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High blood pressure is a common and deadly problem that can lead to heart attacks and strokes, writes the Daily Express. However, there is a nut that can lower blood pressure due to the content of monounsaturated fatty acids and polystyrene.
High blood pressure is associated with a number of dangerous pathologies, so everyone should carefully monitor it. Fortunately, the properties of some foods make them excellent options for treating hypertension. One popular nut can "significantly" reduce blood pressure during sleep.
High blood pressure is a common problem among the British, it is believed that about a quarter of adults in the United Kingdom suffer from this pathology. Unfortunately, such people are prone to heart attacks and strokes with fatal results in most cases. According to experts, changing the lifestyle is the first way to get rid of hypertension. According to one study, regular consumption of pistachios can lower blood pressure while you sleep.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, involved 30 people, all of whom had previously been diagnosed with diabetes.
The researchers wanted to compare how a medium-fat diet, where 20% of daily energy comes from pistachios, and a low-fat control diet would affect blood pressure.
Participants were divided into two groups. The first followed a control diet, as a snack they relied on snacks with a low fat content and a high carbohydrate content.
Those in the second group followed a medium-fat diet that also included pistachios.
The participants followed this diet for four weeks, and then underwent a series of tests: their blood pressure, heart rate variability, and other markers of cardiovascular diseases were measured.
"A diet that included pistachios significantly reduced total peripheral vascular resistance, increased cardiac output, and improved heart rate variability," the researchers note.
Ambulatory systolic blood pressure was significantly reduced […] in those who followed the pistachio diet, the reduction was especially noticeable during sleep”.
"A moderate-fat diet including pistachios modestly improves cardiovascular risk factors in adults with type 2 diabetes," the study authors concluded.
Previous studies have established that pistachios contain monounsaturated fatty acids and a large amount of polystyrene, the benefits of which are well known for hypertensive patients.
The authors of one review, in which the data of 21 studies were considered, noted that pistachios reduce the upper pressure index by 1,82 mm Hg. Art., and the lower one - by 0,8 mm Hg. Art.
The bottom reading, diastolic pressure, shows the pressure in the arteries when the heart is resting between beats.
The upper figure, systolic pressure, is the pressure on the walls of the arteries during the contraction of the heart.
According to Blood Pressure UK, since the last indicator gives more information about the pressure on the heart, it also tells more about the risk of stroke and heart attack.
In addition, pistachios contain L-arginine aminooxylate, which is converted in the body into nitric oxide. This substance plays an important role in the expansion of blood vessels.
By improving blood circulation, pistachios can affect a number of physical functions, for example, erectile dysfunction.
In other studies, the same nutrients have been shown to lower cholesterol.
This property is also related to the content of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats in pistachios, and they reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
