Low-Fat Dairy Products May Lower High Blood Pressure

Researchers from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI’s) Family Heart Study have found that eating low-fat dairy products can lower high blood pressure, a condition that affects 65 million Americans and is a major risk factor for stroke, heart attack, kidney failure and heart failure. The findings appear in the June 26, 2006 issue of Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Although low-fat dairy products are considered beneficial at reducing blood pressure, conclusive studies have not been able to explain why. That has caused scientists to wonder whether dairy’s calcium content or some other unidentified components provide the apparent benefits.Dairy products, such as cheese, yoghurt and milk, are excellent sources of calcium, said Luc Djouss, M.D., M.P.H., D.Sc., lead author of the study and an Associate Epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. However, some dairy products also contain substantial amounts of saturated fat, which might offset some of the beneficial effects of dairy products. In this study, magnesium and potassium intake was associated with lower blood pressure, but calcium was not.Researchers used data from food questionnaires from 4,797 men (45 percent) and women, with the average participant age being 52-years-old. Researchers divided participants into four groups based on their daily dairy intake (highest dairy group = 3+ servings, lowest dairy group = < .5 servings) and subsequently, divided the groups by those who ate below the average amount of saturated fat and those who ate above that amount.Our data showed that dairy consumption is inversely associated with prevalent high blood pressure and resting systolic blood pressure, mainly among individuals consuming less saturated fat and independent of the amount of dietary calcium, Djouss said. It is possible that nutrients other than calcium found in dairy products may be responsible for these findings.The cross-sectional design of this study limits the ability to draw a causal relationship between dairy consumption and blood pressure, he said, adding that further study is needed.(Source: Journal of the American Heart Association: Bringham & Womens Hospital: June 2006).