SOY NUTS & HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

   Soy protein is often used as a healthier alternative to meat products, since it contains less saturated fat and cholesterol. Soy consumption has been associated with a number of benefits, from reducing cholesterol to combating inflammation. Evidence also indicates that incorporating soy nuts into your daily diet may help lower high blood pressure.

Hypertension

   High blood pressure, or hypertension, refers to elevated pressure it takes to move blood through artery walls. Over time, this extra force causes inflammation and hardening of arteries, which increases your risk for heart disease, stroke, kidney dysfunction and eye problems. Hypertension is defined as having 140 or higher systolic blood pressure, or the force when the heart contracts, and 90 or higher diastolic blood pressure, or the force of the heart when relaxing, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Lowers Blood Pressure

  Soy nuts may help lower your blood pressure, especially if you have hypertension, according to a study performed by scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. They investigated the effects of adding soy nuts to a diet on blood pressure in hypertensive, prehypertensive and normotensive patients. Participants consumed a therapeutic lifestyle diet, which aims to lower blood pressure, with or without soy nuts for eight weeks. Blood pressure was measured before and after the study. Scientists reported in the May 2007 issue of the "Archives of Internal Medicine" that those in the soy nut groups lowered their blood pressure compared with those in the non-soy groups.

Mechanism

   One of the ways soy nuts might improve blood pressure is by reducing inflammation of your blood vessels, thereby improving blood flow and decreasing blood pressure. Scientists at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center observed that hypertensive and normotensive participants consuming 0.5 cups of soy nuts on a therapeutic lifestyle diet for eight weeks experienced reductions in soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, which is associated with blood vessel inflammation, compared with those not consuming soy nuts on the diet. The findings were reported in the July 2008 issue of the "American Journal of Cardiology."

Caution

   Soy consumption may interfere with normal thyroid function and should not be consumed by those with kidney disease, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. In addition, if you are allergic to soy, avoid its use.