Enough of all these studies!

[manlymatt83]

I'm tired of reading studies about high blood pressure and other diseases. Scientists say "Soy make lower blood pressure", while others say "don't be too sure!", while others say walking upside down might lower blood pressure. But then others say too much soy causes bladder cancer.

Isn't the best thing for blood pressure to lose extra weight and work out? Why don't people emphasize that enough? WebMD releases all these tips and tricks every week on how to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, but I see these people who are doing these studies are at least 20-30, perhaps more pounds overweight.

Am I wrong? My goal is to get down another 20 pounds, and I've already dropped 70 in two years. I also eat right and exercise daily. I noticed a significant drop in my BP - I'm even off one medication.

Am I doing something wrong? Should I focus my time on eating more soy and less working out? Are these treatments supposed to be on TOP of the exercise? Are they just doing these studies to increase markets for certain products, like the soy market?

Discuss. Someone please explain this to me.

 

[GenHoth]

Keep working out, what you're doing is much better than these 'solutions' they are offering. In classic American fashion they are trying to convince you that you don't have to put any effort in and just need to have some more of their product!

 

[ja1484]

Originally posted by: mjuszczak
I'm tired of reading studies about high blood pressure and other diseases. Scientists say "Soy make lower blood pressure", while others say "don't be too sure!", while others say walking upside down might lower blood pressure. But then others say too much soy causes bladder cancer.

Isn't the best thing for blood pressure to lose extra weight and work out? Why don't people emphasize that enough? WebMD releases all these tips and tricks every week on how to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, but I see these people who are doing these studies are at least 20-30, perhaps more pounds overweight.

It's not just exercising, it's what kind. It's pretty well known that cardio has beneficial effects on the vascular system (i.e. lower blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.), while resistance training (in its conventional strength/power forms - circuit training and strength endurance training are a bit more complicated) not so much.

Exercise is important, but as always, nutrition goes hand in hand with it. Watch your sodium and fat content, make sure you get enough fiber and stay hydrated. It's all important.

Am I wrong? My goal is to get down another 20 pounds, and I've already dropped 70 in two years. I also eat right and exercise daily. I noticed a significant drop in my BP - I'm even off one medication.

Firstly, more than weight, you should be looking at body composition as a metric of progress. Fixations on weight can get you into trouble. Set yourself a bodyfat %age goal and aim for that, instead of "lose 20 more lbs."

Secondly, a good portion of the reason your BP has decreased with weight loss is because your peripheral resistance has decreased. Now that you don't have as much bodyfat applying pressure to your capillaries, the heart doesn't have to pump with as much force per beat in order to get blood everywhere it needs to go.

The other portion is probably indeed due to the meds - possibly more than the TPR reduction.

Am I doing something wrong? Should I focus my time on eating more soy and less working out? Are these treatments supposed to be on TOP of the exercise? Are they just doing these studies to increase markets for certain products, like the soy market?

Discuss. Someone please explain this to me.

No. You're doing the right thing. Exercise and watch your diet. Insider "tips and tricks" are for lazy America that wants someone else to take responsibility for their health.

 

[tjaisv]

all things in moderation

 

[onlyCOpunk]

It's all a combination of things working together. And further more if someone has life threatening blood pressure there are pills to help lower it. All of these natural "tips" are just that tips to use in combination with everything else. And of course if you're like the majority of obese America you hate exercising and everyone loves a "quick fix"

 

[ja1484]

Originally posted by: onlyCOpunk
It's all a combination of things working together. And further more if someone has life threatening blood pressure there are pills to help lower it. All of these natural "tips" are just that tips to use in combination with everything else. And of course if you're like the majority of obese America you hate exercising and everyone loves a "quick fix"

Actually, life threatening blood pressure is typically too low, not too high. High blood pressure is worrisome because of all the other morbidities it can induce.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Diet can be very important, there is a lot more salt in a lot of products that you realise...

An important note is that salt is sodium chloride and in one gram of sodium chloride, there are approximately 0.3933 grams of sodium, and 0.6067 g of chlorine.

Take for example Corn Flakes nutritional info (from kelloggs website Info)

Typical value per 100g

Energy
- kJ 1580
- kcal 372
Protein (g) 7
Carbohydrates (g) 84
- sugars (g) 8
- starch (g) 76
Fat (g) 0.9
- saturates (g) 0.2
Fibre (g) 3
Sodium (g) 0.7

That sodium is actually 1.78 g of salt or nearly a third of your recommended <6g per day.

As far a cutting BP reductions in salt are likely to achieve the following -


A reduced salt intake of: Predicted a fall in systolic and diastolic blood pressure of:
50 mmol or 3 g/d 3.6/1.9 mmHg
100 mmol or 6 g/d 7.1/3.9 mmHg
150 mmol or 9 g/d 10.7/5.8 mmHg

Although I have come across people who have reduced their BP by quite considerably more by managing their salt intake (the values are afterall averages).

From

FJ He, A MacGregor. How far should salt intake be reduced? Hypertension 2003 42: 1093-1099.

Eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables (5 portions a day- 400 g of mixed fruit and veg), and low-fat dairy products and with reduced saturated and total fat can reduce your BP by another ~10 mmHg.

From

Appel L, Moore T, Obarzanek E et al. 1997. A clinical trial of the effects of dietary patterns on blood pressure. New England Journal of Medicine; 336: 1117-23.