Decrease Blood Stress With a Small Dietary Change

Article overview:

• Eating more walnuts has been linked to lower blood pressure and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Only the subjects in the study who added walnuts to their meals had the added benefit of lowering their blood pressure levels.
• Walnuts contain vitamin E and polyphenols, powerful antioxidants that fight free radicals. In addition, walnuts are a good source of fiber that has been shown to reduce the risk of stroke.

Research on walnuts and blood pressure

High blood pressure is one of those conditions that can creep up on you over time. You will have a check-up and your blood pressure will be exactly where it should be in the normal range. A year or two later, nothing has changed except that you may have gained a few pounds, but when you are doing physical activity your doctor suddenly says you are hypertensive. Perhaps you are at the limit and given instructions to monitor your pressure and lose some weight. Or, you're well behind that point and your doctor will send you home with a prescription for medicines to help bring those numbers down. Either way, it is time for you to take action, and new research suggests that a simple change in your diet can help lower your blood pressure.

The study, conducted at Pennsylvania State University at State College, found that consuming more walnuts was linked to lower blood pressure and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. The subjects were 45 overweight or obese men and women aged 30 to 65 years.

Saturated Fat and Cardiovascular Health

To study the effects of a reduction in saturated fat, the researchers provided participants with meals that reduced saturated fat by five percent. And they replaced it with alpha-linolenic acid, other polyunsaturated non-omega-3 acids, oleic acids, or whole walnuts. Alpha-linolenic acid is an omega-3 fatty acid that comes from plant foods like flaxseed, canola oil, and tofu. Oleic acids are monounsaturated fats that come from a variety of sources, including olive oil, avocados, and sesame oil.

All volunteers, regardless of the dietary changes made, benefited from consuming slightly less saturated fat and showed improvements in indicators of cardiovascular health. But only those who added walnuts to their meals had the added benefit of lowering their blood pressure levels.

This is really important when you consider that roughly 75 million American adults – or roughly one in three – have high blood pressure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hypertension is potentially a very dangerous condition that greatly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke as it decreases the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart and brain.

While the small size of the sample population included in the research makes it difficult to know if these results would apply to everyone, we know that it offers a possible solution that is a breeze. That said, if you swap some of the saturated fat in a person's diet for a handful of walnuts a day, it can make a big difference in cardiovascular risk over time.

Why do walnuts lower blood pressure?

Walnuts, which help lower blood pressure, can have several factors that give the nuts an advantage over the other types of fatty acids. Walnuts contain vitamin E and polyphenols, powerful antioxidants that fight free radicals. In addition, walnuts are a good source of fiber that has been shown to reduce the risk of stroke.

To reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, the first thing you should do is limit the amount of red meat, dairy products, and processed snacks like cookies that you eat, as these are all high in saturated fats. Even if you change just one meal a week at first, you can continue to make changes over time. Instead, choose meals based on fish, hormone-free poultry, whole grains, vegetables, and beans and legumes.

There are also many ways to increase your walnut intake. Having a bag on hand for a snack is great as the nuts fill you up, give you a nice satisfying crunch, and help you avoid making impromptu selections of junk food. Walnuts are a delicious addition to salads with meals, go well with simple chicken dishes and taste great with homemade muffins.