Study Indicates Yogurt Could Lower Risk of Heart Disease & Stroke

Having high blood pressure can drastically impact your risk for heart disease or stroke, which is why it’s important to keep hypertension under control. Making an effort to reduce your sugar intake can cause remarkable improvements in high blood pressure. However, if you’re looking for additional ways to lower your blood pressure, it may be in your best interest to stock up on yogurt the next time you visit the grocery store.

Yogurt and High Blood Pressure

In a recent study published by The American Journal of Hypertension, the consumption of 2 servings of yogurt each week can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke by up to 20 percent.1 In the study, nearly three-quarters of a million participants that were diagnosed with high blood pressure were issued questionnaires about their yogurt intake for over 30 years. Surprisingly, those that regularly consumed 2 or more servings each week, along with a healthy diet, were found to have reduced instances of cardiovascular events like heart attack or stroke.

Adding Yogurt to Your Diet

It’s important to note that the study did not specify if any one type of yogurt is best when trying to reduce high blood pressure. For many, the simple act of adding a sweetened, flavored yogurt to their diet twice a week made enough of an impact to show results. However, for those that follow a low-sugar or ketogenic diet, the choice of yogurt matters a great deal. In fact, the added benefit of including yogurt in a ketogenic diet is that yogurt has shown to also improve risk factors associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.2

Sugar-sweetened yogurts can contain over 20 grams of sugar per serving – which is crippling when many keto dieters are working with less than 30 grams of total carbohydrates each day and avoiding sugar at all cost. However, it’s still possible to make yogurt work in a ketogenic diet. Checking nutritional labels and opting for full fat, plain Greek yogurt or artificially sweetened yogurts can make fitting this healthy treat into your macros much easier.

Going Keto for Cardiovascular Health

In addition to adding two servings of yogurt to your diet each week, consider taking the step to go completely keto in order to make improvements in your blood pressure and cardiovascular health. With an increased trend toward more sedentary lifestyles, the need for large amounts of carbohydrates is unnecessary for most people. When our bodies aren’t burning off the carbohydrates and glucose through activity, we’re at increased risk of gaining weight or developing cardiovascular disease.3

Even on a ketogenic diet, making a low-sugar yogurt part of your diet twice a week can be beneficial in reducing high blood pressure and, ultimately, decreasing your risk of having a cardiovascular event like stroke or heart attack.