Can cooking reduce your blood pressure?

Latest study seems to suggest so…

Those who work in the kitchen can find solace in the fact that standing next to a gas cooker can keep their blood pressure in check. Yup… you read that right! According to a unique research, exposure to gas cookers can lower blood pressure and partially offset the adverse cardiovascular effects of air pollution, reported Gulf News.

The team from King's College London found that the period next to a gas cooker increased nitrogen dioxide levels in the air 10-fold and subsequently lowered blood pressure by 5 mm Hg from 45 minutes onwards. The study also found that blood levels of the substance nitrite increased by 15% after 15 minutes.

Previous studies have shown that nitrite can lower blood pressure. This study, published in the journal Circulation Research, suggests nitrite can also be made when the body processes nitrogen dioxide and links previous research focusing on dietary nitrate and studies of inhalation of nitrogen dioxide.

The mechanism by which nitrogen dioxide lowers blood pressure appears to be through linking into the same pathway as dietary nitrate (found in green leafy vegetables and beetroot): both result in an increase in blood nitrite levels. "Therefore, it is not just what you eat, but how you cook it that matters," said Dr Andrew Webb, Clinical Senior Lecturer at King's College London.

The study examined the blood chemistry and cardiovascular changes of 12 healthy volunteers. They sat next to a domestic gas cooker for 90 minutes, followed by 90 minutes with normal background nitrogen levels. On another occasion, the volunteers were exposed to normal background nitrogen dioxide levels for three hours.

While this effect of short-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide in healthy volunteers may be beneficial, there are other studies of adverse effects of long-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide, and on adverse effects of short-term exposure in asthmatics, the authors wrote.

Further research will confirm these findings in larger studies and examine the effects on a more varied cohort, they added.

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