Hypertension Weight Loss

Obese high blood pressure individuals should lose weight to lower your blood pressure for effective hypertension management.

Blood pressure rises as body weight increases; losing just 10 pounds can help lower your blood pressure. Losing weight has the most significant benefit on those who are already having hypertension. Additionally, it has many health benefits that produce overall wellbeing.

If you are obese or overweight and having high blood pressure; losing a modest weight can bring down your blood pressure. Even there is a chance for a reasonable range without any hypertension medication.

A study shows overweight people with stage-1 hypertension, after losing 5% of their body weight in six months, 52 % participant’s blood pressure drops to normal without any hypertension medication.

An Italian study has identified overweight as a direct cause of high blood pressure. Also, it showed that up to half of the unhealthy weight individuals could bring down blood pressure to healthy levels by losing weight. The study suggests, in many cases, hypertension is not essential; instead of secondary to overweight. So advice your loved one to reduce their weight can avoid treating for hypertension.

In studies of obese people, Washington University researchers analyzed patients in a weight-loss program. And they noted that those who lost weight has an improvement in the heart’s ability to pump & relax the heart muscle thickness, and the carotid arterial walls thickness.

A study suggests, eating healthy and losing weight may reverse the accumulation of fatty deposits, a condition known as atherosclerosis.

Reductions in arterial stiffness with weight loss in overweight and obese young adults. Reference: Atherosclerosis. 2012 Aug; 223(2): 485–490.

How is obesity/overweight causes hypertension?

The exact mechanism of how obesity causes hypertension is unknown. The neuroendocrine mechanism and adipose tissue factors may be the link.

Obese individuals heart require pumping higher amounts of blood. Thus their chamber size & heart cavity become enlarged, and heart muscle thicker. Over time the heart may lose its ability to relax or pump blood to the rest of the body; both can lead to heart failure.

Obesity can affect numerous hormonal levels in your body; worst affected among them is the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. This system is in charge of blood volume control along with the sympathetic nervous system; it controls sodium level and water retention in your body. Obesity interfering with these mechanisms, which are responsible for proper blood pressure regulation leads to elevated blood pressure. The adipose tissue deposition can cause irregular kidney function, leads to blood pressure variation.

Who is considering as overweight and obese?

A BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considering as overweight and over or equal to 30 is considering as obesity.

Body mass index (BMI) is a simple index of weight to height, used to classify overweight and obesity in adults. A person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of his or her height in meters (kg/m2) is BMI.

How do you lose weight?

The key to weight loss is to burn excess of calories through physical activity than the calories you got from eating food and drinks.

Losing weight means burning more calories than you do eat. Therefore, you should plan how to cut down calorie’s intake and how to burn more calories. The key to losing weight is never rushing for the result; instead, prepare for a systematic weight loss in the long run.

Below you can find some simple steps to lose weight:

1. Chew well and eat less – when you chew thoroughly, it naturally prevents you from overeating. Because, it takes time, mixes foods thoroughly with saliva (so foods swell), and wholly masticated; thus, you feel fullness. Additionally, it helps your stomach to digest correctly as well as helps to absorb the nutrients efficiently.
2. Never skip your breakfast - avoid missing your breakfast, because already your body has gone without food for the entire night for more than 10 to 12 hours.  Thus, you may overeat or urge to choose unhealthy foods in your lunch or forced to take before lunch. Additionally, it slows down your metabolism.
3. Enjoy your food – your mother and grandma repeatedly insist you not to talk, read or watch TV while eating and ask you to enjoy tasting the food. It helps your tongue taste buds to enjoy the taste to its fullest. It helps your stomach to signal the brain once your limit is reached, thus prevent overeating.
4. Do not overcook foods – it destroys the nutrients present in the diet. It may cause a nutrient shortage, and thus you may feel unsatisfied and start craving for junk food. To counteract this, try eating more raw foods like salads.
5. Take fruits for snacks – instead of junk foods as snacks, take fruits and vegetables, which are high in nutrients but comparatively low in calories.
6. Drink enough water – it is necessary to drink 8 to 10 glasses of water. However, try avoiding drinking water during a meal, because water can dilute the stomach acid and slow down digestion. Thus, it is advisable to drink water at least 15 minutes before or after a meal. Still, if you need to drink while eating, limit to small sips only.
7. Have a healthy diet for hypertension – plan a menu with a moderate amount of saturated fat, cholesterol & total fat and emphasize fruits, vegetables, whole-grain products, fish, and grass-free milk and milk products. Limit or avoid lean red meat, sweets, added sugars, and sugar-containing beverages.
8. Do hypertension exercise – Be consistent in doing exercise for 30 minutes on most of the days of a week or a minimum of five days. Practice exercises based on your health, age, and other health conditions you have.
9. Physically active – make your lifestyle more productive. Taking your dog for walking, play with kids, walk while speaking on the phone, use a staircase instead of a lift, gardening, cleaning your house, washing your car, etc.