Vegetarian diet associated with lower blood pressure, researchers say - latimes.com

Vegetarian diet associated with lower blood pressure, researchers say - latimes.com: "A vegetarian diet may help lower blood pressure, researchers who reviewed data from 39 previous studies said Monday.

The researchers suggested that a vegetarian diet could be an alternative to drugs for people whose blood pressure is too high -- a condition known as hypertension and one that is a risk factor for heart disease and other problems.  About a third of Americans have high blood pressure.

Seven clinical trials, with 311 participants, and 32 observational studies, including 21,604 people, were analyzed by researchers from Japan and the Physicans Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, which advocates for plant-based diets.

Blood pressure is usually expressed in terms of the systolic pressure over diastolic pressure and is measured in millimeters of mercury. For most people, a reading of 120/80 or less is considered normal."



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