An Essay On Vegeterianism

School: University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
Course: ENGL 105: Kitchen as a Writing Craft
Professor: David Ross
Parth Patel
English 105
Mr. David Ross
Paper 1.3
Vegetarianism and Its Properties in Helping Lower High Blood Pressure
Sixty-seven million American adults suffer from high blood pressure, and only about half of them have the condition under control leading to one thousand deaths per day (Centers of Disease Control and Prevention). According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, high blood pressure is the “second greatest public health threat” in the United States, and because of this fact the effects of a vegetarian diet are debated on whether or not they help lower blood pressure. People usually associate vegetarianism with eating green and having a healthy lifestyle but most people tend to neglect the fact that vegetarianism is much more beneficial than just for staying fit and health; the specific elements of a vegetarian diet play a key role in lowering blood pressure. The increase consumption of nitrates, potassium, and fiber along with the elimination of meat indicate that a vegetarian diet is greatly helpful in the reduction of blood pressure. According to the American Heart Association, blood pressure measures the amount of force that is put outward on the arterial walls, and high blood pressure means that excessive force is used to produce blood flow throughout the body, which is also known as hypertension (“What is High Blood Pressure”). The main function of nitrates is to widen blood vessels and increase blood flow, allowing more oxygen-rich blood to flow to and from the heart muscles (Texas Heart Institute). A vegetarian diet is rich in foods that contain nitrates including broccoli, lettuce, radish, cucumbers, etc. Thus it is clear that a vegetarian diet will result in a decrease in blood pressure because of the increased consumption of nitrate-rich foods. In a study conducted by Suborno M. Gosh, Vikas Kapil, and their colleagues at Queen Mary University of London, participants were fed a nitrate-rich vegetarian diet and had their blood pressure observed. Participants experienced a ten-point decrease in their blood pressure in the twenty-four hours after implementing the vegetarian diet (Gosh, Kapil). This study provides scientific support that proves an increase consumption in nitrates directly correlates to the reduction of blood pressure further supporting that a vegetarian diet is beneficial for people with high blood pressure because of the increased consumption of nitrates. In addition to an increase in nitrate consumption, elimination of meat is also another benefit that results from a vegetarian diet. The elimination of meat is seen to result in lowering blood pressure. Thirty-nine studies led by Yoko Yokoyama, containing 22,000 people, concluded that vegetarians have significantly lower blood pressure than meat eaters. Studies showed that there was a reduction of 5 to 7 mm of mercury for systolic blood pressure and 2 to 5 mm of mercury for diastolic blood pressure in vegetarians when compared to meat eaters. The elimination of meat resulting from the diet will also reduce an individual’s risk of heart attack by 9 percent and risk of stroke by 14 percent; not only will the elimination of meat aid in reducing blood pressure but also benefit the health of an individual as a whole (Yokoyama). This study provides support that an elimination of meat is linked with a lower blood pressure, which results in a lower percentage of hypertension. Results show that omnivores have a 15% chance of hypertension while vegetarians have a 5.8% chance. The elimination of meat resulting from a vegetarian diet causes a reduction in blood pressure and in turn reduces the chances of hypertension. The study concluded “non-meat eaters have a lower prevalence of hypertension and lower systolic and diastolic blood pressures than meat eaters, largely because of differences in meat consumption” (Appleby). This study provides further support to the argument that a vegetarian diet will significantly reduce blood pressure because of its key property of the elimination of meat from the diet. A prominent cause of high blood pressure is a high intake of sodium. A great advantage of a vegetarian diet is a high consumption of potassium, which is found in potatoes, spinach, tomatoes, bananas, etc. Potassium counteracts the sodium intake, thus lowering blood pressure. The increased consumption of potassium from a vegetarian diet causes additional amounts of sodium to be excreted from our body through urine, thus having beneficial effects to the body. Similarly to nitrates, potassium also benefits the blood flow through relaxing the blood vessels, in turn lowering blood pressure (American Heart Association “Striking a Balance”). In a study conducted by Francesco P. Cappuccio and Graham A. MacGregor, involving 586 participants, indicated that the intake of potassium from a vegetarian diet significantly lowered systolic blood pressure by 7-10 mm of mercury and diastolic blood pressure by 3-6 mm of mercury in participants who had high blood pressure. Based on this analysis it can be concluded that the benefit of an increase in consumption of potassium from a vegetarian diet is a key factor in lowering blood pressure. Some may present a counterargument that the studies showing decrease in blood pressure may be misrepresented due to factors such as age. A study has shown that when monitoring the blood pressure of individuals over a decade, there has been a gradual decrease in blood pressure naturally, and males naturally have a lower blood pressure than females when monitored individually (Public Library of Science). In rebuttal, the studies presented above were executed in a shorter period of time. The shortness of times eliminates age as a variable when measuring blood pressure. The results of the studies shown above cannot be skewed because of the shortness of the time period that the studies were carried through and eliminates the argument that aging could have influenced the results because age was only a prominent factor when measuring through decades but the studies shown above were performed and completed in less than a month. Since the time was much shorter, it removes age as an influence on blood pressure and solely concentrates results based on the implementation of a vegetarian diet. Along with an increase in nitrate and potassium consumption, a vegetarian diet also allows for an increase in fiber intake, which has also been proven to decrease blood pressure. An ideal and healthy vegetarian diet already provides a high consumption of foods rich in fiber so it is already beneficial because of this reason and it is an added bonus when it comes to lowering blood pressure. Since a vegetarian diet tends to be high in fiber, a change to a vegetarian diet will be beneficial in lowering blood pressure. A study done by Ian L. Rouse proved that the higher intake in fiber increases the absorption of important nutrients and dietary magnesium, and this change influences the cardiac or vascular smooth muscles by producing smoother contraction thus lowering blood pressure. Another study conducted by Seamus P. Whelton, Amanda D. Hyre, and their colleagues showed a significant reduction of 1.65 mmHg in diastolic blood pressure and 1.15 mmHg in systolic blood pressure. The study concluded that an increase in consumption of dietary fiber aids in lowering blood pressure; thus, since a vegetarian diet allows for the consumption of high-fiber food such as beans, broccoli, oatmeal, etc. it valid to state that the implementation of a vegetarian diet will aid in lowering blood pressure. Lastly, a general study reported by David McNamee compared the blood pressure of participants who followed a vegetarian diet and those who followed an omnivorous diet. The study measured the differences in millimeters of mercury (mmHg) and a lower number signifies a lower blood pressure. It was reported that vegetarians had a systolic blood pressure that was 4.8 mmHg and a diastolic pressure that was 2.2 mmHg lower than that of omnivores in clinical studies. The researchers associate this difference to the benefits that a vegetarian diet provides. “Vegetarians generally have a lower BMI and lower risk of obesity because vegetarian diets have higher fiber and lower fat content that an omnivore diet and these advantages result in a lower blood pressure in vegetarians” (McNamee). This study further provides evidence that a change to a vegetarian diet is a successful approach in lowering blood pressure. As numerous studies indicate, a vegetarian diet helps lower blood pressure. The intake of specific nutrient rich foods caused by the implementation of a vegetarian diet helps in the reduction of blood pressure. A vegetarian diet consists of specific foods that causes an increase in nitrate, potassium, and fiber intake, which is directly proved to lower blood pressure. Not only does the increased intake of certain foods but also the elimination of meat that is caused by implementing a vegetarian diet is also proven to significantly lower blood pressure. In its entirety, an effective and proven way to lower blood pressure is to switch to a vegetarian diet.

Work Cited
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American Heart Association. "What Is High Blood Pressure?" What Is High Blood Pressure? American Heart Association, 12 Aug. 2014. Web. 03 Sept. 2014. <http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/AboutHighBloodPressure/What-is-High-Blood-Pressure_UCM_301759_Article.jsp>.

Appleby, Paul N., Gwyneth K. Davey, and Timothy J. Key. "Hypertension and Blood Pressure among Meat Eaters, Fish Eaters, Vegetarians and Vegans in EPIC–Oxford." Public Health Nutrition 5.05 (2002): 645-54. Cambridge University Press. 7 Sept. 2014.

Cappuccio, Francesco P., and Graham A. Macgregor. "Does Potassium Supplementation Lower Blood Pressure? A Meta-analysis of Published Trials." Journal of Hypertension 9.5 (1991): 465-73. Print.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "High Blood Pressure Facts."Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 07 July 2014. Web. 02 Sept. 2014. <http://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/facts.htm>.

Ghosh, S. M., V. Kapil, I. Fuentes-Calvo, K. J. Bubb, V. Pearl, A. B. Milsom, R. Khambata, S. Maleki-Toyserkani, M. Yousuf, N. Benjamin, A. J. Webb, M. J. Caulfield, A. J. Hobbs, and A. Ahluwalia. "Enhanced Vasodilator Activity of Nitrite in Hypertension: Critical Role for Erythrocytic Xanthine Oxidoreductase and Translational Potential." Hypertension 61.5 (2013): 1091-102. American Heart Association. Web. 3 Sept. 2014. <http://hyper.ahajournals.org/content/early/2013/04/15/HYPERTENSIONAHA.111.00933.abstract?sid=9a28b8a9-3024-4412-a2bb-6942eda57ba5>.

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Public Library of Science. "Blood pressure changes are age-related, study finds." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 June 2011. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110614203610.htm>.

Rouse, Ian L. "Blood-Pressure-Lowering Effect Of A Vegetarian Diet: Controlled Trial In Normotensive Subjects." The Lancet 321.8314-8315 (1983): 5-10. Print.

Texas Heart Institute. "Nitrates." Texas Heart Institute Heart Information Center. Texas Heart Institute, Oct. 2013. Web. 03 Sept. 2014. <http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Topics/Meds/nitrmeds.cfm>

Whelton, Seamus P., Amanda D. Hyre, Bonnie Pedersen, Yeonjoo Yi, Paul K. Whelton, and Jiang He. "Effect of Dietary Fiber Intake on Blood Pressure: A Meta-analysis of Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trials."Journal of Hypertension 23.3 (2005): 475-81. Print.
Yoko Yokoyama, Ph.D., MPH, department of preventive medicine, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Osaka, Japan; Gregg Fonarow, M.D., associate chief, UCLA Division of Cardiology, Los Angeles; Feb. 24, 2014, JAMA Internal Medicine