Fruit fight: Kiwi tops apple in blood pressure study

ORLANDO,28 nov 2011-- An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but three kiwis could lower your blood pressure.

A study presented at the American Heart Association scientific meeting in Orlando on Tuesday found that eating the fuzzy-skinned fruit with the tart green flesh three times a day lowered blood pressure more than an apple.

The eight-week study, led by Mette Svendsen, a registered dietitian at Oslo University Hospital in Norway, involved 118 subjects with an average age of 55 and mildly high blood pressure.

One group added three kiwis to their daily diet, while the other half added the proverbial apple a day. Kiwis contain lutein, which has antioxidant properties.

After eight weeks, researchers found the kiwi group's 24-hour systolic blood pressure was 3.6 mm Hg lower than that of the apple eaters, on average.

The diastolic blood pressure was also lower in the kiwi group, but that association to the fruit was not as clear, researchers said. They recommended that the findings be confirmed with a larger study.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the kiwi fruit study was that it was conducted in Norway and not in New Zealand.