Addressing Hypertension via Nutrition (Stalking a Silent Killer)

As mentioned earlier, balancing mineral intake is another important dietary adjustment to controlling blood pressure. Data from the INTERMAP trial, for example, found greater intakes of dietary calcium, magnesium and phosphorus were inversely associated with blood pressure.²⁰ And researchers from the University of Helsinki, Finland, said the country’s salt reduction efforts, combined with greater intakes of potassium, calcium and magnesium, have contributed to a more than 10 mm Hg fall in the population average of systolic and diastolic blood pressure.²¹

Dairy products are one of the leading sources of calcium in the diet, and studies have shown an inverse association between dietary consumption of dairy products and calcium and blood pressure. For example, Harvard researchers looking at the relationship between hypertension and dairy products in a cohort of 28,886 U.S. women found intakes of low-fat dairy products, calcium and vitamin D were each inversely associated with hypertension.²² Similarly, French researchers reported consumption of dairy products and dietary calcium were both significantly and independently associated with low levels of systolic blood pressure in a sample of more than 900 middle-aged men.

Balancing intake of calcium with magnesium is important, as magnesium helps to regulate blood pressure and an inverse relationship has been seen between intake of this mineral and incidence of hypertension.²³ Researchers from the University of Ottawa, Ontario, note magnesium influences blood pressure by modulating vascular tone, impacting vasodilation, and helping control inflammation.²⁴ Animal trials have further found that a diet even moderately deficient in magnesium can have long-term adverse effects on arterial thickness and stiffness, increasing arterial pressure and increasing incidence of hypertension.²⁵