Summary
When you get your blood pressure
taken systolic blood pressure is the higher number and diastolic blood pressure
is the lower number. Two other
measurements can be taken from systolic and diastolic blood pressure: mean
arterial pressure is one third systolic plus two thirds diastolic; and pulse
pressure is systolic minus diastolic.
Cardiac output (which is
equalled to heart rate multiplied by stroke volume (stroke volume is affected
by blood volume)), arterial width/peripheral resistance and arterial stiffness
are some main factors that could affect blood pressure.
Salt reduces blood pressure,
but not much or in amounts that would suggest that high salt diet causes
hypertension or low salt would reverse it. Restricting salt increases activation of the
renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) and noradrenaline, which has some
undesirable effects such as increasing insulin resistance and oxidative stress.
Obesity, insulin resistance,
endothelial dysfunction, atherosclerosis and poor kidney function are some of
the mechanisms of hypertension and tend to affect blood pressure by increasing the
activity of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), the
renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and arterial stiffness.
Some Strategies for Hypertension
This is for informational
purposes only and is not meant to diagnose or treat any medical condition.
Obesity
Insulin Resistance and Type
2 Diabetes
It’s estimated that 50% of
people with hypertension are insulin resistant [1]. Insulin resistance increases SNS and RAAS activity
and impairs endothelial function, and type 2 diabetes is the major cause of
kidney failure [2]. See What
Causes Insulin Resistance? Part VII
Cardiovascular Disease
Endothelial dysfunction and
atherosclerosis can increase arterial stiffness and blood pressure
(particularly systolic). See Cardiovascular
Disease
Stress/Anxiety
Psychological stress/anxiety can
definitely increase blood pressure in the short term and is a factor in white coat
hypertension, but it’s debatable as to whether it causes hypertension. That being said, meditation reduces blood
pressure in people with mild hypertension [3]
Nutrients
Reducing salt does reduce
blood pressure, but not by much, although more so in people with hypertension,
poor kidney function and African Americans.
Don’t expect that reducing salt will normalise your blood pressure. Most sources of salt are in processed foods,
take-away foods, restaurants and added salt.
Whole foods are usually very low in salt*
Potassium supplementation may
be more effective than sodium at reducing blood pressure. However, it also has a fairly minor effect and
seems to only be effective in those with hypertension. Potassium also doesn’t seem to increase SNS
and RAAS activity like salt restriction does [4]. Although another meta-analysis found no
benefit [5]
Sun exposure is associated
with lower blood pressure [6]. Vitamin D inhibits the RAAS [7], but supplementing
vitamin D may not as sunlight increases nitric oxide [6]
Vitamin K2 may be helpful as
it prevents calcification of arteries
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