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Recommendations Summary

HTN: Dietary Protein 2008

Click here to see the explanation of recommendation ratings (Strong, Fair, Weak, Consensus, Insufficient Evidence) and labels (Imperative or Conditional). To see more detail on the evidence from which the following recommendations were drawn, use the hyperlinks in the Supporting Evidence Section below.


  • Recommendation(s)

    Dietary Protein

    Advise that the consumption of protein may or may not be beneficial for the reduction of blood pressure, since the effect of increased protein intake on blood pressure is unclear.

    Rating: Weak
    Imperative

    • Risks/Harms of Implementing This Recommendation

      No defined intake level at which potential adverse effects of protein has been identified.

    • Conditions of Application

      No conditions specified.

    • Potential Costs Associated with Application

      None.

    • Recommendation Narrative

      • Two cross-sectional studies (Liu et al, 2002; Iseki et al, 2003) and a meta-analysis (Liu et al, 2002) suggest an inverse relationship between protein intake and blood pressure, especially in men, while one cross-sectional study reported an inverse relationship between vegetable protein but not total protein intake and blood pressure (Elliott et al, 2006).
      • Two randomized trials reported no differences in blood pressure between groups consuming high and low levels of dietary protein (Farnsworth et al, 2003; Brinkworth et al, 2004).
      • However, one randomized trial identified small reductions in blood pressure in prehypertensive and hypertensive subjects consuming 25% of energy from protein, of which 50% was vegetable protein (Appel et al, 2005).

    • Recommendation Strength Rationale

      • Conclusion Statement is Grade III

    • Minority Opinions

      Consensus reached.