Women who regularly eat yoghurt may have a reduced risk of developing high blood pressure, a new study suggests.

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a major cause of heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and premature death. However, it rarely carries any signs or symptoms. In fact, a person can look and feel well even if they have it.

The only way to know if you have high blood pressure is to have it checked by a health professional, such as a GP or pharmacist.

US researchers set out to assess whether the consumption of yoghurt had any impact on blood pressure risk. They analysed data from two long-term studies involving men and women aged between 25 and 75.

Participants were followed up over an 18-30-year period and during this time, almost 75,000 new cases of high blood pressure were recorded.

An analysis of the findings revealed that women who ate five or more servings of yoghurt per week had a 20% reduced risk of developing high blood pressure compared to those who ate just one serving per month.

When it came to the men in the study, the results were much weaker. However, the researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine said that this could be due to the fact that overall, the male participants in this study consumed a lot less yoghurt than the female participants.

The study also noted that the results were even stronger among those who already consumed a healthy diet involving plenty of fruit, vegetables, nuts, beans and whole grains.

Both men and women who already had a healthy diet, and who also consumed yoghurt five or more times a week, had a 31% reduced risk of developing high blood pressure, compared to those who consumed the least amount of yoghurt and had less healthy diets.

"I believe that this is the largest study of its kind to date to evaluate the specific effects of yogurt on blood pressure. No one food is a magic bullet but adding yogurt to an otherwise healthy diet seems to help reduce the long-term risk of high blood pressure in women," commented the study's lead author, Justin Buendia.

The study also found that consuming several servings of milk and cheese every day had beneficial effects on blood pressure, ‘although the effects of yogurt seemed stronger than other forms of dairy'.

"Our study shows that daily intake of dairy products, particularly yogurt, lowers the risk for developing high blood pressure, which is a key risk factor for the development of heart disease and stroke. It would be interesting to see if popular yogurt types, such as Greek yogurt, had different effects than regular yogurt," Mr Buendia added.

Details of these findings were presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology/Lifestyle 2016 Scientific Sessions in Arizona.