It's well known and widely accepted that vegetarian food is healthy and that vegetarian diets have many health benefits. But did you known that healthy vegetarian food can also work to lower your risks of hypertension? Meaning that healthy vegetarian diet can help reduce your risks of having high blood pressure. Hypertension is one of the key risk factors for causing various serious health problems such as strokes, heart attacks, heart failures, and it is also a leading cause of chronic kidney failure. Even just moderate elevated blood pressure can lead to shortened life expectancy, and these are the reasons why it is so important to have healthy blood pressure - to decrease the risks associated with hypertension.
You don't have to take our word for it... There are numerous clinical studies that have proven the many health benefits of eating healthy vegetarian food, and studies have also shown that following a primarily vegetarian diet reduces your risk of high blood pressure.
In a study involving 571 members of a defense force in eight military institutions of Yaounde, Cameroon, food consumption data was obtained, and blood pressure was measured. The study identified two primary diet patterns: 1) fruit and vegetable pattern (high intake of fruits, vegetables, and legumes), and 2) the meat pattern (high intake of meat, poultry, and red meat). Their study found that the fruit and vegetable dietary pattern was associated with significantly reduced risk of hypertension, concluding that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, tubers and legumes may have an important role in regulating blood pressure. [1]
So, while the study did not find a definitive relationship between meat consumption and high blood pressure, it did conclusively find that following a diet heavily weighed in healthy fruits, vegetables, and legumes (such as a vegetarian diet) leads to significantly reduced risk of hypertension. Now take a step back, and think about your own diet for a moment - is it as healthy as it can be? Is your current diet helping promote good health and well being?
Furthermore, another similar study done in Pamplona, Spain, has found that fruit and vegetable consumption is inversely associated with blood pressure in the Mediterranean population with a high vegetable-fat intake. The study stated that "there is evidence that a diet rich in fruit and vegetables reduces blood pressure." This was an extensive study that involved analysis of 4393 participants to examine the association between fruit and vegetable consumption and blood pressure. After all is said and done, their results found that a high consumption of healthy fruit and vegetable intake is associated with lower levels of blood pressure.[2]
There you have it - healthy vegetarian food with high consumption of fruits and vegetables can lead to lower levels of blood pressure. If hypertension is a concern for you, or if you want to minimize your healthy risks associated with having high blood pressure, then you need to evaluate your current diet, and consider eating more healthy vegetarian foods. By all means, vegetarian food recipes are not boring, and in fact, they can be quick and easy to prepare, and they can be delicious and healthy at the same time. Quick and Easy Chinese Vegetarian cooking shows you how to cook a wide variety of healthy vegetarian dishes that are not only simple to cook, but are also beneficial for your health.
>> Click here to learn more about Quick and Easy Chinese Vegetarian Cooking and improve your health |