Advices Blood Pressure High

Lowering blood pressure with vinegar

Amicomed
Amicomed
07/14/2022 · Reading Time: 2 minutes
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Learn how to lower your blood pressure with condiment

How can you lower your blood pressure? Vinegar, be it from wine, apple or balsamic, prevents fat buildup in the blood and could be a precious ally in controlling obesity and blood pressure.

How does vinegar lower blood pressure?

Vinegar reduces the activity of renin, an enzyme that causes vasoconstriction and increases blood pressure. Vinegar helps decrease the effect of renin, causing blood vessels to relax and blood pressure to decrease, thus protecting the vessel walls. It decreases the risk of blood vessel walls stiffening (arteriosclerosis) and with it decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease.

These effects were shown by tests conducted on mice by a team of Japanese researches of the Central Research Institute in Handa, whose results were published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Tomoo Kondo, coordinator of the study, explains that it is thanks to acetic acid, one of the components of vinegar, which activates the genes that produce proteins involved in the process of oxidation of fatty acids.

Vinegar is also very rich in antioxidants. It contains about 600mg/l of phenolic compounds, and like all fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants, it can protect against certain neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Apple vinegar for diabetes

When eating carbohydrates, adding a spoon of apple vinegar will slow down the increase in blood sugar levels, decrease the rate of insulin production and lower the level of triglycerides/cholesterol.

The vinegar’s acidity slows down absorption in the stomach, thus lowering the glycemic index of the meal.

Furthermore, vinegar blocks the activity of amylase in the small intestine. Amylase is an enzyme that breaks down starch to produce glucose. This way, part of the starch consumed will be excreted rather than being turned into sugar and ending up in the bloodstream. This effect is caused by acetic acid in all vinegars, not just apple vinegar.

Using vinegar when cooking is therefore beneficial if you suffer from diabetes or fear you might be at risk of developing it. Adding some vinegar to your diet is equally beneficial, and for the same reason, to those who are overweight or obese.

While further studies will give us more information, researchers have so far confirmed the beneficial properties of this condiment. Now that you know another secret to lower blood pressure, start putting vinegar on your salad and other dishes.

 

Scientific articles below: