Is Coconut Oil Beneficial for High Blood Pressure?
In the opinion of doctors at Mayo Clinic, high blood pressure is a severe risk factor for many degenerative illnesses, including heart disease, brain disease, kidney disease, damage to the eyes, as well as the development of sexual dysfunctions.
In severe cases of high blood pressure, immediate medical attention may be required, and the condition may potentially result in death, with heart failure being a common instance.
When it comes to high blood pressure, this article aims to determine whether or not coconut oil will have any beneficial benefits on people who are suffering from high blood pressure.
The prevention of high blood pressure was one of the most significant health advantages connected with eating diets high in coconut oil, according to a previous post I authored in which I laid out some of the health benefits of using coconut oil.
Prior to discussing how coconut oil might benefit high blood pressure sufferers, let’s take a look at the harm that high blood pressure can bring.
High Blood Pressure Is on the Rise.
Especially in industrialized nations, the number of persons suffering from high blood pressure is rising.
There are about 70 million people with high blood pressure in the United States, accounting for 29 percent of the entire population, according to official statistics. The situation is not much better in Canada, where it is estimated that almost 21 percent of the overall population is affected by this disease, according to official statistics.
According to a survey conducted by the National Institute of Health (NIH), approximately two-thirds of adults aged 65 and older in the United States have been diagnosed with high blood pressure.
High blood pressure and coconut oil are two issues that need to be addressed.
In light of the fact that high blood pressure is considered to be a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, it is understandable why the incidence of heart disease has grown in recent years.
According to a published by Canada Health, high blood pressure affects more than one in every five people in the country, which is astounding to say the least.
In 2007, more than 21.1million visits to community health facilities in Canada were for high blood pressure, making it the most common reason for hospitalization in Canada for the time period under consideration.
High blood pressure has a variety of causes.
High blood pressure, often known as hypertension, is the biggest cause of heart disease and stroke in the world, with one in three people suffering from it. When blood is in circulation, high blood pressure is defined as the force or pressure exerted by the blood on the walls of blood vessels. It is most often seen in the brachial artery of the upper arm.
Blood pressure may be either systolic or diastolic, and it changes throughout the day. However, when it consistently remains higher than normal for a longer period of time, generally more than 140/90 mmHg, it is referred to as hypertension, or high blood pressure.
Despite the fact that a variety of other variables might potentially contribute to High Blood Pressure (Hypertension), a Canadian-based study found that high dietary salt was responsible for 30% of all cases of hypertension. An increase in salt intake results in a rise in blood pressure, and high blood pressure may lead to a variety of health problems, including heart failure, renal disease, and stroke, among others.
Other unpredictably occurring reasons of elevated blood pressure or hypertension include:
Cigarette smoking causes constriction of the blood arteries, a reduction in the quantity of oxygen in the blood, and generally causes the heart to work harder to maintain balance.
High blood pressure and coconut oil are two issues that need to be addressed.
Smoking has been recognized as a potential contributing factor to High blood pressure is a medical condition.
Obesity– According to studies, those who are obese or overweight have a greater risk of getting high blood pressure than people who are of normal or moderate weight. In rare circumstances, high blood pressure might be the cause of weight gain in itself.
Histopathology of HBP in the Family– The relationship between genetics and high blood pressure, as well as a family history of high blood pressure, are important factors in the development of high blood pressure. People who come from a hypertensive family are more likely than not to acquire high blood pressure in the future themselves.
Persons over the age of 65 are more likely than younger people to acquire high blood pressure.
Diabetes-Diabetic persons are more prone than non-diabetic people to acquire high blood pressure at some point in their lives than healthy individuals. High levels of blood sugar in the blood disrupt the free flow of blood and oxygen, which may result in an episode of high blood pressure.
There are several more probable reasons of high blood pressure that have not been listed here, all of which may have serious effects if left untreated for an extended period of time.
This article’s goal is to determine if coconut oil has any beneficial effects on individuals with high blood pressure or not, so let’s have a look to find out.
Coconut oil and high blood pressure are two things to be aware of.
So, can coconut oil or copra oil have a beneficial impact on high blood pressure in any manner? Will eating a diet high in coconut oil help to alleviate the symptoms of high blood pressure in those who suffer from it?
According to research examined, coconut oil, like omega 3 fish oil, is composed mostly of saturated fat and is high in Medium Chain Fatty Acids (MCFA), and it has been shown to be much more effective in decreasing blood pressure than vegetable oil in this regard.
As reported in the West Indian Medical Journal, ingesting coconut oil may drastically drop or lower systolic blood pressure by at least 71 percent and diastolic blood pressure by up to 25-29 percent.
Virgin coconut oil, on the other hand, has been shown to successfully decrease the level of cholesterol, which is a risk factor for high blood pressure, despite the fact that heated coconut oil, like many other oils, has been shown to raise the level of blood pressure.
One point on which many people disagree on the possible advantages of coconut oil for high blood pressure is that the majority of claims are not supported by scientific data and, as a result, are invalid.
That may be true, but there are very few things we do in life that have any scientific basis, such as the majority of the food we eat, which does not have any scientific confirmation of its safety, but which we happily consume.
Bottomline.
Now that all is said and done, does coconut oil have any effect (positive or negative) on high blood pressure and should individuals who suffer from it eat a diet rich in coconut oil to relieve the symptoms of high blood pressure?
Virgin coconut oil, despite the fact that it contains 90 percent saturated fat, is known to have antioxidants, which are beneficial to cardiovascular health according to the research now accessible to us. When you have good cardiovascular health, your blood pressure is more likely to remain steady over time.
Virgin coconut oil’s anti-inflammatory qualities are also beneficial for decreasing cholesterol levels in the blood. Once again, coconut oil aids the body in increasing high-density lipoprotein (HDL), which is healthy cholesterol, and in the prevention of heart disease and other chronic diseases.
However, while none of the claims stated above have been independently verified by credible scientific organisations, early results of certain research studies conducted by several research agencies shown that Virgin coconut oil may be beneficial in lowering high blood pressure.