Here’s What You Need To Know About Protein Intake And High Blood Pressure

A new study indicates that diversifying your protein sources can contribute significantly to lowering your risk of excessive blood pressure. Constantly elevated blood pressure may ultimately damage arteries and raise your chance of developing cardiovascular disease, so it’s critical to take steps to reduce your risk.

The research, published in Hypertension, reviewed data from over 12,000 Chinese individuals who participated in the 1997–2015 China Health and Nutrition Survey. Each individual completed the survey at least 2 times, with the first answer serving as a reference and the second serving as a follow-up indicator for comparison. On average, there was a gap of around six years between both the replies utilized.

The questionnaires asked participants to describe their eating habits over the previous three days, to submit a home food inventory, and to disclose additional health information. To categorize individuals according to their protein consumption, the researchers developed a list of eight potential protein sources, which included whole grain, refined carbohydrates, industrially produced red meat, unprocessed red meat, chicken, fish, egg, and legumes. Each individual was assigned a score between one and eight depending on the variety of protein sources they ingested throughout a 3 day period.

Once the experts compared individuals who consumed four or more forms of protein a week to those who consumed two or fewer kinds of protein per week, they discovered that those who consumed 4 or more kinds of protein per week were 66 percent less susceptible to having high blood pressure.

Although this study was observational, further investigation is required to determine the effect of a diversified diet on hypertension, this is not the 1st time we’ve learned positive things about switching up your protein habit. While this research did not examine which sources of protein are optimal for blood pressure control, we generally know that consuming plant-based proteins is a wise option for cardiovascular health.