Good news for hypertensive patients: a glass of beet juice can significantly lower blood pressure, believe British researchers, reports healthystyle.info.
Researchers from Barts together with colleagues from the London school of medicine and dentistry studied the effects of beetroot on blood pressure for many years. Dose of beetroot juice 250 ml is able to quickly reduce high blood pressure – an average of 10 mm of mercury column. The most pronounced hypotensive effect occurs after five hours and lasts for days.
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Scientists attribute this to the fact that the nitrates contained in beets, expand blood vessels: “We were surprised by how little nitrate is required to obtain such a significant effect. Nitrates are found naturally in the soil where they are absorbed through the roots of root vegetables and preserved vegetables. We hope that increased consumption of vegetables with high nitrate content is primarily green leafy vegetables or beets will become available for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases”. This is very important because without treatment, hypertension increases the risk of heart attack or stroke.
The new results confirm the relevance of the recommendations for healthy eating, according to which everyone must eat lots of fresh vegetables – concluded Professor Peter Weissberg, medical Director of the British heart Foundation, which funded the study.
