Return
to Story Page
To print: Select File and then Print from your
browser's menu
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhi, Jan 28: A banana or two a day keeps your blood pressure at bay, according to scientists who report that bananas can lower hypertension, offering a cheap and safe alternative to drugs.
A study on human volunteers by the Kasturba medical college in Manipal showed a 10 per cent fall in blood pressure in persons who consumed two bananas daily for a week.
The studies followed successful experiments in rats that showed that ripe and unripe bananas have compounds that can lower blood pressure.
These natural compounds act in a manner similar to anti-hypertensive drugs that are a multi-billion-dollar industry today, a report by the scientists in the journal Current Science says. These drugs inhibit the action of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) which is responsible for forming a substance angiotensin-2 which constricts blood vessels and raises the pressure inside them.
The Manipal team studied six popular banana varieties and found that all had ACE-inhibiting properties, though the ripenedbananas had a stronger action than unripe ones.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
------------------------------------------------------------
This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
------------------------------------------------------------