Effects Of Weight Loss Vs Sodium Restriction
Questions have been raised as to whether the effects of weight loss on blood pressure are independent of dietary sodium. Results of phase I of the Trials of Hypertension Prevention ), in which the effects of different nonpharmacological interventions were compared, sodium intake in the weight reduction group did not differ from that of the control group. In a study by Singh et al. ), the effects of a low-energy diet on blood pressure and central obesity were compared with the effects a control diet . Sodium intake and physical activity were kept similar in both groups. After 16 weeks the patients in the treatment group lost a mean of 2.8 kg with a significant net decrease in mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure of 7.5/6.5 mm Hg, compared with nonsignificant changes in the control groups. These studies seem to suggest that weight loss decreases blood pressure independently of sodium reduction.
How To Lose Weight Healthily
The calories in your food and drink give your body the energy and nutrients it needs. Weight gain is generally caused by eating and drinking more calories than you burn off, as the extra energy is stored as fat. Our modern lifestyles dont help, as they often involve sitting for many hours a day, commuting, and eating cheap, convenient foods which tend to be high in fat and sugar.
Being more active and making healthy swaps to what you eat are the simplest ways to get to or maintain a healthy weight. And theres lots of support available. Try some of the ideas below or visit your doctor or nurse to get started.
Make small changes you can stick to
Make small changes to what you eat and how active you are so that you can keep them going for life. Its more about changing your lifestyle for the long term than going on a diet.
There are lots of fad and extreme diets that cut out meals or specific foods groups. While you may see quick results, its really hard to follow restrictive diets in the long-term. Once you go back to eating normally, the weight will creep back on. Making small changes over time will be easier to stick to and work better in the long run.
Pay attention to what youre eatingIts very easy to take on calories without really thinking about it, but it takes a lot of time and effort to burn off the same amount.
Make simple swaps
To eat more fibre:
To control your portions:
Why Do People Become Overweight
Obesity tends to run in families. Some people have a tendency to gain weight more easily than others. Although genes strongly influence body type and size, the environment also plays a role.
People today are gaining weight because of unhealthy food choices and family habits . High-calorie, low-nutrient snacks and beverages, bigger portions of food, and less-active lifestyles are all contributing to the obesity epidemic.
Sometimes people turn to food for emotional reasons, such as when they feel upset, anxious, sad, stressed out, or even bored. When this happens, they often eat more than they need.
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The Top 10 Risk Factors For High Blood Pressure Include:
Being overweight or obese
The more you weigh the more blood flow you need to supply oxygen and nutrients to your tissues. As the volume of blood circulated through your blood vessels increases, so does the pressure inside your arteries.
Too much salt in your diet
Too much sodium in your diet can cause your body to retain fluid, and also causes the arteries in your body to constrict. Both factors increase blood pressure.
Too little potassium in your diet
Potassium helps balance the amount of sodium in your cells. Potassium causes the smooth muscle cells in your arteries to relax, which lowers blood pressure.
Not being physically active
Exercise increases blood flow through all arteries of the body, which leads to release of natural hormones and cytokines that relax blood vessels, which in turn lowers blood pressure. Lack of physical activity also increases the risk of being overweight.
Drinking too much alcohol
Having more than two drinks per day can cause hypertension, probably by activating your adrenergic nervous system, causing constriction of blood vessels and simultaneous increase in blood flow and heart rate.
Stress
High levels of stress can lead to a temporary, but dramatic, increase in blood pressure. If you try to relax by eating more, using tobacco or drinking alcohol, you may only exacerbate problems with high blood pressure.Relaxation and meditation techniques effectively lower blood pressure.
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Getting Started With Weight Loss
Weight loss can be hard because it involves changing the way you eat and your physical activity. Losing weight also takes time, which can be frustrating. The good news is that you can lose weight and keep it off, even if you’ve never done it before.
Here’s what has worked for some people who have lost weight and kept it off*:
- Cutting back on calories and fat.
- Staying physically active most days of the week.
- Eating breakfast every day.
- Weighing themselves at least once per week.
- Watching less than 10 hours of TV per week.
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Avoid Gluten In Your Diet
Gluten is a type of protein commonly found in barley, rye, or wheat. It triggers the cells in the gut to release zonulin, a protein that can damage the tight junctions responsible for holding the intestines.
If the junctions break, leaky gut occurs. Avoiding gluten in your diet for high blood pressure and thyroid can help keep your gut in good shape, preventing the interruption of hormonal activities in the body.
Upon doing groceries, check the labels for gluten.
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I Cant Think Straight Im Foggy
Blame it on: High cortisol and its effect on the hippocampus.
Ever noticed how hard it is to keep your mind operating on all four cylinders when youre having a heavy-duty day? You sit at the computer but cant focus, go to the shops but forget what you need to buy, misplace your keys or wallet or both. This mental meltdown is a direct result of adrenal fatigue.
Stress induced brain drain is caused by the hippocampus, a little seahorse shaped organ in the brain involved in our short term memory. With too much cortisol in the brain, dendrites start to shrink and dont work as properly.
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Can Weight Loss Reduce Blood Pressure Without Medications
Changes in diet and exercise can make a big difference if youre trying to control blood pressure. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has issued guidelines that include lifestyle adjustments to help prevent and treat hypertension. Among them: losing weight , and eating a lower-fat diet thats high in fruits and vegetables.
And in an article published in the Journal of Family Practice, researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 8 randomized controlled trials with a total of 2000 patients. They found that weight loss achieved through diet changes reduced blood pressure in hypertensive patients.
Just 5 Extra Pounds Of Belly Fat Can Raise Your Blood Pressure
A new study shows that its not just how much weight you gain but also where you gain it that really matters.
Small weight gain were talking five pounds isnt uncommon in adults as they navigate through life. But gaining just five pounds may have additional side effects beyond making your jeans uncomfortable. Modest weight gain can increase your blood pressure, even in lean, healthy people. This is especially true if you tend to gain weight in the belly area.
In a new study presented today at the American Heart Associations High Blood Pressure Researcher 2014 Scientific Sessions , scientists from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, reported that blood pressure increase was specifically related to weight gain around the abdominals, called belly fat.
It was surprising that even this modest change in weight results in a change in blood pressure, said study co-author Dr. Virend Somers, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic.
With even a small weight gain, there is a significant increase in the overall risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attack and stroke. While these findings are important on an individual level, the impact of these findings is multiplied as more and more adults fall into the overweight or obese category, Somers said.
This is important to see on an individual level, but on the overall population as well, he said.
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Weight: A Silent Heart Risk
Its long been known that when youre overweight, youre more apt to develop conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes that can lead to heart disease. Now Johns Hopkins researchers have shown that excess weight is more than an accomplice in the development of heart problems. The pounds themselves can cause heart muscle injury.
Basically, being obese seems to be a solo player associated with heart injurythat is, regardless of high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and diabetes, says Johns Hopkins cardiologist Chiadi Ndumele, M.D., M.H.S. Down the road, this can lead to heart failure.
Even Small Reductions In Weight Can Make A Big Difference
In a study Withings conducted with Georges Pompidou Hospital in Paris, researchers found that a decrease in BMI of 1.0 kg/m2 over a month was associated with a drop in blood pressure of 1.79 mmHg for men and 1.81 mmHg for women.
Another study published in Obesity Research in 2012 recommends a gradual and modest weight loss, defined as 5% to 10% of your baseline weight.
According to researchers, this level of weight loss can normalize blood pressure levels even without reaching ideal weight, and has been shown to be able to lower or even discontinue antihypertensive medication.
The researchers state that the lower blood pressure probably results from an increase in insulin sensitivity and a decrease in the activity of the sympathetic nervous system.
Blood Pressure UK also says that you do not have to reach your ideal BMI to see results.
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Increasing Activity In Order To Lose Weight
If your doctor recommends that you lose weight, theres a simple rule to follow: move more, eat less and make smarter food choices. Gradually increase your level of physical activity beyond the AHA recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, lower the number of calories you take in and eat a healthy diet. Once youre at your goal weight, you can then determine which dietary and fitness choices work best for maintaining your weight.
- The two essentials to maintaining a healthy weight are:
How Can Your Lifestyle Raise Your Blood Pressure
There are a number of things you can change which can make a dramatic difference to your blood pressure.
Eating too much saltEating too much salt is one of the main causes of high blood pressure, so lowering your salt intake is one of the best ways to lower it. Most people dont know how much salt they eat because its hidden in the foods we buy. .
SmokingAs well as raising your blood pressure, smoking speeds up the process of atherosclerosis, where fat clogs up your arteries, leading to strokes and heart attacks. Stopping smoking is one of the best things you can do for your health. .
Being overweight Being overweight is strongly linked with high blood pressure and a number of related health problems, such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
Find out if you are a healthy weight and see the to help you lose weight if you need to. Even losing a small amount can make a big difference.
Drinking too much alcoholAlcohol has a surprisingly big impact on blood pressure, its linked to a fifth of cases, and causes numerous other health problems. .
Not eating enough fruit and vegetablesEating fruits and vegetables can help to stave off all manner of problems, and eating too little has the opposite effect, leading to high blood pressure, weight gain, heart disease, stroke and diabetes. See how they help and how you can get into your meals.
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Hypertension And Obesity: How Weight
Winter 2009
It is important to get both weight and hypertension under control to be healthy both hypertension and obesity are major health issues in the United States.
The Incidence of Hypertension and Obesity
The Framingham Heart Study, a famous study for 44 years, estimated that excess body weight , accounted for approximately 26 percent of cases of hypertension in men and 28 percent in women, and for approximately 23 percent of cases of coronary heart disease in men and 15 percent in women. Individuals with obesity have an increase in fatty tissue that increases their vascular resistance and in turn increases the work the heart has to do to pump blood throughout the body .
What is Hypertension?
Hypertension refers to the pressure that blood applies to the inner walls of the arteries. The diagnosis of high blood pressure cannot be given if the patient is ill or is already on blood pressure medicines.
High blood pressure is based on the average of two or more properly measured blood pressure readings at each of two or more visits after an initial screening. The definitions are based on The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure: The JNC 7 Report .
Physicians use the following classifications:
- Normal blood pressure: systolic equal to or less than 120 mmHg and diastolic equal to or less than 80 mmHg
- Pre-hypertension: systolic 120-139 mmHg or diastolic 80-89 mmHg
Types of Hypertension
A Chain Is Not Stronger Than Its Weakest Link
It is clear that obesity-related hypertension is a multifactorial disorder. At this time, it is not possible to identify one single mechanism as the dominant aetiological factor. Genesis and evolution of obesity-related co-morbidity presumably depend on several genetic and environmental factors. It is likely that obesity, hypertension and metabolic abnormalities interact and potentiate their individual impact on cardiovascular risk . In this context, renal factors may have a decisive influence. The number of nephrons is reduced in patients with primary hypertension . In these patients, obesity may confer an increased risk of chronic kidney disease, especially when additional factors, such as diabetes or lipid abnormalities, are superimposed. Structural damage of the kidneys may further increase blood pressure and predispose to cardiovascular events.
Fig. 2.
Potential mechanisms linking obesity, hypertension and chronic kidney disease.
It is tempting to speculate that the clinical course and the prognosis of a given patient depend on the weakest link in the chain comprising obesity, hypertension and metabolic abnormalities. It is possible that distinct subgroups of obese subjects are prone to an early increase in blood pressure, an early onset of diabetes or an early onset of chronic kidney disease.
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Every Rule Has Its Exception
Cardiovascular risk factors including obesity are more prevalent in patients with end-stage renal disease than in age-matched controls . However, there is growing evidence that the relationship between body mass index, nutritional state and cardiovascular risk profile might be different in renal patients compared with the general population . Obesity has been shown paradoxically to enhance survival of patients undergoing haemodialysis. This phenomenon is called reverse epidemiology, risk factor reversal or altered risk factor pattern .
Fig. 3.
Comparison between the effects of body mass index on all-cause mortality in the general population and in maintenance haemodialysis patients .
Several mechanisms have been postulated as potential causes of or explanations for the phenomenon of reverse epidemiology in patients undergoing haemodialysis. These include the malnutrition inflammation complex syndrome, alterations in circulating cytokines, unique neurohormonal constellations, endotoxinlipoprotein interaction, reverse causality, survival bias and time discrepancies among competitive risk factors . It is not clear whether these mechanisms are specific for renal patients, as other conditions such as congestive heart failure, advanced age and malignancy are also associated with risk factor reversal. Nevertheless, these findings raise the question of whether obese patients undergoing haemodialysis should be advised to lose weight.
Limit Your Alcohol Intake
Regularly drinking too much alcohol can raise your blood pressure over time.
Staying within the recommended levels is the best way to reduce your risk of developing high blood pressure:
- men and women are advised not to regularly drink more than 14 units a week
- spread your drinking over 3 days or more if you drink as much as 14 units a week
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The Link Between Body Weight And Stroke
Around 75% of people who have a stroke are ages 65 and older.But studies show that having a higher BMI increases your risk of stroke at any age.
In one study, researchers compared two groups of people between the ages of 15 and 49. Young adults in the first group had previously had a stroke, while those in the second group had not.
The researchers found that young adult men who were obese were 73% more likely to have a stroke than men with a healthy BMI. Young adult women who were obese were also 46% more likely to have a stroke than women with a healthy BMI.
Medical scientists have found that being overweight leads to high blood pressure, which is one of the leading causes of stroke. Being overweight also leads to metabolic syndromecharacterized by high cholesterol, high triglycerides, and high blood sugar.
Over time, these conditions harm the blood vessels of the brain and the heart and increase the risk that a blood clot will form and travel to the brainresulting in stroke.
When researchers compared people with metabolic syndrome to people without it, they found that people with metabolic syndrome are three times more likely to have a stroke.
There are, however, some other, unexplained links between higher BMIs and stroke that are not associated with metabolic syndrome. For example, one study found that obese people without metabolic risk factors still have a higher risk of stroke.