Whole Grain Cereal Can Reduce Blood Pressure

Do you know that a simple breakfast of whole grain cereal can help control your blood pressure and keep it at a healthier level? Read more to find out!

Typical breakfast usually includes bread, eggs, butter, pancake, or a more localized version of Indonesia’s beloved breakfast items: chicken porridge with all its trimmings or rice cakes in a rich vegetable broth with coconut milk. Though those are considered a breakfast staple in most households, it doesn’t mean they are good for you – or your heart! High blood pressure or hypertension is a silent killer associated with mortality risk caused by stroke or cardiovascular diseases. So, it’s important for us to keep them at a normal and healthy level.

Dr. David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, called those kinds of breakfast items as a triple dose of blood pressure in a breakfast bowl. What can we do to change this bad eating habit in the morning? As it turns out, the answer is pretty simple. Look no further than the cereal aisle in your local grocery, because whole grain cereal is the answer! “There has long been evidence that whole grain intake can lower blood pressure fairly acutely, and it is associated with lower blood pressure over time,” said Dr. Katz in an interview done by a health magazine in the US.

According to research done in Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and the VA Boston Healthcare System, there’s a 20% decreased risk of developing hypertension in those who consume whole grain breakfast cereal at least seven times a week. The lead researcher, Dr. Jinesh Kochar, said that the association with lower blood pressure is more pronounced in whole grain cereal than in refined grain cereal. He added that this might be partly due to its high fiber content, which increase satiety, increase insulin sensitivity, and reduce inflammation.

The vitamin, mineral, and soluble fiber content in whole grain cereal might also be the cause of the beneficial effect, as they help relax the blood vessels as well as lower the blood sugar, lipid, and insulin level that in turn can reduce the blood pressure.

Opting for whole grain cereal also mean that you’re choosing a healthier meal rather than other options that has less heart-related benefits or even none at all.



First published in www.fimela.com. Translated and edited by Gold’s Gym Indonesia.