Why does weight loss affect blood pressure?

If you are overweight, losing weight will lower your blood pressure because your heart doesn't have to work as hard to pump blood throughout your body. Losing excess weight helps lower blood pressure. Expect a drop of about 1 point in systolic pressure for every 2 pounds you lose. weight loss is one of the most effective lifestyle changes for controlling blood pressure.

Losing even a small amount of weight if you're overweight or obese can help lower your blood pressure. In general, it can lower your blood pressure by about 1 millimeter of mercury (mm Hg) for every kilogram (about 2.2 pounds) of weight you lose. The good news is that losing weight, even in small amounts, can have a direct impact on lowering blood pressure. In fact, researchers estimate that for every pound you lose, you can lower your blood pressure by one point.

Therefore, dietary interventions that aim to reduce body weight could be a useful intervention to lower blood pressure and adverse cardiovascular events associated with hypertension. Most studies linking weight loss to lowering blood pressure do so only in the short term, usually examining impacts on a scale of less than 1 year. If you have type 2 diabetes, medications aren't the only option when it comes to controlling your blood sugar. A RCT evaluated the effects of weight loss with diet on a combined endpoint that consisted of the need to reinstate antihypertensive therapy and serious cardiovascular complications.

In patients undergoing bariatric surgery for morbid obesity, although blood pressure initially decreases, it returns to control levels after 6 to 8 years despite substantial and sustained decreases in body weight. In addition, while even moderate weight loss results in an early reduction in blood pressure, long-term reductions in blood pressure are much less impressive than short-term reductions. On the other hand, numerous clinical interventions in humans have examined the relationship between weight loss and change in blood pressure. Initial weight losses of 18% of pre-surgical body weight were associated with a decrease in blood pressure of approximately 12 mm Hg systolic and 8 mm Hg diastolic.

Once you reach your ideal weight, you can determine which dietary and fitness options work best to maintain your weight. For overweight or obese patients whose weight means a high risk of heart disease and other cardiovascular conditions. This contrasts with the reduction in sodium in the non-weight loss group, which found an incidence of hypertension of 22.4% during the same period. Although the long-term effects of caffeine on blood pressure are not clear, blood pressure may increase slightly.

Over a period of 6 to 8 years, weights increased only very slightly in this group, while blood pressure levels recovered and, at the end of the study, were similar to or higher than those of untreated controls. The scientific opinion jury is still deliberating on the extent to which weight loss or sodium restriction independently contributes to lowering blood pressure. This means that after losing the first 10 pounds, your blood pressure could drop by 10 points, which is a significant decrease. Changes in weight and blood pressure were observed at baseline, in intermediate periods, and at the end of 18 months of intervention.

Gerald Clabaugh
Gerald Clabaugh

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