Healthful Diet Can Lower Blood Pressure

A healthful diet high in fruits, vegetables and low-fat milk can help lower blood pressure and may even eliminate the need for hypertension medicine in some people, a study found.

The research, sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, found a significant drop in blood pressure when people followed the special diet for eight weeks.

The findings were first reported by The Associated Press when they were presented in November at a meeting of the American Heart Association in New Orleans. They are now being published in today’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

“Adding a new therapy like this offers a lot of potential for both the treatment and prevention of hypertension,” said Dr. Thomas J. Moore of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.