Karen Peaurt had had high blood pressure since the birth of her youngest child three years ago.

"I developed high blood pressure while I was pregnant with my youngest child and have been controlling it with drugs prescribed by my doctor ever since," said Karen, a 39-year -old mother of three from Northallerton,

"Before I was diagnosed with high blood pressure I thought it was something that only affected older people and never thought it was something I'd have to consider at this stage in my life, but apparently it is a side effect of a kidney condition from which I suffer."

Karen saw an advert on the internet for people to take part in a study to test the effects of a new bottled water which claimed to reduce high blood pressure.

Works With Water's 120/80 claims to lower blood pressure because it has dairy peptides added to the pomegranate-flavoured spring water. A half-litre bottle contains half the daily requirement of dairy peptides which help to prevent the reaction that cause blood vessels to constrict preventing hypertension in individuals with higher than average blood pressure.

Karen drank the water for four weeks and was surprised by the results.

"I never liked the idea of taking the prescribed drugs and when I got the chance to try out something new which seems more natural I thought I'd give it ago. I'm not very good at keeping hydrated
so having to drink two bottles a day was good for my kidneys as well.

"What was most noticeable was how much better my skin was. My blood pressure at the beginning of the study was 168/108 and by the end was down to 135/94 which is just outside the usual range."

The recommended blood pressure level is 120/80.

"I was quite surprised at how well it worked. I suppose I was a little sceptical at first, but I am quite open-minded and thought I'd give it a try and anything was better than taking the old blood pressure tablets."

Nutraceuticals company Works With Water carried out its own study of 67 individuals with higher than average blood pressure earlier this year. Company founder, Jules Birch, said: "Research has proved that foods enriched with dairy peptides are effective in reducing systolic blood pressure and the benefit of including them in spring water means that the product is suitable for almost everyone, including people living with other conditions such as diabetes.

"To test the effectiveness of 120/80 we carried out our own study and the results were very encouraging, with 89 per cent of respondents reporting a reduction in their blood pressure."

Although Karen has stopped taking her blood pressure tablets, Jules Birch said 120/80 was not intended to replace drugs prescribed to control hypertension.

Roz Witney, a clinical nutritionist, said: "There have been a number of studies in the past five years or so looking at the effects of dairy peptides on lowering blood pressure, concluding that they do have antihypertensive effects.

"If this water contains the right peptides in a bioavailable form, then the evidence says it could have a small blood pressure lowering effect. However, it should not be forgotten that chronic dehydration is a common cause of hypertension, and so simply replacing your usual coffee, tea or sugary drinks with any pure water would be very likely to have a blood pressure lowering effect.

"High blood pressure can be a dangerous condition, and sufferers should always work with a qualified health professional."

However, Karen says she will continue to buy 120/80 herself from Tesco, but at £1.19 for a 500ml bottle, says it is expensive.


High blood pressure
Persistent high blood pressure (hypertension), if untreated puts you at greater risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

Blood pressure varies constantly during the day. The level of physical exertion, anxiety, stress, emotional changes and other factors may also cause changes in blood pressure. So blood pressure should be checked under resting conditions

Lifestyle changes, such as a healthy diet and increased exercise are important for everyone with raised blood pressure.