Daily Consumption of This Purple Powder Outperforms Pharmaceuticals In Reducing Blood Pressure by DailyHealthPost EditorialJuly 20, 2018 sources: Pubmed, PD, ANDJrnl, NRJournal, ScienceDaily
Daily Consumption of This Purple Powder Outperforms
Pharmaceuticals In Reducing Blood Pressure
by DailyHealthPost EditorialJuly 20,
2018
Blueberries have been championed for their high antioxidant
potential and anti-inflammatory properties.
They are recognized as a good source of flavonoids,
especially anthocyanins, which have strong antioxidative activity, some of
which have antioxidant activity shown in laboratory studies.
New research shows they can reduce both systolic and
diastolic blood pressure and potentially better than pharmaceuticals.
The blood pressure relief comes from pterostilbene, a
compound found in both grapes and blueberries. This antioxidant is chemically
related to reservatrol, another heart-healthy compound
that is found in the skin of grapes. Various studies have shown pterostilbene
to have possible anti-cancer and anti-diabetes properties.
A growing body of research is also establishing blueberries
as a potential ally to protect against diseases such heart disease and
Alzheimer’s — so it’s no surprise that more and more people are picking
blueberries than ever before!
Blood
Pressure Benefits
Eight weeks of consuming a daily dose of 22 grams of
freeze-dried blueberry powder resulted in 5.1% and 6.3% reductions in systolic
and diastolic blood pressure,
wrote the researchers in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition
and Dietetics.
“The potential is enormous,” said Dr. Anais Archambeault
commenting on the study. “Many patients on antihypertensives experience less
than a 5% decrease in overall blood pressure and here we clearly have a natural
product that may eventually outperform well known drugs,” she said.
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Dr. Archambeault claims that with the right nutriceutical
prescription, blueberry powder in combination with other antioxidants may prove
very effective for patients who don’t react well or benefit from blood pressure
medication.
The benefits were also linked to an increase in levels of nitric
oxide (NO), which were found to increase from 9.11 to 15.35 micromoles over the
course of the study. NO is a potent vasodilator, helping to relax the walls of
blood vessels and lower blood pressure.
“To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the
effects of blueberries on arterial function as was done in this study, as well
as in this study population,” said corresponding author Bahram Arjmandi, PhD.
“These findings suggest that blueberries may prevent the progression
of full-blown hypertension.”
“Considering the prevalence of hypertension in the US,
preventive strategies such as dietary modifications (e.g. functional foods and
dietary supplements) that aim to improve hypertension and its related
complications are warranted.”
Growing Interest Based on Research
“Compelling” data published recently in the American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition indicated that blueberry flavonoids could boost endothelial
function and enhance heart health.
Endothelial dysfunction may play an important role in the
increases in blood pressure that occur after menopause. Further, endothelial
dysfunction is known to increase arterial stiffness, which is involved in the
development and progression of both hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
The exact way in which flavonoids affect the brain are unknown,
but they have previously been shown to cross the blood
brain barrier after dietary intake.
An acute dose of blueberries (300 grams) was found to be
associated with an 18%
decrease in DNA damage to
blood cells due to oxidative stress, according to findings published in
Nutrition Research.
A study appearing in
ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, found that that although there
are over 600 species of blueberries and blueberry-like fruits growing in
Mexico, Central and South America, two types of neotropical blueberries were
extreme super fruits — they had significantly more antioxidants than a type of
blueberry commonly sold in U.S. supermarkets stores. The researchers say that
these neotropical
blueberries “have the potential to
be even more highly promising edible fruits.”
Study
Details
The Florida State
researchers recruited 48 women to participate in their eight-week, randomized,
double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.
Participants were
randomly assigned to receive either 22 grams per day of freeze-dried blueberry
powder or 22 grams of a control powder for eight weeks. This dose was
equivalent to one cup of fresh blueberries.
The data showed that
the blueberry powder was associated with significant reductions in systolic and
diastolic blood pressure.
“The changes in blood
pressure noted in this study are of clinical significance as they demonstrate
that blood pressure can be favorably altered by the addition of a single
dietary component (e.g. blueberries),” said lead author Sarah Johnson, PhD.
In addition,
improvements in brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity were also reported. Pulse
wave velocity is a non-invasive method for assessing arterial stiffness and has
been shown to predict future cardiovascular events.
In the current study,
brachial ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), which is a composite measure of
central (aortic) and peripheral arterial stiffness, was significantly reduced
after eight weeks in the blueberry-treated group, whereas there were no changes
in the control group.
On the other hand,
carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), the best measure of aortic
stiffness, did not change in either group. This suggests that peripheral
arteries may be more responsive to dietary interventions than central arteries.
“This [study] suggests
that regular consumption of blueberries over the long term could potentially
delay the progression of hypertension and reduce cardiovascular risk in
postmenopausal women,” concluded the researchers.
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