The Role of Plant-based Diets in Reducing the Incidence of Hypertension

Purpose: In the primary care setting, hypertension is encountered on a daily basis. While the etiology of hypertension is multifactorial, primary prevention is therapeutic lifestyle modification. Hypertension increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Evidence supports that diets high in fruits and vegetables reduce blood pressure and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Methods: PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane review searches were performed using the terms plant-based diet, vegan, vegetarian, omnivorous diet, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, blood pressure, American diet, and Western diet. Results: Plant-based diets are associated with lower blood pressure. Conclusion: Increasing plant-based foods and plant-based protein consumption presents patients with an opportunity to reduce the need for blood pressure medications. Clinicians have the opportunity to prevent or delay initiating lifelong medications by having conversations about diet and lifestyle modifications