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One of the main threats to our society today is high blood pressure. There are tons of causes of this health disparity, and unfortunately, treatments are limited to getting more exercise, eating better, and of course, taking medication. However, a lot of people seem to be wary of taking blood pressure medication out of fear of being dependent on it for the rest of their lives. So there are a lot of decisions when it comes to how to deal with this health issue. Luckily, new research has shown a positive correlation between probiotics and blood pressure being stabilized!
What causes high blood pressure?
It can be caused by many things:
- Smoking
- Being overweight or obese
- Lack of physical activity
- Too much salt in the diet
- Too much alcohol consumption (more than 1 to 2 drinks per day)
- Stress
- Older age
- Genetics
- Family history
- Chronic kidney disease
- Adrenal and thyroid disorders
- Sleep apnea
Although some of these things are not quite under our control, such as genetics, there are many factors contributing to high blood pressure that we can. However, causes such as stress and kidney and thyroid disorders have shown to be affected by probiotics! This means that perhaps probiotics can assist in lowering blood pressure by stabilizing other systems in the body.
Probiotics and Hypertension
Current research from the journal Hypertension shows that those who took probiotics had a significant decrease in blood pressure, specifically those who were pre-hypertension or hypertension.
People who consumed probiotics had an average reduction in systolic numbers (the top number in a reading) of about 3.6 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and an average reduction in diastolic numbers (the bottom number) of about 2.4 mm Hg, compared to those who did not consume probiotics.
Probiotics’ benefits seemed greatest among people with elevated blood pressure (higher than 130/85), and probiotics with multiple types of bacteria lowered blood pressure more than those with a single type of bacteria, the researchers reported.
Improve your health!
By getting your body to a healthy state– including a healthy digestive system, immune system, and liver/kidney functions- your support all functions, both physically and mentally. It is important that you found out the cause of the increase in the pressure of blood in your body as it might be a simple fix (changing diet/exercising). As with any health issue, a doctor should always be consulted, especially if that issue is high blood pressure! Be sure to take care of yourself, eat your veggies, exercise, and take your probiotics to support your overall health.
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