This Salad Combination Lowers Blood Pressure
Sometimes health benefits come from eating certain foods in combination with each other that surpasses that of eating them separately. A recent study found when you make a salad that mixes together members of two different food groups, you get a palate-pleasing recipe that may help prevent cardiovascular disease.
What Is This Winning Combination?
The research involving mice centers on the Mediterranean diet, which is associated with a reduced risk of heart attack and stroke. In the study published in the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences, scientists found the secret is to mix unsaturated fats with foods high in nitrates and nitrites. Food sources of unsaturated fats are olive oil, nuts, avocados and fatty fish, while sources of nitrates and nitrites include many salad vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, carrots, celery and beetroot. When foods from the two groups are consumed together, they form nitro fatty acids, compounds that react with an enzyme that results in lower blood pressure. In other words, green salads are even healthier if you drizzle olive oil over them or if they include nuts or avocadoes.
If You Only Take One Vitamin, Take This
Do you often experience backaches, joint pain, weak bones, memory problems or other “age-related” health issues? You’re not alone.
Many of these common health burdens are simply due to a vitamin deficiency experienced by a whopping 75% of adults in the U.S. The good news is that this deficiency can be corrected quickly, easily and inexpensively.
This Explains Things
Heart benefits of the Mediterranean diet have perplexed scientists, as the eating plan contains large amounts of olive oil and other fats. This new finding of how it lowers blood pressure could clear up part of the mystery.
High blood pressure is called the “silent killer” because the symptoms are often unnoticed until a deadly or disabling cardiovascular event occurs. The condition also harms the kidneys and eyes and is increasingly associated with dementia. Therefore, the Mediterranean diet’s blood pressure-reducing benefit could help explain why it is linked to a lower risk of kidney disease, eye disorders and dementia as well as a reduced risk of stroke and heart attack.
This diet is full of foods that are healthful in and of themselves, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains and fatty fish. However, when some of these foods are eaten together, they appear to have an even greater benefit. If the findings of the research on mice holds true in humans, it is one case when 2 + 2 = 5.
Sources:
Mary West is a natural health enthusiast, as she believes this area can profoundly enhance wellness. She is the creator of a natural healing website where she focuses on solutions to health problems that work without side effects. You can visit her site and learn more at http://www.alternativemedicinetruth.com. Ms. West is also the author of Fight Cancer Through Powerful Natural Strategies.
