Cooking-Oil Combo May Improve Blood Pressure
Mixture of sesame and rice bran oils has heart-healthy effects.
Reinforcing the role nutrition plays in heart health, new research suggests that cooking with a combination of sesame oil and rice bran oil can lower mild to moderately high blood pressure.
A small study found that hypertensive adults who added roughly 1.25 ounces of a rice bran/sesame oil mixture to their daily diet experienced a drop in blood pressure nearly equivalent to that experienced by those taking a standard calcium-channel blocker blood pressure medication alone.
And those who consumed both the oil mixture and their blood pressure medication saw a blood pressure drop more than twice that of those taking the drug alone.
The oil combination also seemed to lower so-called "bad" (LDL) cholesterol and raise "good" (HDL) cholesterol, the researchers reported. This cholesterol profile improvement was not found among those taking a medication alone.
The researchers believe this effect is mainly due to antioxidants -- sesamin, sesamol and sesamolin in sesame oil, and oryzanol in rice bran oil. Both oils also contain unsaturated fatty acids -- what we used to call 'good fats'.
The two-month study included 160 men and 140 women with an average age 57 who had high blood pressure. They were divided into three groups: one taking the calcium-channel-blocker medication nifedipine; a second group adding a specially designed oil blend to their cooking and salads that included 80 percent physically refined high oryzanol rice bran oil and 20 percent unrefined sesame oil; and a third group that consumed both nifedipine and the oil mix.
After checking blood pressure levels every 15 days, the team found that all patients experienced sizable drops in systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure.
They're planning to explore how the same oil mixture stacks up against other blood pressure medications, such as beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors.
The study shows the potential power of food and food components. Findings like these are important as high blood pressure is a leading cause of stroke.
The study is preliminary and far more research is needed to prove the findings are valid and ready to benefit patients.
Source: HealthDay News
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