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(HealthDay News) – Daily use of a blend of sesame and rice bran oils can significantly lower blood pressure and lipids in patients with hypertension, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association’s High Blood Pressure Research Scientific Sessions, held from Sept 19–22 in Washington, D.C.
Devarajan Sankar, PhD, from the Fukuoka University Chikushi Hospital in Japan, and colleagues conducted a prospective, randomized, open-label dietary intervention in which 300 patients with hypertension (mean age, 57 years) were equally randomized for 60 days to receive either a calcium channel blocker (30 mg/day); sesame oil blend (Vivo; 35 g of oil/day/person); or sesame oil blend (35 g of oil/day/person) plus a calcium channel blocker (30 mg/day). At baseline and after 15, 30, 45, and 60 days, blood pressure was measured, and a lipid profile was conducted at the end of 60 days.
The researchers found that all three groups had a significant decrease in systolic (−16.2 mmHg for the calcium channel blocker, −14 mmHg for the oil; −36 mmHg for the combination) and diastolic (−12 mmHg, −10.8 mmHg, and −23.8 mmHg, respectively) blood pressure. A greater reduction was induced in the calcium channel blocker and sesame oil combination group, and the drug dose was reduced due to the decrease in blood pressure. For the oil alone group, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides levels in the blood were significantly reduced, while high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels increased. Similar results were seen in the combination therapy group.
“We have demonstrated, for the first time that dietary intervention with blends of sesame and rice bran oils lowers blood pressure and lipids in hypertensive individuals,” the authors write.
Adani Wilmar Limited donated the oil blend (Vivo) used in the study.
