Can the health of your gut affect your blood pressure? You might think that what’s going on in your intestinal tract has little impact on your heart blood vessels but that’s not the case. When looking for factors that contribute to hypertension, gut health is a target of speculation and research because gut bacteria affect the way the heart contracts and the activity of the sympathetic nervous system. It’s the sympathetic nervous system that speeds up your heart rate when you’re stressed and triggers a rise in blood pressure.
The Bacteria That Make Up Your Gut
What is the gut microbiome? It’s the total population of microorganisms in the digestive tract, including microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa. However, the main residents are bacteria. These bacteria play a key role in many aspects of health beyond the gut. Scientists are learning just how important a healthy gut microbiome is for immune health, body weight, and even mental health.
Your gut and nervous system connect with each other through the vagus nerve. The vague nerve tells your brain what your gut is doing and carries information from the brain to the gut. This feedback affects digestion, gut mobility, and more. Also, lining the gut are trillions of bacteria that make up the gut microbiome. These bacteria produce factors that affect nutrient absorption, appetite, and other aspects of gut health. It’s a busy environment!
Scientists are discovering that gut bacteria may affect heart and blood vessel health and also play a role in blood pressure control. According to Dr. Michael Miller, Chief of the Laboratory of Microbial Genetics at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), gut bacteria produce molecules that affect how blood vessels function, whether they constrict and blood pressure rises, or relax so that blood pressure falls. So, a healthy gut is beneficial for your heart and blood vessels too.
A More Diverse Microbiome May Be Better
Scientists still have much to learn about the gut microbiome, but they believe the marker of a healthy gut microbiome is diversity, a wider array of strains of bacteria rather than just a few strains.
One study published in the journal Microbiome looked at the gut bacteria in almost 200 people, some of whom had early or pre-hypertension and others with hypertension or normal blood pressure. They discovered people with pre-hypertension had a less diverse gut microbiome and higher levels of specific bacteria relative to those with normal blood pressure.
Even more interesting is a study in mice showing that transplanting gut bacteria from mice with hypertension to mice without hypertension led to the microbiome-free mice developing hypertension. Although there’s more to learn, this suggests that gut bacteria may affect blood pressure and whether hypertension develops.
There’s also evidence that the gut microbiome may influence the risk of heart disease by its effect on metabolic health and insulin sensitivity. So, it might be smart to add gut health to the list of heart-healthy lifestyle habits.
Can Eating Probiotic-Rich Foods or Taking Probiotic Supplements Lower Blood Pressure?
Probiotics are gut-friendly bacteria that help restore balance to the gut microbiome. It’s not clear what the healthiest composition of gut bacteria is, but a more diverse population seems to be healthier. Probiotic supplements aim to provide bacteria that scientists currently believe are most beneficial to the gut, such as strains of Lactobacillus and Bifidiobacter. You can also get probiotics by eating fermented foods, such as yogurt, kefir, or fermented vegetables. These foods supply probiotic bacteria in food form directly to the digestive tract.
Another dietary component called prebiotics, a type of fermentable fiber also supplies the digestive tract with the food healthy gut bacteria to use for energy. The human digestive tract can’t break down fermentable fiber, but bacteria in the gut can. So, eating a diet high in fiber from plant-based foods supports microbiome health.
Can taking probiotics lower blood pressure? A study published in the American Heart Association’s journal Hypertension looked at the results of nine studies that focused on probiotics and blood pressure. It showed that taking probiotics modestly lowered blood pressure, by an average of 3.56 points and 2.38 points for systolic and diastolic blood pressure respectively.
The benefits were strongest in people who already had an elevated blood pressure. But the benefits only showed up after the subjects took probiotics for 8 weeks or longer. Also, you need a high-quality probiotic with a high colony count and multiple bacterial strains. Don’t choose based on price but do your research and choose a brand that undergoes independent testing to verify the purity and quality of their product.
The Bottom Line
A healthy gut microbiome is important for mental and physical health. The composition of the bacteria in your gut may even impact your heart and blood vessels, as well as your blood pressure. Although there’s more to learn, getting more probiotics and prebiotics naturally through diet is a smart move for your health. Foods that contain probiotics and prebiotics are an important part of a healthy gut ecosystem. If you don’t want to take a probiotic supplement, add more fermented foods and prebiotic-rich foods to your diet to keep your gut microbiome diverse and healthy.
References:
- com. “High blood pressure: Could gut bacteria play a role?”
- Heart.org. “New research suggests gut bacteria may be linked to high blood pressure and depression”
- org. “The Power of Gut Bacteria and Probiotics for Heart Health”
- org. “Eating probiotics regularly may improve your blood pressure”
- 2014;64:897-903. Effect of Probiotics on Blood Pressure. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized, Controlled Trials. Saman Khalesi, Jing Sun, Nicholas Buys, and Rohan Jayasinghe.
- com. “What Are the Most Common Types of Probiotics?”
- Thushara RM, Gangadaran S, Solati Z, Moghadasian MH. Cardiovascular benefits of probiotics: a review of experimental and clinical studies. Food Funct. 2016 Feb;7(2):632-42. doi: 10.1039/c5fo01190f. PMID: 26786971.
- Tuohy KM, Fava F, Viola R. ‘The way to a man’s heart is through his gut microbiota’–dietary pro- and prebiotics for the management of cardiovascular risk. Proc Nutr Soc. 2014 May;73(2):172-85. doi: 10.1017/S0029665113003911. Epub 2014 Feb 4. PMID: 24495527.
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