TOSSING a salad in olive oil dressing may be one way to keep blood pressure under control, a new study suggests.
The combination of unsaturated fat and nitrate-rich lettuce and celery suppresses an enzyme in the body linked to high blood pressure, or hypertension, scientists have found.
Previous research has shown that a Mediterranean diet can help reduce blood pressure. Typically, a Mediterranean diet includes unsaturated fat from olive oil, avocados and nuts, along with vegetables high in nitrite and nitrates including spinach, celery, carrots and lettuce.
The study, conducted on mice, showed that nitro-fatty acids formed when these foods come together can combat hypertension.
Dr Sanjay Thakrar, from the British Heart Foundation, which co-funded the research published in the journal Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences, said: "This study goes some way to explain why a Mediterranean diet appears to be good for heart health. The results showed a way in which a particular compound could combat high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease.
"However, more work is necessary as these experiments were conducted in mice and this compound could also be having its effect through other pathways."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article