A study of more than 15,000 U.S. adults with hypertension, drawn from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and followed through 2019, examined how dietary live microbes and daily sitting time relate to mortality.
Participants recorded all foods eaten in a 24‑hour period, allowing researchers to classify diets into low, medium or high live‑microbe content. Foods with few microbes—processed or sterilised items—were low; fresh produce with skins were medium; yoghurt, fermented vegetables and other minimally processed foods were high.
Results showed that low‑microbe diets were associated with a significantly higher risk of all‑cause and cardiovascular death, while medium and high intake groups had markedly lower mortality.
Sitting less than five hours a day also corresponded with the lowest death risk; those sitting 5‑8 hours or more than eight hours faced similar, higher risks.
The authors suggest that reducing sedentary time and adding probiotic‑rich foods such as yoghurt, kefir, kimchi or fermented cabbage could benefit heart health.
Meta‑analysis on nuts and hypertension
Separately, a meta‑analysis published in the British Journal of Nutrition pooled eight studies involving 143,380 adults (aged 18‑87) and 20,665 hypertension cases.
Adding just 28 g of nuts daily lowered hypertension risk by about 20%, with the highest‑consumption group showing a 16% risk reduction compared with the lowest.
Consuming roughly 30 g per day cut risk by 26% versus non‑consumers, though benefits plateaued beyond that amount.
Nuts supply fibre, unsaturated fats, magnesium, potassium, vitamins and plant protein; some, like walnuts, peanuts and almonds, are rich in L‑arginine, a vasodilator.
Nutrition experts note the findings are observational but support incorporating nuts and fermented foods into a heart‑healthy diet.