Yogurt has always been the weight-watcher’s alternative to ice cream. This light but yummy treat has been known to take away the craving without adding on the pounds, but did you know that it can also help deflect hypertension, also known as high blood pressure?
According to a new study conducted by the American Heart Association, those who eat yogurt on a regular basis have lower systolic rates than those who don’t. Your systolic rate is the top number in your blood pressure reading; it refers to the pressure created by blood flow against the walls of your arteries with every heartbeat. The lower it is, the less your arteries are stressed.
MedicalNewsToday.com reports that the abstract study took 15 years with more or less 2,000 people involved. Researchers followed participants who initially didn’t have high blood pressure, asking them to answer questionnaires about their yogurt intake and monitoring their blood pressure readings.
The results were encouraging. At the end of more than a decade, they found that the participants who ate a six-ounce cup of low-fat yogurt every three days (about 31 percent of the sample) were less likely to develop hypertension than those who didn’t.
Although more research is still needed to determine yogurt’s other benefits, this new information is still great news, especially for those trying to lose extra inches and those wanting to eat right. Add a cup of yogurt to healthy meals and proper exercise, and you’re well on your way to healthy living.
(Photo by Waleed Alzuhair via Flickr Creative Commons)
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