Middle-aged adults who favour skimmed milk and other low-fat dairy foods may have lower blood pressure than other people of their age, a new study suggests.

Researchers in Spain found that among nearly 5,900 adults they observed over two years, those with the highest intake of low-fat dairy products were about half as likely to develop high blood pressure as those who consumed the lowest.

The apparent protective effect remained when the researchers accounted for other factors in high blood pressure risk, including overall diet, exercise, body weight and smoking.

Fattier dairy foods like whole milk and ice cream, however, were not a blood pressure boon, according to the findings published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Though some past researches have linked low-fat dairy consumption to lower blood pressure, this is the first one to find the relationship among middle-aged adults. Previous studies have focused on children and young adults, Dr Alvaro Alonso, the lead author of the new study, says.

Milk, the study authors note, provides certain chemicals ? caseins and whey proteins ? that may act in a manner similar to blood-pressure-lowering drugs called angiotensin converting enzyme, or ACE, inhibitors. These proteins may help explain the results of the study, they speculate.

Reuters

3 more tips to bring down blood pressure

1: Remove the salt shaker from the table and make meals tasty and flavourful with herbs and spices. While cooking, experiment with fresh and dried herbs, such as onions, garlic, black and red pepper and onion and garlic powders. These add flavour without increasing the level of sodium, the culprit.

2: Maintain a healthy body weight and exercise regularly. If you are overweight, just a modest weight loss can significantly control high blood pressure. Regular exercise (with a physician’s approval) can help you lose weight. This helps keep blood pressure at just the right level.

3: Eat adequate amounts of potassium-rich foods. Potassium, another mineral essential to good health, works with sodium to regulate blood pressure. Rich sources of potassium include many fruits, such as banana, watermelon and orange and vegetables like potato and spinach.