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Chicken legs for high blood?
10/10/2008 14:02 - (SA)
Tan Ee Lyn
Hong Kong - Scientists in Japan have
identified four proteins in chicken legs which appear to be
effective in controlling high blood pressure, a study has said.
In a paper published in the Journal of Agricultural
Chemistry and Food, the researchers said they had extracted
collagen from chicken legs and then fed it to hypertensive
rats.
Collagen is the protein of connective tissue in animals.
The rats which were fed collagen had distinctly lower blood
pressure levels eight hours afterwards, compared with another
group of rats which were fed a saline solution, they wrote.
The group of rats fed collagen continued to have
significant reduction in blood pressure four weeks later.
The study was jointly undertaken by Nippon Meat Packers'
Research and Development Centre and researchers at the
Hiroshima University.
Persistent high blood pressure is one of the risk factors
for strokes, heart attacks, heart failure and is a leading
cause of chronic renal failure.
It is believed to be the cause of 4.5 percent of the
world's disease burden and is as prevalent in many developing
countries as it is in developed nations.
- Reuters
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