Protect Your Heart With Dairy
Chances are your doctor has taken your blood pressure to determine if you’re one of the 65 million American adults who have high blood pressure (HBP). HBP is dangerous because it makes the heart work harder than it normally would. The force needed to pump blood through your body can harm your arteries and organs, especially your heart. The good news is there are ways to help lower your blood pressure without medicine. And eating low-fat dairy foods as part of a balanced, low-fat diet rich in fruits and vegetables is one of them!
Add Dairy to Your Diet
Studies have shown that the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan is an effective way to lower your blood pressure. In fact, this low-fat diet, rich in dairy foods, fruits and vegetables, has effects similar to single drug therapy in lowering the risk of heart attack and stroke by reducing blood pressure!
Dr. David W. Harsha, PhD, of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University and co-author of the DASH-Sodium study, feels the DASH diet can greatly improve the overall health of America.
“We calculate that if the American population as a whole adopted the DASH diet, it would reduce deaths from cardiovascular disease by about 15 percent, and from stroke by about 27 percent,” he said.
Taking Notice
The overwhelming evidence caught the attention of the American Heart Association (AHA). In 2006, the AHA released new diet and lifestyle recommendations which included the DASH diet guidelines. This update re-enforced their call in 2005 for Americans to eat 2 to 3 servings of low-fat or fat-free milk, cheese or yogurt every day to help meet daily nutrition requirements.
How Does Dairy Do It?
Researchers can’t definitively say why dairy products help drive down blood pressure levels. However, “a trio of minerals – calcium, potassium and magnesium – all found in dairy foods may play an important role in maintaining blood pressure,” according to registered dietitian Connie Diekman, president of the American Dietetic Association and director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
As the evidence builds, it becomes a harder fact to ignore – when consumed as part of the DASH diet, low-fat dairy can help lower your blood pressure and protect your heart. What better reason do you need to make sure you get your 3 servings of dairy a day?