OJ Seems to Lower Blood Pressure
People who drank two glasses of orange juice a day for six weeks saw a surprising 10 mm Hg drop in their systolic blood pressure levels, doctors at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center tell MSNBC. The average drop in the systolic level, which is the top number in a blood pressure reading, was accompanied by an average 3.5 mm HG decline in the diastolic (bottom) reading, says study author Dr. Dennis Sprecher.
This is an enormous amount for two months," he tells MSNBC. "We were astonished."
The research involved 24 patients with clogged arteries, a condition that commonly leads to high blood pressure. Sprecher says the researchers aren't positive of the cause, though they theorize that the vitamin C and potassium found in orange juice both played a significant role.
Results of the study, which was funded by OJ producer Tropicana, were presented at this week's annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Atlanta.