A new study suggests that there could be a connection between levels of vitamin D in the body and high blood pressure. Vitamin D has traditionally been associated with rickets, which is a disease which leads to the bone tissues not mineralising properly, which makes them soft. New research means that this vital nutrient could play a role in protecting against other health problems, though. The Department of Health has explained that a significant proportion of people in the UK are vitamin D deficient and this has resulted in an increase in the number of cases of rickets in children, and osteomalacia in adults. There are a number of reasons why vitamin D deficiency occurs, in particular amongst those following a vegetarian or vegan diet as they don’t get the natural food sources from animal products, such as fish oils, beef liver and eggs. The body makes vitamin D when it is exposed to natural sunlight, but our increasingly indoor lifestyles and fear of the damages of the sun mean we aren’t exposed to this as much as we used to be.
Research has found that people with high levels of a prehormone known as 25-hydroxyvitamin D had lower blood pressure and were less likely to develop diseases associated with this problem, such as stroke and heart disease. For every 10 percent increase of 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration in the blood, there was an 8.1 percent decrease in the risk of developing high levels of blood pressure. A further study is due to take place in order to analyse this trend further and see if the effects are widespread. There are a number of ways to lower your blood pressure as well, through eating a healthy diet, cutting back on salt and being physically active.