Many population studies have proved a direct correlation between obesity and a significant rise in blood pressure, and this is now showing an alarming rise in not only older people but also in younger and middle aged adults. There is also now a steady rise in the incidence of high blood pressure in children due to associated weight problems which only a few years ago was very rare.
The reason that obesity causes high blood pressure is because fat (like any other body tissue) requires a blood supply otherwise it will die. Every pound of excess fat increases the total length of the smaller blood vessels in the body by about one mile.
Luckily the heart is very flexible and adaptable, but even so just an extra pound can make considerable demands on the heart and cause it to work considerably harder.
This is why it is so important that an obese person who is suffering from high blood pressure loses weight. Once they have lost weight, the workload of the heart becomes easier and the blood pressure tends to improve.
Many aspects of modern day living can be held responsible for the present spate of coronary heart disease, and the one to the forefront is our diet which is usually made up of high fat and sugar content. Convenience foods are considered by many nutritionists and other health experts to be the main culprits.
In 1999 a study was published by the American Archives of International Medicine who reported the findings of "A study of Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension" (DASH) which was supported by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.
This study set out to test the effects of eating patterns on blood pressure.
DASH enrolled 450 people into their study, some of whom had normal blood pressure and others whose blood pressure was raised. These people had to eat food provided by DASH for eleven weeks in place of their normal diet. They also kept daily food diaries and ate their main meal of the day at one of the four participating clinics.
The group had an average age of 44.6 years, with 49% of the group being female, and 59% African Americans. Those people who were being treated for hypertensive problems had their medication withdrawn for the duration of the study, and to ensure they all started the study equally they all had to eat a typical American diet for the first three weeks.
At random they were then all assigned to one of three types of diet for the next eight weeks, these included:
A continuation of the control diet
A similar diet but with fruit and vegetables included
A diet both enriched with fruit and vegetables and low fat dairy products and reduced in saturated fats.
Diet 2 supplied extra potassium and other important minerals and vitamins present in fruit and vegetables as well as improved fibre. Diet 3 brought together several features which were thought to improve and lower raised blood pressure included the same benefits as diet 2 and also introduced extra calcium, magnesium, protein and fibre. It also reduced the consumption of the total saturated fats previously consumed.
Other factors which would affect the outcome such as body weight, sodium and alcohol intake were also taken into consideration with calories tailored to provide the needs of each specific person.
Each person's blood pressure was taken at regular intervals with the average blood pressure at the start of the study being 135/85. (This matches 40% of the adult population in America).
The final results of this study were very interesting. It was shown that while the second diet did assist in reducing the blood pressure, it was the third combination type of diet which really assisted in improving both the diastolic and systolic readings. It was also noted that the 133 people who took part who had previously had raised blood pressure experienced a greater lowering effect than those with a normal reading on the third diet.
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