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Hypertension is a major risk factor for development of stroke, coronary heart disease, heart failure, and end-stage renal disease. In a systematic review of the evidence published from 2004 to 2009, the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) concluded there was moderate evidence of an inverse relationship between the intake of milk and milk products (dairy) and blood pressure. This review synthesizes results from studies published over the past year on the relationship between dairy intake, blood pressure, and hypertension risk. The influence of dairy micronutrients including calcium, vitamin D, potassium, and phosphorous on blood pressure and incident hypertension is examined. Emerging research on bioactive dairy peptides is also reviewed. Lastly, recent evidence on effects of dairy fat content on blood pressure and hypertension risk, and the impact of inclusion of low-fat dairy in dietary patterns is also investigated.

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of phosphorus (P) level and calcium (Ca)/total P (tP) ratio on the efficacy of microbial phytase. Experiment 1 examined the effects of P concentration and microbial phytase inclusion on mineral excretion and pig performance, while experiment 2 examined the effects of Ca/tP ratio and microbial phytase inclusion on mineral excretion and pig performance. In experiment 1, nutrient and mineral digestibility (n = 4) and growth performance (n = 12) were determined in pigs individually fed diets containing (T1) 5.5 g kg À1 tP, 2.3 g kg À1 available P (aP) and 8.0 g kg À1 Ca, (T2) 5.5 g kg À1 tP, 2.3 g kg À1 aP, 8.0 g kg À1 Ca and 750 FYT kg À1 Peniophora lycii phytase, (T3) 4.3 g kg À1 tP, 1.4 g kg À1 aP and 8.0 g kg À1 Ca and (T4) 4.3 g kg À1 tP, 1.4 g kg À1 aP, 8.0 g kg À1 Ca and 750 FYT kg À1 P lycii phytase. In experiment 2, nutrient and mineral digestibility (n = 4) and growth performance (n = 12) were determined in pigs individually fed diets containing (TT1) 4.3 g kg À1 tP and 8.0 g kg À1 Ca, (TT2) 4.3 g kg À1 tP, 8.0 g kg À1 Ca and 750 FYT kg À1 P lycii phytase, (TT3) 4.3 g kg À1 tP and 5.0 g kg À1 Ca and (TT4) 4.3 g kg À1 tP, 5.0 g kg À1 Ca and 750 FYT kg À1 P lycii phytase. All diets were formulated, using standard feeding values for the ingredients, to have similar concentrations of digestible energy (DE) and lysine. In experiment 1, pigs offered the low-P diets had significantly lower P intake (P < 0.001), faecal P excretion (P < 0.05), Ca intake (P < 0.05) and faecal Ca excretion (P < 0.05) compared with pigs given the adequate-P diets. These pigs also had significantly lower daily gain (P < 0.01), feed intake (P < 0.05) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P < 0.05). The inclusion of phytase in both the adequate-and low-P diets increased the digestibility of energy (P < 0.05) and Ca (P < 0.01) but had no effect on pig performance. In experiment 2, lowering the Ca/tP ratio from 1.85:1 to 1.15:1 increased the DE content of the diet (P < 0.05). The inclusion of phytase increased (P < 0.05) the digestibility of protein (0.874 versus 0.840, SEM 0.009) and Ca (0.427 versus 0.380, SEM 0.019) as well as the DE content of the diet (14.47 versus 14.26 MJ kg À1 , SEM 0.073). There was a significant ratio  phytase interaction (P < 0.5) for P digestibility. Microbial phytase significantly increased P digestibility when added to the 1.15:1 ratio diet but had no effect when added to the 1.85:1 ratio diet. The inclusion of microbial phytase increased feed intake (2.16 versus 2.00 kg day À1 , SEM 0.05; P < 0.05) and weight gain (0.893 versus 0.818 kg day À1 , SEM 0.022; P < 0.05). Lowering the Ca/tP ratio resulted in a significant improvement in FCR (2.32 versus 2.40 kg kg À1 , SEM 0.03; P < 0.05). In conclusion, the beneficial effects of microbial phytase supplementation of pig diets are adversely affected by a wide Ca/tP ratio.

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The ATP binding cassette G5 (ABCG5) polymorphisms have been postulated to play a role in the response to dietary cholesterol. The objective of this study was to examine the contribution of the ABCG5 polymorphism on the plasma response to consumption of cholesterol and carotenoids from eggs. For this purpose, genotyping was conducted for 40 men and 51 premenopausal women who were randomly assigned to consume an egg (EGG, 640 mg/d additional dietary cholesterol and 600 microg lutein+ zeaxanthin) or placebo (SUB, 0 mg/d cholesterol, 0 microg lutein + zeaxanthin) diet for 30 d. The two arms of the dietary intervention were separated by a 3-wk washout period. Plasma concentrations of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (LDL-C), and HDL cholesterol were determined. Because eggs are an excellent source of lutein and zeaxanthin, the plasma levels of these carotenoids were also measured in a subset of subjects to determine whether the response to carotenoid intake was similar to that seen for dietary cholesterol and to evaluate the contribution of ABCG5 polymorphism to both responses. Individuals possessing the C/C genotype experienced a greater increase in both LDL-C (P < 0.05) and a trend for lutein (P = 0.08) during the EGG period compared with those individuals with the C/G (heterozygote) or G/G genotypes (homozygotes). These results, although obtained from a small number of subjects, suggest that the ABCG5 polymorphism may play a role in the plasma response to dietary cholesterol and carotenoids.