For years, we have been told to cut back on sodium for healthy blood pressure, but research is showing that cutting back on sugar may be just as important, if not more important than putting down the salt shaker.
Researchers at Louisiana State University conducted an 18-month study on 810 people without high blood pressure or the early stages of high blood pressure (hypertension). Their goal was to evaluate how exercise, weight loss and diet affect blood pressure.
The results found that cutting back on sugar would in fact lower high blood pressure. The study focused on sugary sweetened beverages, which they referred to as SSBs. After 18 months they found that that overweight adults with high blood pressure who drank one less serving of sugary soda per day had a significant decline in blood pressure. Although further studies are needed to determine exactly why this is the case, they did conclude that reduced consumption of SSBs and sugars were significantly associated with reduced blood pressure, and that reducing SSBs and sugar consumption may be an important dietary strategy to lower blood pressure. Continue reading “Cut Back on Sugar to Reduce Blood Pressure”
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