High Blood Pressure: A Sneaky Villain
Lots of people die because of high blood pressure. It’s really common and really dangerous.
Four out of every five people who have high blood pressure can’t get it under control, even with medicine and lifestyle changes. So, we need to find new ways to fight it.
Little Bugs in Our Gut
Over the past ten years, smart people (we call them scientists) found out something really cool. Our guts are filled with tiny living things called microbiota. These little bugs and the things they make help control our blood pressure. Isn’t that neat?
A Special Kind of Food
Now, one kind of food these bugs love is called dietary fiber, especially fermentable fiber. This fiber is digested by our gut bugs.
While munching away, they release something called short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), like acetate and butyrate.
A Cool Discovery
In a school called Monash University, some scientists found that these SCFAs can lower blood pressure in people who have high blood pressure. They also found out that giving SCFAs to animals can lower their blood pressure too!
The Magic of Corn Fiber
The scientists didn’t stop there. They wanted to test a special kind of corn fiber called acetylated and butyrylated high amylose maize (Let’s call it HAMSAB, easier, right?).
HAMSAB is great because it makes lots of acetate and butyrate, our blood pressure-fighting superstars.
Real People, Real Results
The scientists asked 20 people who had high blood pressure to try this new treatment for three weeks. Guess what? It worked!
Their blood pressure dropped by 6.1 mmHg. That’s like the result you’d get from taking a blood pressure pill!
What’s Going On?
The scientists checked the patients’ blood and found lots more acetate and butyrate after they took HAMSAB. This meant HAMSAB worked even better than a normal diet at making SCFAs.
The Future of High Blood Pressure Treatment
So, what did we learn? Acetate and butyrate, things made by our gut bugs, can lower blood pressure.
This might mean we could use something like HAMSAB to make more good gut bugs and SCFAs. This could help lots of people lower their blood pressure and not get sick.
Be Aware and Take Care!
If you’re worried about your blood pressure, remember there are other things that can help too. For instance, avoiding cannabis, getting the right nutrients, cutting down on sugar, and getting enough Vitamin D can all help control blood pressure.
The super-smart scientist behind this is Associate Professor Francine Marques. Her team’s research was published in a prestigious journal called Nature Cardiovascular Research. Now, we’re excited to see where this corn fiber adventure leads next!
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies about how your eyes could help diagnose high blood pressure, and marijuana may strongly increase death risk in high blood pressure.
For more information about nutrition, please see recent studies about natural coconut sugar that could help reduce blood pressure and artery stiffness, and anti-inflammatory diet could help prevent fatty liver disease.
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