Posted on: Saturday, August 23, 2003
PRESCRIPTION
Sesame oil seems to benefit hypertension
By Amy Tousman
Q. Is it true that sesame oil helps to lower blood pressure?
A. A recent study found that cooking with sesame oil in place of other oils appears to reduce high blood pressure and lower the amount of medication needed to control it. Researchers reported these results at the Scientific Meeting of the Inter-American Society of Hypertension. The study examined the effect of sesame oil on 328 people with high blood pressure who were already taking 10 to 30 milligrams daily of the blood pressure drug Nifedipine. This drug, categorized as a calcium-channel blocker, lowers blood pressure by relaxing the membranes of the arteries.
Study participants had moderate to severe high blood pressure. Their average reading at the start of the study was 166/101. Recent guidelines from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommend blood pressure should be 120/80 or less.
Participants consumed an average of 2 tablespoons of sesame oil daily for 60 days. Using sesame oil as the sole cooking oil, along with drug treatment, lowered the top reading in participants' blood pressure from 166 to 134. The bottom number was reduced from 101 to 84.6.
The researchers also report that the dose of blood pressure medicine was reduced from 22.7 mg per day to 7.45 mg per day by the end of the study.
The oil's effect on blood pressure may result from a combination of its polyunsaturated fat and a substance called sesamin. Both compounds have been shown to reduce blood pressure in rats.
The research team previously reported that sesame oil helps reduce blood pressure in patients taking other types of blood pressure medications, diuretics and beta blockers. Now there's evidence this is also true for patients on calcium-channel blockers.
If more researchers can repeat these results, sesame oil may become part of the recommendations for treating high blood pressure.
Some questions that still need to be answered are: Would smaller doses of sesame oil produce the same effects? Does the oil need to be cooked, or could it be substituted in salad dressings?
In the meantime, if you have high blood pressure, it would not hurt to cook with sesame oil. Eating more potassium-rich fruits and vegetables and calcium-rich dairy products while decreasing salt also helps lower blood pressure.
Amy Tousman is a registered dietitian with the Health Education Center of Straub Clinic and Hospital.
Hawai'i experts in traditional medicine, naturopathic medicine and diet take turns writing the Prescriptions column.
Send your questions to: Prescriptions, Island Life, The Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802; fax 535-8170; e-mail islandlife@honoluluadvertiser.com. This column is not intended to provide medical advice.
