Macro partitioning
Adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet significantly reduces systolic and diastolic blood pressure in adults without established cardiovascular disease (primary prevention).
To lower your blood pressure, adopt a Mediterranean-style diet. This means using olive oil as your main cooking fat, eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, and legumes, and including tree nuts. This approach has been shown to modestly but significantly reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in people at risk of heart disease.
moderate-quality evidence for a reduction in systolic (-2.99 mmHg (95% CI -3.45 to -2.53) and diastolic blood pressure (-2.0 mmHg, 95% CI -2.29 to -1.71)
Why this rating
Moderate quality evidence for BP reduction, but low quality for clinical endpoints in primary prevention.
Source
Mediterranean-style diet for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease
Karen Rees et al. · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · 2019
DOI 10.1002/14651858.cd009825.pub3
More from this paper
- A Mediterranean-style diet reduces the risk of stroke in high-risk individuals, but does not significantly reduce total mortality or myocardial infarction compared to a low-fat diet.Moderate
- In patients with established cardiovascular disease (secondary prevention), a Mediterranean-style diet reduces CVD mortality and total mortality compared to usual care.Limited
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