Probiotics Could Curb Blood Pressure

Making probiotics a regular part of your diet could do more than regulate your digestion—it may also improve your blood pressure, according to a new study in the journal Hypertension.

“The small collection of studies we looked at suggest regular consumption of probiotics can be part of a healthy lifestyle to help reduce high blood pressure, as well as maintain healthy blood pressure levels,” says lead study author Jing Sun, PhD, senior lecturer at the Griffith Health Institute and School of Medicine in Queensland, Australia.

RELATED CONTENT
Probiotics Linked to Lower Risk of Allergies For Kids
Probiotics Treat Antibiotic-Related Diarrhea

Probiotics are live microorganisms, which occur naturally in the gut, but are commonly found in yogurt, fermented and sour milk and cheese, and probiotic supplements.

“Healthy eating is not just eating more fruits and vegetables, but also consuming some healthy bacteria to help with the maintenance of the metabolic processes in the body,” Sun says.

She and her colleagues performed a systematic review to examine the effects of probiotics on blood pressure. They analyzed the results of 9 studies that looked at the relationship between blood pressure and probiotic consumption in 543 adults with normal and elevated blood pressure.

“We found people who consumed at least 10⁹-10¹² colony-forming units (CFU) of probiotics daily for at least 8 weeks showed improvements in high blood pressure,” Sun says. “There is still a lot of work to do to identify which strains are the best to tackle high blood pressure.”

The researchers discovered several other notable findings:

• Patients who consumed probiotics showed an average reduction of 3.56mm Hg in systolic blood pressure and 2.38mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure, compared to those who didn’t consume probiotics.

• Subjects with a baseline blood pressure ≥130/85mm Hg, which is considered elevated, showed a more significant improvement in diastolic blood pressure than those with a baseline <130/85mm Hg.

• Consuming probiotics for less than 8 weeks did not significantly reduce systolic or diastolic blood pressure.

• Probiotics with multiple bacteria lowered both systolic and diastolic blood pressure more than probiotics that contained a single species of bacteria.

• Consuming probiotics with a daily bacteria volume less than 10⁹ CFU did not lower blood pressure.

The researchers believe probiotics might help lower blood pressure as a result of other positive effects it has on health, including improving total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; reducing blood glucose and insulin resistance; and helping to regulate the hormone system that controls blood pressure and fluid balance.

But before doctors can recommend probiotics as a means of preventing high blood pressure, reducing high blood pressure, or to help with blood pressure control as an adjunct to antihypertensive medications, Sun says more research is needed.  

She has three systematic review and meta-analysis papers regarding the effects of probiotics on diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndromes underway. Sun has also planned a series of studies looking at prevention of high blood pressure, diabetes, metabolic syndromes, and cardiovascular disease-related risk factors using probiotics.

—Colleen Mullarkey

Reference

Khalesi S, Sun J, Buys N, Jayasinghe R. Effects of probiotics on blood pressure: A system review and meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials. Hypertension. 21 July 2014. [Epub ahead of print].