According to new research in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension, eating probiotics regularly may modestly improve your blood pressure.

What exactly are probiotics?

They are live microorganisms like bacteria or yeast that can improve health. We can find probiotics as supplements but they can be found in food as well. We know that there are hundreds of bacteria in our gut and they are needed for digestion as well as our immune system. The authors point out that research has suggested that 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.

The researchers analyzed existing data and found:

Probiotic consumption

  • lowered systolic blood pressure  by an average 3.56 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and diastolic blood pressure (the lower number) by an average 2.38 mm Hg
  • positive effects from probiotics on diastolic blood pressure were greatest in people whose blood pressure was equal to or greater than 130/85, which is considered elevated.

They also found:

  • Consuming probiotics for less than eight weeks didn't lower systolic or diastolic blood pressure.
  • Probiotic consumption with a daily bacteria volume-according to the research- of 109-10 12 colony-forming units (CFU) may improve blood pressure. Consumption with less than 109 CFU didn't lower blood pressure. CFU is the amount of bacteria or the dose of probiotics in a product.
  • Probiotics with multiple bacteria lowered blood pressure more than those with a single bacteria.

The authors felt that BP lowering resulted from other health benefits such as  improving total cholesterol low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, cholesterol reducing blood glucose and insulin resistance; helping to regulate the hormone system that regulates blood pressure and fluid balance

What else can probiotics do? According to a Yale panel of experts there are a whole list of possible benefits!

  • childhood diarrhea
  • ulcerative colitis
  • preventing antibiotic-associated diarrhea and infectious diarrhea helping the immune system treating symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome

While more research remains to be done, this is an interesting study!