By now, it’s no news that eating a predominantly plant-based diet may be key to staving off chronic disease in the long run. Now, two new studies suggest that switching to a plant-based diet may also benefit pregnant mothers in the immediate term by keeping their blood pressure levels in check.
Investigators at the Medical College of Georgia and the Medical College of Wisconsin recently reported in the journals Acta Physiologica and Pregnancy Hypertension: An International Journal of Women’s Cardiovascular Health that gut microbiota play a key role in regulating our immune system response.
Gut microbiota contain trillions of microorganisms that help us digest food and regulate mental processes like mood. This is because gut bacteria manufacture about 95% of the body’s supply of serotonin, which affects your mood and other gastrointestinal activity. These microorganisms thrive on both prebiotics and probiotics, both of which are primarily found in plant-based foods.
So if gut microbiota can effectively control our mood, then it makes sense that it can also play a role in protecting us from high blood pressure (hypertension), right?