The eight-week study led by Mette Svendsen of Oslo University Hospital involved 188 Norwegian adults who all had mildly high blood pressure. The participants were randomly assigned to two groups either eating three kiwis or a proverbial apple a day.

After about two months, the higher blood pressure measurement called systolic pressure was on average 3.6 millimeters of mercury lower in the kiwi group.

According to the results presented at the American Heart Association scientific meeting in Orlando, the minimum blood pressure reading known as diastolic pressure was also lower in the kiwi group, but not much enough to show a significant association with eating kiwi.

“Three kiwis a day improved 24-hour blood pressure more than an apple a day,” Svendsen and her colleagues concluded but urged for larger investigations to evaluate and confirm their preliminary study.

Experts say the early findings does not mean hypertension patients have to eat three kiwis, because they can easily get much of the beneficent antioxidants and trace elements via other accessible fruits and vegetables.

 From the November 17, 2011, Prepared Foods' Daily News.