Flavonoid-rich foods and red wine can lower your blood pressure, study finds

Consuming red wine, berries, apples, pears and tea on a regular basis could reduce your blood pressure with microbes in the gut also making a contribution to the process, according to new research.

A higher intake of flavonoid-rich plant foods is associated with a clinically relevant reduction in blood pressure but research led by Prof Aedin Cassidy from the Institute for Global Food Security (IGFS) at Queen's University Belfast reveals details of the beneficial role of the microbiome – the natural flora in the intestinal tract.

Prof Cassidy, a specialist in nutrition and preventive medicine, was lead investigator in the study of more 900 adults published in Hypertension, an American Heart Association journal.

“What we eat plays a critical role in shaping our gut microbiome but little is known about the relative importance of plant foods, particularly flavonoids, in maintaining heart health,” she explained.

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“This data highlights the key role of the gut microbiome in explaining the associations between flavonoid-rich foods and blood pressure. Up to 15 per cent of the observed association was explained by the gut microbiome suggesting these microbes play a key role in metabolising flavonoids to enhance their cardioprotective effects,” she added.

The study found higher habitual intakes of flavonoid-rich foods, reduces blood pressure and results in greater microbial diversity and lower abundance of Parabacteroides – the predominant bacterial species within the gut.

These blood-pressure-lowering effects are achievable with simple changes to the daily diet, Prof Cassidy confirmed.

Further investigation was needed to get better understanding of the highly individual variability of flavonoid metabolism, which could explain why some people have greater cardiovascular protection benefits from flavonoid-rich foods than others, she said.

Drinking 250ml of red wine a week, just under three small glasses, was associated with an average of 3.7mm Hg lower systolic blood pressure level of which 15 per cent could be explained by the gut microbiome.