Cooking Oils That Drop Blood Pressure

Reducing your blood pressure and improving your cholesterol may be as easy as switching cooking oils. Research shows that the oil in your pan can help the pressure in your arteries.

A study in India shows that using rice bran oil and sesame oil may benefit your cardiovascular system. The researchers found cooking with a combination of these oils in a variety of ways worked nearly as well as a commonly prescribed high blood pressure medication, and that the use of the oil blend with medication yielded even more impressive results.

“Rice bran oil, like sesame oil, is low in saturated fat and appears to improve a patient’s cholesterol profile,” says researcher Devarajan Sankar “Additionally, (they) may reduce heart disease risk in other ways, including being a substitute for less healthy oils and fats in the diet.”

The people in the study who used the oils saw a 26 percent drop in their LDL (“bad” cholesterol) and a 9.5 percent increase in their HDL (“good” cholesterol).