IPB Researchers Made Tempeh Beverage for Hypertension Patients
Hypertension, a common disease, is also called silent disease, because it often does not cause symptoms. Meanwhile, persistent high blood pressure over a long period of time can lead to complications of other diseases. High cholesterol levels can trigger an increase in blood pressure.
Various studies had proven that soy can reduce hypertension. Tempeh is a popular fermented Indonesian food. Processing tempeh into beverage tempeh powder which is ready to brew is innovative and more practical, easy to consume and more durable.
Four researchers consisting of Alfia Ansarullah, Hardinsyah and Sri Anna Marliyati from the Department of Community Nutrition, Faculty of Human Ecology (Fema) of Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) and Made Astawan from the Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Technology (Fateta) of IPB conducted a research about the effects of tempeh beverage intervention on blood pressure in people with hypertension and hypercholesterolemia at the same time.
"The rapid development of tempeh into functional food that can lower blood pressure becomes a reason to conduct research on the effects of tempeh-based beverages on blood pressure in people with hypertension and hypercholesterolemia," said Hardinsyah.
In this study a total of 30 men and women aged 25-55 years old became subjects with the following criteria: not yet experiencing menopause or not being pregnant, total cholesterol was ≥ 200 mg/dl, blood pressure was 121-139 mmHg, and diastolic blood pressure was 81-89 mmHg.
Subjects were divided into three groups, namely group of Tempe A Beverage (MTA) formulated from locally grown soybeans; group of Tempe B Beverage (MTB) formulated from imported soybeans; and control group. The tempeh beverage was given three glasses a day which contained at least 25 g protein per day for four consecutive weeks. The control group was not given tempeh beverage.
From the experimental results, the team found that there were significant differences in the effects of MTA and MTB compared to the control group subjects on systolic blood pressure. Meanwhile, there were no significant differences in the effects of MTA and MTB on diastolic blood pressure compared with the control group, but the trend decreased. (TK)
