Natural yoghurt and other probiotics may help cut blood pressure, researchers said yesterday.
The findings followed another study suggesting that the substances could help counteract the effects of obesity on the liver.
Experts said there was still a shortage of overwhelming evidence about the effects of the substances.
Probiotics contain natural bacteria, such as those found in milk, thought to enhance the digestive system.
Australian researchers found a "small" collection of nine studies about the issue. In total they involved just 543 people. The findings are reported in the journal Hypertension.
Researcher Dr Jing Sun, of the Griffith Health Institute and School of Medicine, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, said: "The small collection of studies we looked at suggest regular consumption of probiotics can be part of a healthy lifestyle to help reduce high blood pressure, as well as maintain healthy blood pressure levels.
"This includes probiotics in yogurt, fermented and sour milk and cheese, and probiotic supplements."
Experts said the findings were not strong enough to make probiotics a prescription for high blood pressure.
Victoria Taylor, of the British Heart Foundation, said: “While this is an interesting review of the research in this area, it’s too soon to start recommending probiotics for lowering blood pressure.
"With only a handful of studies involving a limited number of participants and conducted for only short periods, we need more research to confirm the findings seen here.
“In the mean-time, there are a number of well-established lifestyle changes that we can make to keep our blood pressure healthy. Eating less salt, more fruit and vegetables and being physically active and maintaining a healthy body weight are all tried and tested ways to do this.”
Hypertension 21 July 2014
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