Wish to reduce blood pressure? Cut back on sugar and eat whole fruits.
That’s according to researchers from the University of Delaware, who found that eating a sugar-rich diet is linked to high blood pressure. They arrived at this finding after examining the diets of more than 100 elderly people.
Higher sugar intake was found to be significantly associated with higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure in women- the pressure as the heart beats and between beats, respectively- even after controlling for age, income, body mass index, physical activity levels, daily calorie intake and medication use.
On the other hand, eating whole fruits is significantly associated with lower diastolic blood pressure in both men and women. “We’re not saying you can’t eat sugar… The kind found naturally in whole fruit is fine,” said Sheau Ching Chai, an assistant professor of behavioral health and nutrition and one of the study researchers. Read more…
