Even Modest Weight Loss Lowers Blood Pressure
If you’re middle-aged and overweight, a recent study reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine may motivate you to shed a few pounds. The researchers found that people may be able to prevent high blood pressure by losing even modest amounts of weight.
Men and women with a body mass index of 25 or greater (an indication of being overweight) participated in the study; 623 were age 30–49 (the younger group), and 605 were age 50–65 (the older group). After adjusting for various patient characteristics that could skew their findings (including activity level, smoking, and the occurrence of cancer or cardiovascular disease), the investigators found that in individuals who lost 15 lbs. or more over a four-year period, the long-term risk of high blood pressure was reduced by 28% and 37% in the younger and the older groups, respectively. More modest weight loss also lowered the chances of high blood pressure, as long as the losses were sustained for an additional four years. Individuals in the younger group who lost at least four lbs. and kept it off for the next four years had a 22% decline in the risk of high blood pressure; a 26% decrease occurred in the older patients.
One easy way to lose weight and lower your blood pressure is to add more high-fiber foods to your diet. Here’s a summary of a recent study on “Fiber’s Effect on Blood Pressure,” reported in the Journal of Hypertension.
A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains (and thus high in fiber) is known to lower blood pressure. But whether it is the fiber or some other component of these foods that is responsible for reduction in blood pressure has been uncertain. Researchers from Tulane University analyzed the results of 25 randomized, controlled trials that included more than 1,400 adults. The researchers found that individuals who ate between 7 and 19 grams of fiber a day experienced significant reductions in blood pressure—averaging 3 mm Hg systolic and 2 mm Hg diastolic. These improvements in blood pressure occurred when people increased their fiber intake for at least eight weeks. Shorter durations of increased intake did not lower blood pressure as much.
The best way to boost your fiber intake is to eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Fiber can also be consumed in pill form, but the study found that when fiber was taken as a pill significant declines occurred only in diastolic blood pressure (the lower number in a blood pressure reading).
