B O D Y T A L K
Diet and Exercise
as Effective as
Medication in Lowering
Blood Pressure
New research presented at the
American Society for Nutrition's
annual meeting in Boston last month
found that changing up lifestyle factors,
including walking daily, eating a vegan
diet, getting plenty of sleep, and being
mindful of water intake, lowered study
participants' blood pressure levels by 19
points over a two-week period, proving
equally as effective as blood pressure
medications.
Adapting these healthier lifestyle
habits was effective at lowering blood
pressure in all types of individuals,
including people with diabetes, the
morbidly obese, and those with high
cholesterol.
"By adapting selected lifestyle health
principles, half of the people in our
study achieved normal blood pressure
within two weeks while avoiding
the side effects and costs associated
with blood pressure medications,"
said research team leader M. Alfredo
Mejia, associate professor at Andrews
University.
In addition, 93 percent of the
study participants were able to either
reduce the dose of their blood pressure
medications (24 percent) or eliminate
them entirely (69 percent). For more
information, go to www.healthline.com/
health-news/lower-blood-pressure-
without-medication#2.
4 Body Sense