How probiotic yogurt could lower blood pressure

EATING yogurt high in ‘good bacteria’ could help to lower high blood pressure.

Researchers have discovered that diets high in salt are killing off beneficial bacteria in our guts. Without these ‘friendly’ microbes, our bodies start producing cells that increase inflammation – making our blood vessels narrower, and leading to high blood pressure.

Now their experiments have shown that consuming a probiotic yogurt drink reduces the inflammation-triggering cells.

Probiotics are found in biolive yogurts, as well as fermented foods such as sauerkraut.

But the US team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology warned it was not a licence for people to consume as much salt as they like as long as they ate yogurt.

The breakthrough, published in the journal Nature, could lead to new therapies to tackle high blood pressure, which affects a quarter of Britons.

Professor David Relman, of Stanford University in California, reviewed the findings in the journal and said they have ‘profound potential.’