Women's Cardiovascular Health. They looked at the microbiomes in the rats. Sure enough, they were different, commented Dr. Abais-Battad.

When researchers transferred the gut microbiota from the animal-protein-fed rats to the plant-based rats, they saw a rise in blood pressure, kidney damage, and the number of immune cells moving into the kidneys. When they shared the microbiota from the protected plant-based rats to the animal-based, they didnt see a beneficial impact. The reason? Scientists say the beneficial microorganisms couldnt flourish when the rats were being fed an animal-based protein diet.

Considering a lot of CE Men have disclosed that they like to rely on takeout foods, prepackaged foods, and other junk thats crazy high in sodium, I hope this study doesnt fall on deaf ears.

I think I do a really good job of eating a wide variety of plant food. I try to change it up the kinds of veggies I eat not only for nutrition, but because it keeps things exciting.

During my early twenties I used to eat a lot of fast food. Im talking at least five six times a week Glad that phase is over.

Nowadays I stock my fridge with food that doesnt have 50+ weird ingredients. Never felt better.

I try. I eat olives, bananas, and cole slaw(not the kind with mayo) everyday. And I eat tomatoes and peaches during the summer. I almost never eat fast food, and rarely eat red meat.

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mustachedmystic posted...

I try. I eat olives, bananas, and cole slaw(not the kind with mayo) everyday. And I eat tomatoes and peaches during the summer. I almost never eat fast food, and rarely eat red meat.

Decided to go vegan in Dec 2017 when I was 19, never looked back

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discodancer77 posted...

Decided to go vegan in Dec 2017 when I was 19, never looked back

Thats commitment right there.

I eat mostly plants. Sometimes I will eat white meat here and there, but its more of a special occasion kind of thing.

Depends on what you're eating--a lot of plant based diets are processed and contain shit loads of sugar and salt (still vegan!)

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the more plants you eat, the less you leave room for salt and animal products (mainly meat). no surprise there

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I've made this observation before on CE, but I'll say it again. It's always funny to me that the kinds of guys who like to argue that plant based diets lack nutrition and will leave you weak and skinny tend to be the same kinds of guys who haven't thought about their own nutrition in any critical context in literally decades.

I have one in my office. 60 year old obese type-2 diabetic who literally eats white bread with butter and tinned soup or pot noodle every single day for lunch, commenting on how vegan diets will leave you in a state of malnutrition. Fucking lol.

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pinky0926 posted...

I've made this observation before on CE, but I'll say it again. It's always funny to me that the kinds of guys who like to argue that plant based diets lack nutrition and will leave you weak and skinny tend to be the same kinds of guys who haven't thought about their own nutrition in any critical context in literally decades.

I have one in my office. 60 year old obese type-2 diabetic who literally eats white bread with butter and tinned soup or pot noodle every single day for lunch, commenting on how vegan diets will leave you in a state of malnutrition. Fucking lol.

Dude, try not to come off as so judgemental. Also, being a vegetarian myself and having several vegan friends, proper diverse protein intake is a big problem for most vegans. You really have to make sure you have a varied diet, and maybe eat a lot of quinoa as it is like one of the only plants with all the necessary proteins in it.

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I have low blood pressure. Should I be eating exclusively red meat then?

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indica posted...

Dude, try not to come off as so judgemental. Also, being a vegetarian myself and having several vegan friends, proper diverse protein intake is a big problem for most vegans. You really have to make sure you have a varied diet, and maybe eat a lot of quinoa as it is like one of the only plants with all the necessary proteins in it.

If someone wants to make a widesweeping and bad faith attack on vegan diets then I will be critical about them, lol. That guy has no business talking about nutrition like he's ever actually cared about it before, he just dislikes veganism on a cultural level.

I'm not even vegan, it's just that I note that most vegans are hyper aware of what they eat.

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DocDelicious posted...

I have low blood pressure. Should I be eating exclusively red meat then?

Honestly, you might want to up your sodium intake a bit but I'm no doctor...

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i made a giant burger and i put a ton of spinach on it

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pinky0926 posted...

I've made this observation before on CE, but I'll say it again. It's always funny to me that the kinds of guys who like to argue that plant based diets lack nutrition and will leave you weak and skinny tend to be the same kinds of guys who haven't thought about their own nutrition in any critical context in literally decades.

I have one in my office. 60 year old obese type-2 diabetic who literally eats white bread with butter and tinned soup or pot noodle every single day for lunch, commenting on how vegan diets will leave you in a state of malnutrition. Fucking lol.

I will never understand people who eat canned soup (aka sodium water).

One tiny can of chicken noodle soup has nearly 2,000 milligrams of sodium. And thats just one meal. Thats terrifying.

Arcanine2009 posted...

the more plants you eat, the less you leave room for salt and animal products (mainly meat). no surprise there

Agreed

I only eat tasty things. Take that however you will.

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But I love meat D:

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Turbam posted...

But I love meat D:

Dont have to give up meat.

Just incorporate lots of yummy plants in your diet for fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc.

indica posted...

Dude, try not to come off as so judgemental. Also, being a vegetarian myself and having several vegan friends, proper diverse protein intake is a big problem for most vegans. You really have to make sure you have a varied diet, and maybe eat a lot of quinoa as it is like one of the only plants with all the necessary proteins in it.

Protein is not much of an issue these days, even strict vegetarians and vegans get 1.5x to 2x more protein than they really need. All foods, plant and animal, are nutritionally complete sources of proteins that you can live off of, with the sole exception of gelatin because it lacks tryptophan. The 56g RDA you see on food labels is made in a way to appeal to as wide of a population as possible, but in reality adults do not need that much protein. An average adult man needs a ballpark amount around 40g, and an adult woman should be around 30g roughly. However, growing kids and teens, athletes, or those with an injury need more protein because they need the nutrients to facilitate growth and repair. If you are a fully matured adult that is done growing, you don't need extra protein to grow, that is a trigger for tumors and cancers. If you are an athlete, you don't need to guzzle protein shakes, you need clean carbs to provide energy to do heavy work, get your muscles tired, and then they do repair work in your sleep.

As long as you are eating whole foods and a variety of grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, fruits and veggies, you'll have plenty of protein. Things like bananas, broccoli and spinach all have protein. They even have tiny amounts of fat.

I say this as vegan myself.

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You know something else that lowers blood pressure? The single pill I take every day so I dont have to eat what my food eats.

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Milk-based protein diet? High salt? I think there are more factors here than just a plant-based diet.

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I've been switching to meats like turkey and fish over stuff like beef and pork. Also trying to make a habit of vegetables taking up a majority of the meal.

I definitely feel better, less lethargic and bloated after cutting out a lot of red meat

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Gwynevere posted...

I definitely feel better, less lethargic and bloated after cutting out a lot of red meat

Same.

Xenozoa425 posted...

Protein is not much of an issue these days, even strict vegetarians and vegans get 1.5x to 2x more protein than they really need. All foods, plant and animal, are nutritionally complete sources of proteins that you can live off of, with the sole exception of gelatin because it lacks tryptophan. The 56g RDA you see on food labels is made in a way to appeal to as wide of a population as possible, but in reality adults do not need that much protein. An average adult man needs a ballpark amount around 40g, and an adult woman should be around 30g roughly. However, growing kids and teens, athletes, or those with an injury need more protein because they need the nutrients to facilitate growth and repair. If you are a fully matured adult that is done growing, you don't need extra protein to grow, that is a trigger for tumors and cancers. If you are an athlete, you don't need to guzzle protein shakes, you need clean carbs to provide energy to do heavy work, get your muscles tired, and then they do repair work in your sleep.

As long as you are eating whole foods and a variety of grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, fruits and veggies, you'll have plenty of protein. Things like bananas, broccoli and spinach all have protein. They even have tiny amounts of fat.

I say this as vegan myself.

I appreciate your take. Although, and maybe I'm misunderstanding you, I have to say that it isn't true that all plants are complete sources of protein on their own, like animal meat is. Only a few plants have all the essential amino acids needed to create a complete protein source, but if you mix a few together than it's really not that difficult as you said. I just know a lot of people who start out being vegan and lack the knowledge (or desire) to eat those things that provide a complete protein source on a daily basis.They may be ingesting more protein than necessary, as you mention, but they aren't getting the necessary amino acids from those proteins.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/complete-protein-for-vegans#_noHeaderPrefixedContent

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indica posted...

I appreciate your take. Although, and maybe I'm misunderstanding you, I have to say that it isn't true that all plants are complete sources of protein on their own, like animal meat is. Only a few plants have all the essential amino acids needed to create a complete protein source, but if you mix a few together than it's really not that difficult as you said. I just know a lot of people who start out being vegan and lack the knowledge (or desire) to eat those things that provide a complete protein source on a daily basis.They may be ingesting more protein than necessary, as you mention, but they aren't getting the necessary amino acids from those proteins.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/complete-protein-for-vegans#_noHeaderPrefixedContent

That is incorrect, the concept of protein combining for essential amino acids is a myth that was dismissed decades ago.

All proteins are originally made by plants, and to a lesser extent the microbes in the soil. Every day the average adult body recycles 90g of endogenous protein from the lining of our digestive system, as well as saliva, digestive enzymes, plasma and even gut microbes. Our bodies do all of the amino acid combining for us. Only about 20-30% of that 90g gets lost when it enters the colon and is excreted in feces, which translates to 18g-27g of protein. That's less than half of what the U.S. FDA recommends that we get everyday, which is 56g of protein. And every food (with the sole exception of gelatin lacking tryptophan) has a complete amino acid profile with all 8 essential amino acids, though they vary in composition. Since the body has a daily free recycling storage pool of amino acids, it will automatically reconfigure the amino acids we get from our diet to fit our unique physiological needs as individuals. Doesn't matter if you eat 1000 kcal of steak, broccoli, cheese, walnuts, apples or spinach, they all contain a pool of amino acids our bodies can reconfigure. The AHA (American Heart Association) also made a change after years of perpetuating the protein combining myth because of data that proved otherwise, and they then made a statement saying that all plant proteins are complete and there is no need to combine them.

Therefore, as long as you are getting more protein than you are losing, it is virtually impossible to have a dietary protein deficiency. The fear of not getting enough protein is totally bogus. The deficiencies and symptoms you see will be caused by most commonly fiber or B12 deficiency, which exists in a large portion of the population, even lifelong omnivores, and that is why so many foods are fortified with B vitamins, along with another common B vitamin called folic acid, which is meant to prevent neural tube defects in infants during and after pregnancy.

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/01.CIR.0000018905.97677.1F

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114512002474

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