Seaweed Significantly Lowers Kids Blood Pressure

AICHI, JapanSeaweed has been found to boost heart health in children by significantly lowering blood pressure, according to a new study published in the Nutrition Journal. The findings support a similar study published last month in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that found seaweed proteins work just like the bioactive peptides in dairy products to reduce blood pressure almost like the popular ACE inhibitor drugs.

Japanese researchers conducted a cross-sectional study involving 459 children healthy preschoolers aged 3 to 6 years. Blood pressure and pulse were measured once by an automated sphygmomanometer, and dietary data, including seaweed intake, were assessed using three-day dietary records covering two consecutive weekdays and one weekend day. Blood pressure measurement, complete dietary records, and parent-reported height and weight were obtained for 223 boys and 194 girls.

When researchers examined Spearman's correlation coefficients, seaweed intake was significantly negatively related to systolic blood pressure in girls (P=0.008). In the one-way analysis of covariance for blood pressure and pulse after adjustments for age and body max index (BMI), the boys with the lowest, middle and highest tertiles of seaweed intake had diastolic blood pressure readings of 62.8, 59.3 and 59.6 mmHg, respectively (P= 0.11, trend P= 0.038). Girls with higher seaweed intake had significantly lower systolic blood pressure readings (102.4, 99.2 and 96.9 mmHg for girls with the lowest, middle and highest tertiles of seaweed intake, respectively; P= 0.037, trend P= 0.030).