Omega 3 Fatty Acids can help lower blood pressure.
Researchers with Chicago’s Northwestern University published their findings in 2007 in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Jeremiah Stamler, M.D., co-author of the study and professor emeritus of preventive medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, says “A large percentage of people between ages 20 and 60 have a rise in blood pressure, and by middle age many have high blood pressure. We’re looking at dietary factors that may help prevent that rise, and omega-3 fatty acids are a small, but important piece of the action.”
Researchers took a close look at role of Omega-3 Fatty Acids in diet. Previous studies have shown that people who have high blood pressure and take an Omega-3 dietary supplement can lower their blood pressure. This study focused on what happens with people who do not have high blood pressure.
One key finding of the study… more Omega-3 usually translates into lower blood pressure. Both the systolic (to number) and diastolic (lower number) blood pressure is reduced.
Hirotsugu Ueshima, M.D., author of the Northwestern University study and chairman in the Department of Health Science at Shiga University of Medical Science in Otsu, Shiga, Japan, weighed in on the findings.
“Foods with omega-3 PFA had more of an effect in people who were not already taking medication and had not yet developed high blood pressure.”
Omega –3 Fatty Acids from vegetable oils, seeds and nuts proved just as effective as Omega-3 PFAs from fish.
The significance: reducing blood pressure by 2mm Hg reduces the overall population’s death rate from coronary heart disease by 4%.