![]() ![]() "It’s not uncommon for us to see patients at our research center who come in and they’re taking four drugs for their blood pressure, and it’s still too high. Those are less scientifically valid than controlled studies, but they showed even larger decreases in blood pressure between vegetarian and omnivorous diets (6.9 systolic, 4.7 diastolic). In addition to the seven controlled trials (where you bring in people and change their diets, then compare them with a control group eating everything), the researchers also reviewed 32 different observational studies. Rather than just picking one study or another to look at, you go after every study that has been published that weighs in on this question." "Meta-analysis is the best kind of science we do. "What’s new here is that we were able to get a really good figure for an average blood pressure lowering effect," Barnard said. DASH was inspired by observations that "individuals who consume a vegetarian diet have markedly lower blood pressures than do non-vegetarians." It ended up recommending a diet high in fruits and vegetables, nuts, and beans though it did not tell us to go all-out vegetarian. National Institutes of Health's 2006 DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) studies. There have been a number of blood pressure studies on vegetarian diets in recent years, most famously the U.S. "What’s new here is that a really good figure for an average blood pressure lowering effect." In diastolic blood pressure decrease (the bottom number) the difference is two. In this case substantially means that when you look at all of the controlled research trials comparing any kind of vegetarian diet to an omnivorous diet, the average difference in systolic blood pressure (the top number in the standard "120 over 80" jive) is about five millimeters of mercury. is about half as strong as taking a medication." "People who follow vegetarian diets, they’ve got substantially lower blood pressures. "We looked at every published study, so it’s really undeniably true," Barnard said at the outset of our conversation, in a manner that anticipated a denial I wasn't prepared to offer. We've known for years that vegetarianism and low blood pressure are bedfellows, but the reason for it hasn't been clear. High blood pressure shortens lives and contributes to heart disease, kidney failure, dementia, and all sorts of bad things, so any reasonable dietary way to treat or prevent it is worth considering. The publicist for an organization called the Physician's Committee on Responsible Medicine emailed me to ask if I'd like to talk with Barnard about the research, and I always do want to talk about food research, so I did. I heard about Barnard because today he and his colleagues published a meta-analysis in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association: Internal Medicine that confirmed a very promising health benefit of being a vegetarian: an enviably lower blood pressure than your omnivorous friends. Apparently I'm one of few people in health media not familiar with his work, and his very clear perspective. What is the dietary staple in Japan? They’re eating huge amounts of rice." "We looked at every published study, so it’s really undeniably true."īased on the fact that Barnard is the author of 15 books extolling the life-prolonging virtues of plant-based diets, I should have seen that coming. "You look at the people across the world who are the thinnest, the healthiest, and live the longest they are not following anything remotely like a low-carb diet," he said. Neal Barnard about limiting your carb intake. At some point we have to stand back and look at evidence." "It is popular, bad science, it’s a mistake, it’s a fad. A low carbohydrate diet is quackery," Dr. ![]()
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