Pomegranate juice supplementation improves post-exercise hypotension in normal weight adults with elevated blood pressure, a single-blind, randomized parallel trial.

Abstract

Introduction Hypertension is a leading cause of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Exercise and diet are recommended as low-cost, non-pharmacological lifestyle therapeutic options to prevent and treat hypertension. In this regard, this study aimed to investigate the supplementation of pomegranate juice (POMj) with combined training on post-exercise hypotension (PEH) in young healthy, normal weight adults with elevated blood pressure. Methods Young healthy, normal weight adults with elevated BP (n = 16; age: 25.43 ± 2.6 years; fat%: 14.2 ± 4.4) were randomly divided into two groups of receiving 330 ml POMj and 330 ml diluted isocaloric drink with starch as placebo (PLA) one hour before each training session over the six weeks. Two weekly sessions of aerobic exercise and two sessions of resistance training were performed for 6 weeks. Aerobic exercise was performed at an intensity of 50–70% of maximum heart rate progressing from 20 to 50 minutes. Eight resistance exercises were performed at an intensity of 40–60% one-repetition maximum (1RM) for 3 sets of 10 repetitions per set with 60–90 seconds rest between sets. By what methods and why was BP measured? Post-exercise hypotension (PEH) of participants was measured before and after training. Analysis of variance and Bonferroni was used to test the hypotheses. It was hypothesized that consuming POMj with combined training would improve PEH. Results The results showed that there was a significant difference between the Systolic blood pressure of the POMj group and the PLA in the 30, 45 and 60 minutes (P < 0.05). Also, a significant difference in the POMj group is observed in these minutes with the pre-exercise (P < 0.05). Diastolic blood pressure did not change in any of the groups. The results showed that aerobic power increased in the POMj group, as well as a greater improvement than in the PLA group (P < 0.05). Conclusion According to the findings of the present study, a six-week of combined exercise with POMj improved aerobic power and PEH in young men active compared to the PLA group.