LONDON--Consumption of vegetable protein lowers blood pressure, according to a cross-sectional epidemiological study conducted by members of the INTERMAP Cooperative Research Group (Arch Intern Med, 166, 1:79-87, 2006).
Researchers from Imperial College London, Northwestern University (Chicago), Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore), the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), Japan and China measured dietary vegetable protein intake, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (taken eight times at four different sessions), and took two 24-hour urine samples of 4,680 persons, who were aged 40 to 59 years and from four countries. There was a significant inverse relationship between vegetable protein intake and blood pressure. After adjusting for confounders, differences in blood pressure associated with higher vegetable protein intake were -2.14 mm Hg systolic and -1.35 mm Hg diastolic blood pressure; after further adjustment for height and weight, these differences were –1.11 mm Hg systolic and –0.71 mm Hg diastolic blood pressure. Significant differences in blood pressure were not associated with animal protein intake or total protein intake, even after adjustment for height, weight and dietary confounders.
The researchers concluded protein intake was inversely related to blood pressure, and noted this finding is consistent with recommendations that a diet high in vegetable products be part of healthy lifestyle for prevention of high blood pressure and related diseases.
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