"An apple a day wont necessarily keep the doctor away but three kiwis just might help at least according to a small study that showed that the brown fuzzy fruit may lower blood pressure levels. Men and women with mildly high blood pressure who ate three kiwi fruits a day for eight weeks had systolic blood pressure levels that were . millimeters of mercury lower than those of volunteers who ate an apple a day. Systolic blood pressure is the upper number in a blood pressure measurement. Kiwis may be small but they pack a lot of nutrition in their green flesh. They are rich in lutein a potent antioxidant and this may be what is responsible for their blood pressurelowering powers said researchers who were led by Mette Svendsen of Oslo University Hospital in Norway. The study was to be presented Tuesday at the American Heart Associations annual meeting in Orlando Fla. Cardiologists were quick to caution that there is no single magic food or ingredient that is the key to heart health but they all agreed that kiwi may have a place in the five daily servings of fruit and vegetables that are currently recommended as part of a hearthealthy diet. The new study included  men and  women with an average age of  who were randomly assigned to eat three kiwis or one apple a day for eight weeks. Participants had blood pressure levels in the mildly elevated range of  when the study began. A blood pressure reading that is less than  is considered ideal. They changed nothing in their diet other than adding the fruit. Researchers measured blood pressure via hour ambulatory monitoring which is thought to be more precise than measuring it during a single point in time. The Oslo University Hospital funded the study. Three kiwi a day improved hour blood pressure more than an apple a day the researchers concluded. So is kiwi the new wonder fruit There is biological plausibility but I would not go and grab three kiwis a day said Dr. Nehal Mehta a preventive cardiologist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. They are not easy to find or one of those fruits that people readily grab. Moderation is the key with kiwis or any food he said. Three kiwis a day or  kiwis a week does not seem like moderation and I would caution against eating that much he said. The new study may just put kiwis on the map he said. When we say eat more fresh fruit we stick to the triedandtrue or anything that is handheld and peeled but these findings suggest that a kiwi can be part of a hearthealthy diet he said. In addition the study looked at the whole fruit not individual nutrients. Dont start popping lutein in supplement form based on these results he noted. Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum a preventive cardiologist with Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City agreed. Kiwi is not the wonder fruit but certainly adding kiwi to your diet can help decrease mildly high blood pressure levels.  Dr. Elliott M. Antman a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston said that while promising the new study is small. Dont count on this to be the complete answer to high blood pressure he said. Whatever you do do not stop taking your blood pressure medications without talking to your doctor he added. Because this study was presented at a medical meeting the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peerreviewed journal. More information The Dash diet is often recommended to lower blood pressure levels http_dash.pdf. SOURCES Suzanne Steinbaum D.O. preventive cardiologist Lenox Hill Hospital New York City Nehal Mehta preventive cardiologist Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Elliott M. Antman M.D. professor medicine Harvard Medical School Boston Nov.   presentation American Heart Association annual meeting Orlando Fla"