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Stress, too much salt and lack of exercise can increase your blood
pressure, but now it seems that vitamin D deficiency may have the same
effect. Strangely, the phenomenon only seems to occur in Caucasians.
As part of a national health study, American researchers studied 7,699
adults (61% Caucasians and 39% afro-Americans) during the period
1988-1994. They found that Caucasians with sufficient blood levels of
vitamin D had a 20 % lower risk of age-related increases in the upper
(systolic) blood pressure compared with those who had insufficient
vitamin D. A similar link was not seen in afro-Americans. The
researchers also noted that 61% of Caucasians and as many as 92% of
afro-Americans had insufficient levels of vitamin D, even though vitamin
D levels are easy to correct through use of supplements or exposure to
sun.
(Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, January 2008)
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