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A new study shows that people who eat a diet rich in foods that contain flavonoids like berries, tea, and apples tend to have low blood pressure.
In the UK, researchers studied the diets of more than 25,000 people and compared what they ate to blood pressure, which is a risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease.
While other studies have found a link between flavonoids and health benefits, this study was the first to objectively measure compound intake using biomarkers found in urine.
And the amount of flavonoids in some foods can vary greatly. For example, the amount found in tea, one of the major sources in the UK diet, ranges from 10 milligrams per 100 grams of tea to 330 milligrams per 100 grams of tea.
“This is important, high-quality research into some of the physiological effects of dietary flavonoids in a large UK population,” said Ian Johnson, nutrition researcher and honorary member of the Quadram Institute of Biological Sciences in the UK. United. Johnson was not involved in the investigation.
He told Science Media in London: “Its importance lies in the use of objective and quantifiable biomarkers of flavonoid intake, as opposed to estimates based on necessarily inaccurate measures of food intake and composition. With this approach, the authors were able to show that systolic blood pressure was lower in participants who consumed more flavonoids, compared to those who consumed less.
The researchers found that the difference in blood pressure between people with less than 10% flavanol intake and those with more than 10% was between 2 and 4 mm Hg.
However, the study showed that it was comparable to changes in blood pressure seen in those following the Mediterranean Diet or the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH), or moderately reducing salt intake.
The study found no link between flavanol intake and the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes, and there was no association with mortality, either from cardiovascular disease or from any other cause.
The study indicated that large-scale trials are needed to test the observational finding that blood pressure can be explained by differences in flavanol intake.
Flavonoids are a subset of flavonoids, found in foods like tea (mainly green but also black) and fruits like apples, pears, and berries. In the UK, tea is the most important source in the diet of most people.
And in plants, the compounds act primarily to defend the plant against predators or pests. And for humans, many of these compounds have a biological effect, although the exact mechanism is not understood.
Ada García, a professor at the University of Glasgow who was not involved in the research, explained to the Science Media Center in London: “Tea, apples, berries, nuts and many other plant foods contain flavanols, (and) these are ingredients well known bioactives. It is associated with lower risk factors for cardiovascular disease, as shown in this large and very well conducted study.
Source: CNN
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