Meals Matter Website Offers “Stress-Free Ways to Add Dairy Daily High Blood Pressure (hbp)” or “hypertension” means high pressure (tension) in the arteries and it is often known as silent killer as it might not have serious consequences in the beginning however it is associated with an increased risk of death and disability from heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, and end-stage renal disease. It affects one in three adults.

Andrea Garen, M.A., R.D., project manager at ‘Dairy Council of California’ has good news for the patients suffering from high blood pressure, informs, ” Making small, simple changes over time, such as eating low-fat yogurt for breakfast or drinking milk with meals, can increase calcium and vitamin D intake in a sustainable way.”

A new study has proven that including low fat dairy products can reduce the risk of high blood pressure to a great extent. This has been recently discovered in one of the researches. Researchers at the ‘Brigham and Women’s Hospital’ in Boston when observed few women patients above the age of 45 found that the regular consumption of three or more daily servings of low-fat dairy products has been reducing the blood pressure. They were found 11 percent less likely to produce high blood pressure.

The researchers had been giving the credit to the presence of calcium and vitamin D in these dairy products. The evidence was further strengthened by the fact as this defensive mechanism was found absent among other dietary supplements. This study results appeared in the February 7, 2008, special edition of the journal “Hypertension”.

The benefits from this study could be better utilized by using the website Meals Matter.  Meals Matter is a free, online family nutrition and meal-planning website.

Andrea Garen suggests that there is an interactive Calcium Quiz available on this site. This would help the patients to evaluate the current calcium intake. They can further search the database for recipes which would be rich in calcium and these could be easily added to the diet to add low-fat dairy foods every day. This site also has searchable databases to find diets rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean meats, regular dairy consumption can reduce the risk of osteoporosis, prevent certain cancers and help maintain a healthy weight.