Many lifestyle factors can cause high blood pressure, including stress, eating too much salt and trans fats, and a lack of physical activity. Being overweight has long been identified as a risk factor for high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, regardless of age group. When you carry excess body weight it can take more pressure to move the blood around the body, known as resistance to flow. In other words, your heart must work much harder than it would at a healthy body weight. Obesity is also associated with other conditions, such as sleep apnea and diabetes, that carry an increased risk of high blood pressure. What many people may not know is that being "overfat" - having excess body fat even at a normal weight - is also shown to affect blood pressure. What do these associations mean for us? By taking control of your body composition, you can keep your blood pressure under control, improve your cardiovascular health, and enjoy many other long-term health Glyco Care benefits.
As your heart beats, it pumps your blood throughout your body so that your muscles can get all the energy and oxygen they need. To do this, your heart pushes your blood through a network of blood vessels called arteries. When the blood travels through the arteries, it pushes against the sides of these blood vessels and GlycoCares.netglucose balance the strength of this pushing is called your blood pressure. Your heart squeezes and pushes your blood through your arteries, making your blood pressure go up. The pressure created in the blood vessels while the heart is active, or beating, is your systolic blood pressure. Systolic blood pressure will be the first number in your blood pressure reading. As your heart relaxes and begins to refill with blood, the pressure in your blood vessels goes down. This is known as your diastolic blood pressure, which is the second number provided in a blood pressure reading. So, what this means is that with each heartbeat, your blood pressure rises to a maximum level (systolic pressure) and then falls to a minimum level (diastolic pressure).
Together, these maximum and minimum pressure values define your blood pressure. What this means is that having a blood pressure of 130/80 or higher on a regular basis is considered to be placing too much pressure on the blood vessels. Having consistently high blood pressure can eventually cause damage to the heart and blood vessels, leading to cardiovascular disease. People with fat around their abdominal area are at greater risk of developing hypertension when compared to those with a similar BMI who primarily have fat concentrations elsewhere on the body. You have two types of adipose tissue (body fat): subcutaneous and visceral fat. Subcutaneous fat lies just under your skin around the belly, thighs, rear, and extremities. Visceral fat lies below your abdominal muscles and encircles your organs. Depending on your body type, you may be unaware that you have a high level of visceral fat if you only rely on BMI. When the weight gain is in the abdominal area, there’s a greater risk for high blood pressure because this type of body fat is more likely to cause the arteries to become thick and stiff.
When your blood vessels get stiff, it becomes harder to push the blood throughout your body. The body then has to create more pressure to move the blood, which may lead to a lasting increase in blood pressure. Additionally, visceral fat is thought to interact more intimately with the kidneys and adrenal glands, which are responsible for GlycoCares.netglucose balance regulating your blood pressure. By interfering with the function of those organs, visceral fat is a serious promoter of high blood pressure. Am I at Risk for Hypertension? There are several risk factors for hypertension, and it’s important to know what they are so you can monitor your health. Some risk factors for high blood pressure are non-modifiable, meaning you can’t really do anything about them. Those include your family history; age; gender; race; and whether you have a history or presence of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Modifiable risk factors are those you can take control of to reduce your risk for high blood pressure.
Those include physical activity level; diet; weight; body fat percentage; alcohol use; smoking and tobacco use; sleep apnea; diabetes; high cholesterol; and stress. The good news is that when you lose weight (even a small amount), your blood pressure can go down and your blood vessels can loosen up, making it easier for your heart to pump blood throughout your body. Losing body fat, especially around the belly, can lower the risk of developing blood pressure and, potentially, completely eliminate high blood pressure. Losing weight all around helps tremendously, too. Lowering your blood pressure will take a number of new healthy habits. Successful, long-term weight loss is the key to sustained cardiovascular health. You should get your body composition tested regularly to make sure you’re losing fat mass (and not muscle) - especially the deep, visceral fat that contributes heavily to hypertension. Physical activity is critical for managing hypertension - and body composition - but it must be done wisely.