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Probiotics Lower Blood Pressure-
Probiotic consumption significantly changed systolic Blood Pressure by −3.56 mm Hg, and diastolic BP by −2.38 mm Hg compared with control groups…
I’m a long-term cancer survivor living with a host of long-term and late stage side effects from my aggressive conventional therapies in 1995. According to several blog posts I’ve written recently, blood pressure effects both my cardiomyopathy and my brain health.
When Dr. Moudgil told me I had chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy, he prescribed a modest daily dose of a medication to lower my blood pressure. My BP was recorded to be 130/90. Therefore, I’ve got two important reasons to lower my BP.
Like other conventional medications I’ve taken to manage other health issues, this medication had a long list of possible side effects. Because I was scheduled to see Dr. Moudgil again in a few months and have another echo, I decided to try to lower my blood pressure through diet (probiotics), supplementation (Cocoa powder, CoQ10, etc.) and lifestyle (daily moderate exercise). Oh yeah, and I’ve lost a couple of pounds and I plan to lose a few more by the time I see the doc again.
My point is that lowering my BP is not rocket science. I mean, at 130/90, my BP is not that high. My goal is to get it below 120/80, right? I’ll see Dr. Moudgil in about eight weeks. I’ll post with an update.
Though the study below is helpful, it does clarify specifics that I must keep in mind:
- Probiotics from fermented dairy
- Probiotics for at least 8 weeks
- A daily dose of probiotics <1011
- Multiple species of probiotics
While there are several brands of kefirs sold in stores locally I think I can acheive 3 of the 4 bullet points above. I have to say that achieving a daily dose of probiotics of 10 to the 11 (that’s 100 billion!) will be difficult. I’m going to drink a cup or two of kefir a day and see how I do.
To learn more about non-medical or non-conventional BP lowering therapies, scroll down the page, post a question or comment and I will reply to you ASAP.
Thanks
David Emerson
- Cancer Survivor
- Cancer Coach
- Director PeopleBeatingCancer
Recommended Reading:
- Lower Blood Pressure w/ Evidence-based, Non-toxic Therapies
- AYA, Childhood Cancer Survivors’ Future Risk of Heart Disease
- I like Fasting and Fasting likes me…
Effect of Probiotics on Blood Pressure
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized, Controlled Trials
“The aim of the present systematic review was to clarify the effects of probiotics on BP using a meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials. PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library (Central), Physiotherapy Evidence Database, and Clinicaltrial.gov databases were searched until January 2014 to identify eligible articles…
Nine trials were included. Probiotic consumption significantly changed systolic BP by −3.56 mm Hg, and diastolic BP by −2.38 mm Hg compared with control groups…
Duration of intervention <8 weeks did not result in a significant reduction in systolic or diastolic BP. Furthermore, subgroup analysis of trials with daily dose of probiotics <1011 colony-forming units did not result in a significant meta-analysis effect. The present meta-analysis suggests that consuming probiotics may improve BP by a modest degree, with a potentially greater effect when baseline BP is elevated, multiple species of probiotics are consumed, the duration of intervention is ≥8 weeks, or daily consumption dose is ≥1011 colony-forming units…
Using fermented dairy products as the source of probiotics resulted in significant reductions in both SBP and DBP; similar results were not found for other sources of probiotics (Table 2). Meta-analysis of trials with multiple species of probiotics found a significant reduction in both SBP and DBP (−5.79 and −2.72 mm Hg, respectively)…