Daily Dollop

One Yoplait please…doctor’s orders!

This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.

Loading up my grocery cart – with yogurt! Which is healthy, right? 

Yes! Maybe more than you think!

Enter University of South Australia’s Alexandra Wade and colleagues at the University of Maine. They asked around nine hundred adults about their diets – specifically, how often they ate YOGURT. Then the researchers measured their blood pressure.

Results? Among people with high blood pressure, those who reported eating MORE yogurt had LESS SEVERE high blood pressure!

Compared to those who ate less yogurt, daily yogurt eaters showed LOWER blood pressure! By TEN POINTS! This was true even after adjusting for habits like exercise.

So what’s so SPECIAL about yogurt?

The authors credit yogurt’s nutrients and probiotic bacteria for their blood pressure controlling abilities. Lowering blood pressure has been shown to greatly reduce the risk of heart disease. The researchers believe eating more yogurt can help people with high blood pressure keep their heart healthy.

Hmmm…does Fro-Yo count? Adding it to the cart now!

Wade, A. T., Guenther, B. A., Ahmed, F. S., & Elias, M. F. (2021). Higher yogurt intake is associated with lower blood pressure in hypertensive individuals: Cross-sectional findings from the Maine–Syracuse longitudinal study. Int Dairy J, 122, 105159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idairyj.2021.105159