Lowering blood pressure with probiotics

Editor's note: This article is a reprint. It was originally published on November 29, 2017.

There are many medical professionals who repeat that eating “too much salt” increases your risk of high blood pressure. More and more scientists are coming forward with information about this, and it’s a bitter debate. In fact, Dr. Sean C. Lucan of Albert Einstein College of Medicine disputed the premise of then-New York City Health Czar Dr. Thomas Farley’s “War on Salt” campaign in 2010, calling it “false.”^One

“We don't know whether reducing average population sodium intake reduces cardiovascular disease risk or saves lives… For some high-risk heart disease patients, some studies have suggested that low-salt diets 'actually lead to more severe cardiovascular disease and premature death.'”

So if the biggest cause of high blood pressure is not eating too much salt, what can you do to lower your blood pressure? One solution lies in your gut bacteria. Regular intake of probiotics can help alleviate symptoms.

In one study,² According to a study published in the journal Hypertension, scientists reviewed data from nine studies, all of which closely examined the link between probiotics and blood pressure. In all, 543 adults with normal or high blood pressure were included. The researchers concluded:^three

“People who took probiotics had an average reduction in systolic blood pressure (the highest number on the measurement) of about 3.6 mmHg, and an average reduction in diastolic blood pressure (the lowest number) of about 2.4 mmHg, compared to those who did not take probiotics.

The effects of probiotics appeared to be greatest in people with high blood pressure (greater than 130/85), and probiotics containing multiple strains of bacteria lowered blood pressure more than probiotics containing a single strain of bacteria.”

Regular probiotic intake is key

Special research,⁴ He also noted that the word “regularly” is key when it comes to probiotic intake. People who took probiotics for less than two months did not see any positive effects on their blood pressure levels. Lead author Jing Sun of Griffith University in Australia noted that even in the relatively small set of studies she and her colleagues reviewed, regular intake can make or break the success of probiotics in reducing high blood pressure.

In addition to helping lower high blood pressure, eating a diet rich in fermented foods can also help maintain healthy levels. Examples include raw, grass-fed yogurt and cheese, as well as other cultured dairy products such as kefir, a fermented milk drink.

Scientists mostly seem to think more evidence is needed, because the study only showed a link between probiotic intake and lower blood pressure, not a true “cause and effect,” and the results were unevenly adjusted for variables like the amount of probiotic consumed and other foods that may have been beneficial.

Still, Dr. Merle Myerson, director of the Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Center at Mount Sinai Roosevelt and St. Luke's in New York City, acknowledged that despite these limitations, the results are useful in suggesting where further research should be directed.

Reduced insulin resistance – the key to a healthy heart

Dr. Bruce Rutkin, a cardiologist at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York, argues that probiotics may improve blood pressure through several different mechanisms once they are part of a consistent diet.⁵ One of the most important is its ability to reduce insulin resistance, which is a well-known cause of diabetes.

And Rutkin agrees that it may be the most important key to the concomitant role that a person's blood pressure levels play in cardiovascular risk, as the Diabetic Journals explains:⁶

“Insulin resistance is recognized as a powerful predictor of disease in adults and has become a major component of the metabolic syndrome and a focus of research. This condition occurs when insulin levels are higher than expected relative to glucose levels. Therefore, insulin resistance is by definition associated with hyperinsulinemia.”

The presence or absence of insulin sensitivity is important for heart health, because elevated insulin levels lead to increased blood pressure. High blood pressure is one of the side effects of insulin resistance, which puts stress on the arteries and leads to atherosclerosis.

Study – Good gut bacteria can 'stop' rising blood pressure

A very in-depth review of how probiotics affect blood pressure was done, taking into account clinical indications that consuming too much salt can “double” the risk of heart failure, and that even small amounts of salt can increase the risk of developing heart disease or having a heart-related event.

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, teamed up with researchers from several institutions in Germany to evaluate previous research on the effects of a high-salt diet on beneficial gut bacteria.

Their findings were published in the journal Nature.⁷ First author Nicola Wilck of the Max-Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin worked with colleague Dominik Muller and co-led the investigation with Ralf Linker of Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen, Germany. As Medical News Today reports, the researchers found that adding a high-salt diet produced the same changes in humans as in mice.⁸

“In a pilot study in humans, a moderate high-salt challenge decreased the intestinal survival of Lactobacillus spp., increased TH17 cells, and increased blood pressure. Our results link high-salt intake to the gut-immune axis and highlight the gut microbiota as a potential therapeutic target to overcome salt-sensitive conditions.”

The bottom line is that the researchers found that in subjects who took the probiotics for a week before starting a high-sodium diet, both blood pressure and levels of beneficial Lactobacillus bacteria remained within normal ranges. Study co-author Eric Alm, director of MIT's Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, observed:⁹

“We’re learning that the immune system exerts a lot of control over the body, beyond what we typically think of as immunity. The mechanisms by which the immune system exerts that control are still being unraveled… If we can find that definitive evidence and uncover the full molecular details of what’s going on, we might be able to make it more likely that people will stick to a healthy diet.”

Alm concluded that there may be some merit, at least for his part, in developing probiotics that aim to “fix” some of the effects of a bad diet, but added that people shouldn’t use them as a panacea. “If you eat fast food and then take a probiotic, it’s going to cancel out the benefits.”¹⁰

Probiotics – How to Optimize Your Health

Here are some sobering statistics: One-third of Americans have high blood pressure.¹¹ It kills tens of thousands of Americans every year.¹² But that's not all. High blood pressure often leads to heart disease and stroke, which are some of the most common causes of death. But in today's medically burdensome economy, the cure (for conventional medicine) is high blood pressure medication.

But on the contrary, the easiest solution to get rid of high blood pressure is to reduce insulin resistance. In fact, insulin resistance is a notorious cause of high blood pressure and secondarily increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. This is where probiotics come in. Dr. Austin Perlmutter, an internist, notes that there is increasing research on the microbiome and that probiotic supplements can have a positive effect on high blood pressure.

“As you might expect, the changes were greater in people who started out with high blood pressure than in people who were healthy to begin with,” he added, noting other positive effects, including improved brain health and skin clarity, as well as significant reductions in diastolic and systolic blood pressure measurements.¹³

The positive results of the study are growing in support of increasing probiotic intake to lower blood pressure, but it’s actually a win-win. There are countless reasons why increasing your intake can benefit your health in many ways.

Benefits of Probiotics

A study of high blood pressure found that those who saw the greatest benefit from using probiotics to lower blood pressure were those whose blood pressure levels were highest at the start of the study and those who took multiple strains of probiotics.¹⁴ In addition to carefully selected fruits and vegetables that can help lower blood pressure naturally, some of the best sources of probiotics you can eat include:

Feeding your microbiome with probiotics is just one way to lower your blood pressure without drugs, but it’s one that can revolutionize your health by improving every system in your body, starting with your gut.