Unlock the Health Benefits of Yogurt

The are so many health benefits of eating yogurt. Today we will just discuss a few. The results were the conclusion of a study recently presented at the American Heart Association’s (AHA’s) Epidemiology/Lifestyle 2016 Scientific Sessions in Phoenix, AZ.

What Researchers Found

The researchers found that women who consumed five or more servings of yogurt a week had a lower risk of developing high blood pressure than similar women who hardly ever ate yogurt.

According to the AHA, high blood pressure – defined as higher than 140/90 mm/Hg – is potentially dangerous because it strains the heart. It also hardens arteries and raises the risk of brain hemorrhage and kidney problems.

Previous studies have already shown that dairy products can reduce the risk of high blood pressure in at-risk adults. But few long-term studies have looked at the independent effect of yogurt alone.

“I believe that this is the largest study of its kind to date to evaluate the specific effects of yogurt on blood pressure.” According to lead author Justin Buendia, a Ph.D. candidate at Boston University School of Medicine, MA.

The Study Results

For the study – which was funded by the National Dairy Council – Buendia and his colleagues used data from the first and second cohorts (NHS and NHS II) of the Nurses’ Health Study. The participants were mainly women aged 25-55. From the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS), where the participants were mostly men.

Over 18-30 years of follow-up, 75,609 of the participants developed high blood pressure.

After adjusting for other factors that might influence the link to high blood pressure, such as age, race, family history of high blood pressure, physical activity, and diet, the researchers examined the link between yogurt and the development of high blood pressure in the three groups.

They found that compared with women who ate fewer than one serving per month, women who ate five or more yogurt servings per week had a statistically significant 20% lower risk of developing high blood pressure.