CHICAGO—Consuming an amino acid commonly found in vegetable protein may be associated with lower blood pressure, according to a new study published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Researchers assessed whether blood pressure is associated with glutamic acid intake—the predominant dietary amino acid in vegetable protein—and with each of four other amino acids that are relatively higher in vegetable than animal protein.
The study found that a 4.72-percent higher dietary intake of the amino acid glutamic acid as a percent of total dietary protein correlated with lower group average systolic blood pressure, lower by 1.5 to 3.0 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). Group average diastolic blood pressure was lower by 1.0 to 1.6 mm Hg.
"It is estimated that reducing a population's average systolic blood pressure by 2 mm Hg could cut stroke death rates by 6 percent and reduce mortality from coronary heart disease by 4 percent," said one researcher.