Obesity: High Blood Pressure Under Control Without Pills
March 27th 2010 -
Doctors and Health Care preaching it for years: avoid salt poor diet, exercise and a healthy body weight high blood pressure. U.S. doctors can support this recommendation once again scientifically. Their patients succeeded with a reduced-calorie, low-salt diet and regular exercise training to lower slightly elevated blood pressure levels to normal level.
The medical team at James Blumenthal of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, has recruited for the study, 144 overweight and obese adults. All participants suffered from slightly elevated blood pressure or moderate arterial hypertension (systolic blood pressure 130 to 159 mm Hg). None had taken pre-hypertensive medications. A group of patients received a low-salt DASH diet. This mixed diet of fruit and vegetables, whole grains, lean poultry, fish, nuts and low-fat dairy products and some meat and sweets, will reduce blood pressure. Another group studied in addition to the DASH diet three times a week a 45-minute sports program of walking, cycling or jogging. The remaining participants formed the control group. They were allowed to keep their eating and living habits.
After four months, all participants started on the blood pressure. In the control group the values were marginally decreased (minus 3.4 / 3.8 mmHg). Patients in the diet group had lowered their blood pressure mmHg on average by 11.2 / 7.5. The greatest success, the researchers documented at low-salt diet plus exercise: In this group the values decreased mmHg to 16/10. Some participants alone reached mmHg through the life transition from normal blood pressure 120/75.
Tags: DASH diet, high blood pressure, hypertension, obesity, overweight
One Response a “Obesity: High Blood Pressure Under Control Without Pills”
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Gelly Anderson Says:
April 7th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Obesity and diabetes are becoming more and more of a problem these days. Actually it is easy to avoid being overweight by just having the proper diet and exercise.