High Blood Pressure & Weight Loss

According to a report published by the National Institute of Health, obesity correlates closely with hypertension, or high blood pressure. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that nearly 20 percent of the world's population suffers from high blood pressure and nearly 67 percent of Americans are obese to some extent. This combination can be a ticking time bomb.

High Blood Pressure

• High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a condition in which the blood pressure is consistently elevated. The exact cause of high blood pressure is unknown, but there are several contributing factors, one of which is obesity. High blood pressure causes strain on the entire circulatory system, but especially on the heart, kidneys and brain.

Weight Loss

• Weight reduction is an important step in reducing and controlling high blood pressure. A loss of as little as 10 pounds will reduce the blood pressure in a large number of obese individuals with hypertension. Weight loss may also reduce the amount of medication a person needs to keep his blood pressure under control; this, in turn, helps reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and diabetes.

Where the Weight is Stored

• Being obese is bad enough, but exactly where the fat is stored on your body also matters. If you tend to carry most of your weight around your middle, then you are referred to as being "apple" shaped; if most of your weight is stored in your hips and thighs you are considered "pear" shaped. Body shapes due to fat storage is often determined by heredity. An apple-shaped person is at greater risk for heart disease, and having an apple-shaped body indicates greater fat levels around the vital organs of the abdomen.

How to Lose Weight

• The key to losing weight is to eat fewer calories than your body burns. Try to reduce your daily calorie intake by 500 calories a day, which should allow you to lose about 1 pound a week. Healthy weight loss is a slow process; after all, you didn't put the weight on overnight and you won't take if off overnight. Fad diets usually do not work because they tend to take off the weight too fast, and pretty soon your body goes into starvation mode and the weight loss stops. Then as soon as you give up the diet and begin to follow your old eating patterns, the weight balloons back on.

Reducing Calories

• Reducing calories does not have to be a sacrifice. It can be as simple as replacing that mid-afternoon candy bar with a small apple or having baked chicken instead of fried chicken. Another way to reduce and burn calories at the same time is to take a brisk walk right after dinner. This gets you away from the table so you are less likely to nibble on leftovers, and the exercise will burn calories. These simple steps can lead to a leaner and healthier body and this will help lower blood pressure and decrease risk of heart disease.