Vegetarian Diet can Lower Blood Pressure, Researchers Say

Vegetarian diet is linked to lower blood pressure, a new study has found.

Low-carbohydrate diets such as Atkins have become quite popular in the Western countries for weight loss and preventing health complications. A latest meta-analysis has shown that vegetarianism might be a good way of lowering blood pressure without worrying too much about the carbs in the diet.

High blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease, stroke and kidney failure, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.  Health experts recommend that people include more fruits and vegetables in their diet to reduce or even prevent high blood pressure.

According to NHLBI, blood pressure is written with systolic number above or before the diastolic number. A BP reading of 120/80 is considered normal. Systolic pressure is when the heart is pumping blood while diastolic is when the heart is resting between two beats.

Yoko Yokoyama at the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center in Osaka, Japan along with Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine president Neal Barnard, M.D., and colleagues conducted the study.

For the study, researchers looked at data from seven clinical trials and 32 studies, which were published between 1900 and 2013. In total, about 20,000 people were included in the study, Reuters reported.

Researchers found that people following a vegetarian diet had a 7 mm Hg lower systolic blood pressure and 5 mm Hg lower diastolic blood pressure than participants who ate meat, according to a news release by Physician Committee for Responsible Medicine.

"Unlike drugs, there is no cost to a diet adjustment of this type, and all the 'side effects' of a plant-based diet are desirable: weight loss, lower cholesterol, and better blood sugar control, among others," Yokoyama told Reuters.

Researchers are yet to find whether or not there is a link between different types of vegetarian diets and blood pressure. Some people follow strict vegetarianism and don't eat eggs or fish while others are more liberal and include fish and eggs in diet.

"Further studies are required to clarify which types of vegetarian diets are most strongly associated with lower BP. Research into the implementation of such diets, either as public health initiatives aiming at prevention of hypertension or in clinical settings, would also be of great potential value," researchers said in a news release.

The study was supported by grant-in-aid for the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellows and is published in the journal, JAMA Internal Medicine.