News - Hypertension Week of April 20, 2003/ Vol. 2 No. 16

Study: Concord Grape Juice Lowers Blood Pressure

Drinking Concord grape juice appears to be a good way for people to lower their blood pressure, according to a study presented this week at the Experimental Biology 2003 conference in San Diego.

The study looked at 80 healthy males, ages 45 to 70. For 12 weeks, half drank an average of 12 ounces of Concord grape juice per day and half drank the same amount of a placebo beverage designed to look and taste like grape juice.

The 19 participants with above average systolic blood pressure who drank Concord grape juice showed an average systolic and diastolic blood pressure drop of almost six points. The 17 participants with above average blood pressure who consumed the placebo beverage showed no change from baseline.

"While additional studies are necessary to confirm these results, it is exciting that drinking Concord grape juice every day may be an easy way for hypertensive individuals to significantly lower their blood pressure," said study author Kevin Maki, Ph.D., director of the nutrition and metabolism research unit at Radiant Research in Chicago.

According to researchers, lowering systolic blood pressure by five points would result in a 14 percent reduction in deaths from stroke and a nine percent reduction in deaths from heart disease.

Grape-juice maker Welch Foods underwrote the study.

Other sources: Experimental Biology 2003