Dr. Nathan Bryan a prominent biochemist and molecular medicine researcher says a study found that just seven days of using mouthwash could significantly increase blood pressure.
The participants didn't change their diet or take any new medication.
According to him, some people experienced up to a 26 mmHg increase in blood pressure after only one week of mouthwash use.
He says the reason may be that certain mouthwashes disrupt the bacteria in the mouth that help produce nitric oxide, which plays an important role in regulating blood vessel function and blood pressure.
But there's an interesting part.
Four days after the participants stopped using the mouthwash, he says their oral microbiome had completely repopulated and their blood pressure returned to normal.
His takeaway is that the body can be remarkably resilient.
He compares it to smoking, where stopping exposure can produce noticeable health improvements relatively quickly, even though some long term damage may take years to recover from.
In the case of mouthwash, he says simply stopping allowed the beneficial oral bacteria to return and blood pressure to normalize.Dr. Nathan Bryan a prominent biochemist and molecular medicine researcher says there may be a connection between sunlight, vitamin D, nitric oxide and blood pressure.
He points to a long observed pattern where people living in northern regions, such as Scandinavia, tend to have higher average blood pressure than people living closer to the equator.
He says this correlates with differences in sunlight exposure and vitamin D levels.
According to him, vitamin D can support nitric oxide production, and people who are deficient in vitamin D are often also deficient in nitric oxide.
But he makes an important distinction.
Correcting vitamin D deficiency doesn't necessarily restore nitric oxide production on its own. He considers them related but independent systems.
He then explains that different wavelengths of light may also affect nitric oxide directly.
According to him, ultraviolet light can release nitric oxide that is bound to proteins or enzymes, making it biologically active and allowing blood vessels to dilate.
He says infrared wavelengths may also have an effect on nitric oxide, particularly in the far infrared range.
His broader point is that light may influence cardiovascular function through more than just vitamin D.