With fuzzy skin and bright green flesh, kiwis stand out in the fruit aisle. Native to northern China, this fruit can be purchased at most local grocery stores, and is often known to be a summer treat.
Despite its tiny size, some scientists claim that kiwis are capable of offering a huge health benefit—lowering blood pressure. Many Americans have high blood pressure and are prescribed medications to help bring it down. Caused by excess stress, weight, poor eating habits or even genetics, high blood pressure is a serious matter. Often, medication is necessary to help normalize blood pressure, but research has been noticing that this tropical fruit (amongst other natural alternatives and routes) may be able to give us some aid as well.
A 2011 study that was presented at the scientific meeting of the American Heart Association focused on the difference of blood pressure in participants who ate a kiwi three times a day verses those who had an apple a day. On their website, The American Heart Association, it is explained that “Kiwi fruit contains lutein, an oxycarotenoid that has antioxidant properties. An increased antioxidant capacity may lower blood pressure through modulation of nitric oxide mediated vascular reactivity,” the researchers note. The participants in the study all had blood pressures that were higher than normal and were over the age of fifty-five. The study was conducted over an eight week period and found that, “Three kiwi a day improved 24-hour [blood pressure] more than an apple a day.”
Furthermore, a newswire distribution network, GlobeNewswire, states that, this study found that “24- hour systolic blood pressure was an average 3.6 millimeters of mercury lower in the kiwi group than in the apple group,” after the eight week study. Although this finding seems like a success, researchers state that “Incorporating kiwi as part of a nutritional plan to treat high blood pressure should be confirmed with larger studies,” GlobeNewswire stresses.
A research information website, Science Daily, explains that, in 2000, researchers from UC Irvine College of Medicine “found that high blood pressure can be induced—and brought back to normal—by changing levels of highly reactive oxygen molecules called free radicals and nitric oxide […and…] that [incorporating] multiple antioxidants in the diet, including vitamins E and C, may help prevent and treat certain types of high blood pressure.” If this is true, then kiwis—which contain high levels of antioxidants—will help to defer the free radicals and in turn lower blood pressure.
Verdict: Fact. Although more research has to be done on this topic, kiwis have been scientifically proven to lower blood pressure. Researchers stress that medicines that are prescribed by the doctor are not to be replaced, but maintaining am overall healthy diet could help lower your blood pressure. Talk to your doctor about how kiwis can help keep your blood pressure at bay. In the meantime, check if your local grocery store has any kiwis in stock yet. The least you can get out of eating them is a brief bite of tropical weather!
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What other kiwi benefits do you know of?
