Vegetarians & Blood Pressure

The only thing that's raising our blood pressure are all of those dinner table comments from Sam Steakhouse.
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Source: New York Times

January 11, 2005

[size=-1]VITAL SIGNS[/size]
Regimens: Cause, Effect and Vegetables

[size=-1]By JOHN O'NEIL [/size]

any large-scale epidemiological studies have found that vegetarians are less likely than meat eaters to have high blood pressure. But moving from that observation to proof of cause and effect can be difficult, because the findings may reflect an unknown third factor - for example, a tendency of vegetarians to do other healthy things as well.

An article in the January issue of the journal Nutrition Reviews examined a number of studies that found ways around that difficulty, in some cases by comparing two groups who led similar lives except for diet. One set of researchers, for instance, turned to monks. Trappists are strict vegetarians, and Benedictines are not, and blood pressure, they found, was lower in Trappist monasteries.

Other researchers compared Seventh-day Adventists, who avoid alcohol, nicotine, caffeine and meat, with Mormons, who shun those substances except meat. The researchers found that fewer Adventists had hypertension and that the gap widened with age.

Other researchers have tried to settle the question experimentally, by assigning meat-eating subjects to vegetarian or omnivorous diets, according to the new article, whose lead author was Dr. Susan E. Berkow of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

One such study, of people with normal blood pressure, found that six weeks without meat led to an average drop of 5 points in systolic pressure, the upper number, and a 2-or-3-point drop in diastolic pressure.

In a yearlong study of mild hypertension, the blood pressure of people on a vegetarian diet dropped compared with those still eating meat, even though three-quarters of the vegetarian group stopped taking medication for high blood pressure.
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A couple of years ago when I had a case of Menieres disease, in the doctor's surgery my doctor thought that I my blood pressure was too low and suggested I increase my salt intake.One thing is for sure that frozen vegies boiled in unsalted water taste of like water.

 

High blood pressure apparently runs in my family...however every time I go and get it checked, it is always excellant! This is because I do not consume animal flesh.Mom on the otherhand has sky-high blood pressure levels and she eats alot of meat.I keep telling her to cut down on meat, because if she do keep it up, she will have a heart attack.I know that sounds harsh, but it is true.But she don't really believe me... And she takes all these pills because of her blood pressure...

 

I still have high blood pressure, but it lowered considerably since I went vegetarian.