Go Low for Pressure

Some studies have shown that calcium and vitamin D can aid in lowering blood pressure. Does it matter whether the source of the nutrients is dairy products or supplements?

A study analyzed data on 28886 women who averaged 54 years old and did not have high blood pressure or heart disease at the start of the study. During a 10-year span, hypertension was diagnosed in 8710 of them. Overall, the more dairy products the women reported consuming, the less likely they were to have developed high blood pressure.

Those who took in the most calcium through their diets reduced their risk of hypertension by 14%; and those who had the highest levels of dietary vitamin D consumption saw a 7% reduction is risk. Nearly all of the benefit stemmed from consumption of low fat diary products; eating high fat dairy products did not affect the risk of hypertension, nor did calcium and vitamin D intake from supplements.

Who may be affected? Middle age and older women. About a third of all adults in the US have high blood pressure. Among those older than 55, it's more common in women than men.

Caveats: Diet and supplements data came from the women's responses to questionnaires; the study authors calculated nutrient intake for foods the women reported eating. Exposure to the sun, a prime source of vitamin D, was not included in the analysis. Nearly all women were white; whether the findings apply to others remains unclear.

The authors theorized that saturated fats in high fat dairy products might "mitigate the beneficial effects of other components of dairy products".