To Your Health
October, 2023 (Vol. 17, Issue 10) |
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Probiotics for BP?
By Editorial Staff
Probiotics are essential for microbiome health. Not sure what a microbiome even is? Perhaps this explanation by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health will help clarify: "Picture a bustling city on a weekday morning, the sidewalks flooded with people rushing to get to work or to appointments.
Now imagine this at a microscopic level and you have an idea of what the microbiome looks like inside our bodies, consisting of trillions of microorganisms (also called microbiota or microbes) of thousands of different species. These include not only bacteria but fungi, parasites, and viruses. In a healthy person, these ‘bugs' coexist peacefully, with the largest numbers found in the small and large intestines but also throughout the body."
Now let's talk about probiotics – live microorganisms like the ones referenced above. When people think about probiotics, they often think about yogurt first; Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus are common probiotic strains used to ferment milk as part of the yogurt-making process, but numerous other strains exist and can be found in other products and are available as supplements.
Probiotics are important for your microbiome, and they're also important for regulating blood pressure, according to research. In fact, a new study suggests two additional strains can be added to the list of probiotics that positively influence blood pressure: Bifidobacterium lactis and Lactobacillus rhamnosus. Researchers conducting a mice study (which is common before proceeding to human studies) discovered that in hypertensive mice, blood pressure returned to normal levels after ingesting the two probiotic strains for 16 weeks.
Now here's why we mentioned probiotics and the microbiome first: The researchers also investigated the potential connection between blood pressure, as modified by probiotic supplementation, and the GI microbiome. The found one: "[Our] findings indicate that the probiotic efficacies in alleviating hypertension are linked to specific gut microbes and metabolic pathways." In other words, probiotics help facilitate a healthy microbiome ... and a healthy microbiome may help facilitate normal blood pressure. Talk to your doctor for more information about the health benefits of probiotics and whether adding a probiotic supplement to your nutritional regimen is right for you.
