GREGORY CHANDLER--PROTEIN AND BLOOD PRESSURE

A study was undertaken to determine whether four weeks of increased
protein intake (25 % compared with 15% of energy intake that
isoenergetically replaces carbohydrate intake) lowers office and daytime
blood pressure (BP) compared with increased carbohydrate intake. 

A randomized, double-bind parallel study compared consumption of 3 X 20
grams protein /d (20 percent pea, 20 percent soy, 30 percent egg and 30
percent milk-protein isolate) with 3 X 20 grams maltodextrin/d.  Protein
or maltodextrin were isoenergetically substituted for a sugar-sweetened
drink.  A total of 99 men and women with untreated elevated BP were
randomly assigned to each group.  The study concluded that increased
protein intake, at the expense of maltodextrin, lowers BP in overweight
adults with upper-range BP and grade 1 BP.

Therefore, the conclusion is that extra protein lowers BP. 

GREGORY CHANDLER, Attorney at Law