Heart Health
Broccoli beats potatoes for lowering blood pressure
Research we're watching
- Reviewed by Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
Eating cruciferous vegetables may lower blood pressure more than starchy veggies, a small study finds.
The study included 18 adults ages 50 to 75 with high blood pressure. They were randomly assigned to eat either a soup made with broccoli, kale, cauliflower, and cabbage or a soup made with potato, pumpkin, carrot, and sweet potato, every day for both lunch and dinner for two weeks. Then, after eating their regular diet for two weeks, they ate the other soup for an additional two weeks.
The participants' systolic blood pressure (the first number in a reading) was 2.5 points lower, on average, when they ate the cruciferous vegetable soup compared with the root and squash soup.
According to the authors, this benefit may be due to certain nutrients found in higher amounts in cruciferous vegetables, including nitrates, vitamin K, and magnesium. They published their findings in the Sept. 2, 2024, issue of BMC Medicine.
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About the Author
Julie Corliss, Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter
About the Reviewer
Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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