Move Over Olive Oil!

Move Over Olive Oil!

Move over olive oil a new study suggests there's a new cooking oil combo with heart healthy benefits.

Researchers followed 300 people in India with mild to moderate high blood pressure for two months.

They were broken into three groups to compare treatments. The first took nifedipine, a commonly used blood pressure lowering medication. The second group was given the new oil, a blend of sesame and rice bran oil, and told to use about an ounce each day in their meals. The final group received both the medication and the oil blend.

The researchers found cooking with a combination of sesame and rice bran oil in a variety of ways worked nearly as well as the high blood pressure medication.

Systolic blood pressure dropped an average of 14 points for those using only the oil blend and 16 points for those taking medication. Those using both saw a 36-point drop.

Diastolic blood pressure also dropped significantly: 11 points for those eating the oil, 12 for those on medication and 24 for those using both.

Cholesterol also improved. Those using the oils saw a 26 percent drop in their "bad", LDL cholesterol and a 9.5 percent increase in the HDL, the good cholesterol.

The catch, the oil was specially blended, and donated to the study. It isn't commercially available. And blending these oils yourself is not advised.

However, researchers hope additional studies of this oil blend will yield similar heart healthy effects, making it commercially appealing.

I'm Dr. Cindy Haines of HealthDay TV, with the latest breakthroughs from the world of medicine.

Source: www.nlm.nih.gov