Eid al-Adha Day arrives. Variety of mutton-based snacks ready to eat. There are gule, tongseng, stew, sop and most often made, goat satay. Pak Edi (60), as a fan of goat meat, certainly did not want to miss the meat feast. He even deliberately prepared the medicine as an antidote, in case the high blood recurred.
During this Pak Edi believe the hobby of eating goat meat became the cause of high blood pressure (hypertension) he suffered. So, when the doctor diagnosed, he immediately made various attempts to control blood pressure. Among others, restrict the consumption of foods that allegedly increase blood pressure, including his favorite food: goat meat.
However, is it true that goat meat causes hypertension?
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Hypertension is a condition when blood pressure in blood vessels increases chronically. This can happen because the heart works harder to pump blood to meet the needs of oxygen and nutrients the body. If left unchecked, the disease may interfere with the functioning of other organs, especially vital organs such as the heart and kidneys.
Basic Health Research (Riskesda) 2013 states the prevalence of hypertension patients in Indonesia reached 25.8 percent. The amount is obtained through measurement at the age of more than 18 years. The highest number of patients was in Bangka Belitung (30.9 percent), followed by South Kalimantan (30.8 percent), East Kalimantan (29.6 percent) and West Java (29.4 percent).
Also read: Cardiovascular Main Cause of Death in Indonesia
Researchers from the University of Rukyus in Japan in 2014 tried to prove this. The assumption that goat meat can raise blood tension was not only believed in Indonesia, but also in Japan. They conducted two experiments using rats.
The first experiment was conducted on 4 groups of mice consisting of control group fed 20 percent chicken and 0.3 percent salt (K), a 20 percent goat danging feeding group with a low salt content of 0.3 percent (GR), a meat-eating group of 20 percent with a high salt of 3-4 percent (GT), and a meat-eating group of 20 percent, 4 percent salt and 5 percent mugwort spice (GTR).
