It is a food with thousands of years of history whose invention is usually attributed to the Turks and which, it is believed, began to be consumed even before agriculture emerged – it was a staple food for nomadic peoples. Numerous studies have spoken of its benefits: it has been said that it is very rich in calcium, helps reduce cholesterol , lowers the risk of some types of cancer (such as colon), fights diarrhea and constipation, favors absorption of fats and a long etcetera.
And to that list we must now add another: as suggested by a new study published in the American Journal of Hypertension and prepared by a team of researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine (USA), a greater intake of yogurt on the part of hypertensive men and women, it is associated with a lower risk of future cardiovascular disease .
High blood pressure or hypertension is one of the main risk factors in the case of cardiovascular diseases and affects around one billion people around the planet ; in fact the figure – which mostly affects those living in low- and middle-income countries – has doubled in the last 40 years. An individual is normally considered to have high blood pressure when their systolic (or maximum) blood pressure exceeds 140 millimeters of mercury (Hg) and the diastolic (or minimum) pressure is above 90 mmHg. Although they are not figures that we must take at face value, since it also depends on factors such as, for example, age or gender.
Clinical trials carried out in the past had already shown the beneficial effects that a daily consumption of yogurt can have on our cardiovascular health. Higher dairy consumption has been associated with beneficial effects on cardiovascular-related comorbidities, such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and insulin resistance .
The authors of this new American study drew on data from 55,000 women between the ages of 30 and 55 who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study (designed to investigate risk factors for the most important diseases in women) and from 18,000 men between the ages of 40 and 75 who participated in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (focused on the male gender). They all had high blood pressure.
In the first, the participants had been asked, in 1980, to complete a questionnaire with 61 points to report how their usual daily diet had been during the previous year . Subsequently, they also reported any health problem diagnosed by a doctor, including myocardial infarctions or strokes, and, to confirm them, the researchers requested permission from the interested parties to access their medical records.
According to data collected from the Nurses’ Health Study, higher yogurt intake was associated with a 30% reduction in the risk of heart attack in women ; and, according to those provided by the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, this reduction was 19% in the case of men. Drinking more yogurt and doing it while eating an overall heart-healthy diet has been associated with greater reductions in the risk of cardiovascular disease in hypertensive men and women.
“We believe that long-term yogurt intake could reduce the risk of cardiovascular problems, as previous studies had shown the beneficial effects of fermented dairy products,” explained one of the authors of the article, Justin R. Buendia. “Here, we have had a large cohort of hypertensive men and women, who were followed for even more than 30 years. Our results provide important new evidence that yogurt can benefit heart health individually or as part of a diet rich in fiber, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, ”the researcher noted.
