What Is High Blood Pressure?
High Blood Pressure is a common condition where the pressure of your blood against your blood vessel walls is consistently raised.
The more pressure your blood comes under as it pumps around the body, the higher your blood pressure reading will be.
High Blood Pressure is often known as the ‘silent killer’ because millions of us could be walking around with the condition, and not know – but it is causing damage within our bodies.
Often, high blood pressure is a symptom of being overweight or obese.
Can losing weight help lower your high blood pressure? Read on to find out!
What Are The Symptoms And Risks Of High Blood Pressure?
Sadly, there are no obvious symptoms of high blood pressure, hence why it is called the ‘silent killer’, however, there are a number of known risks that we can control, in order to reduce our blood pressure.
Some of the key risks within our control are:
- Unhealthy Diet
- Lack Of Physical Activity
- Being Overweight or Obese
- Drinking Too Much Alcohol
- Smoking
However, there are also other risk factors outside of our control, such as:
- Genes
- Family History of High Blood Pressure
- Ethnicity
- Age
How Does Being Overweight Or Obese Cause High Blood Pressure?
Being overweight or obese is a significant cause of high blood pressure, and a cause that is well within our control to help reduce blood pressure.
Carrying excess weight means your heart has to work much harder to transport and pump blood and oxygen around your body.
Overtime, if this level of pressure is sustained within the body, it adds stress to your heart and blood vessels, putting you at risk of further complications.
What Is A Healthy Blood Pressure?
A healthy blood pressure is measured using two numbers on a blood pressure monitor.
The systolic pressure (higher number) is the force at which your heart pumps blood around your body.
The diastolic pressure (lower number) is the resistance to the blood flow in the blood vessels.
Any reading on a blood pressure monitor above 140/90mmHg is considered to be high blood pressure. If you have regular readings over these numbers, you should take immediate steps to lower your blood pressure.
Readings around 120/80mmHG indicate you could be at risk of high blood pressure and should take care in order to reduce your blood pressure.
Ideally, a blood pressure reading should be between 90/60mmHG and 120/80mmHg.
What Happens If I Don’t Treat My High Blood Pressure?
If you do not treat your high blood pressure, you will find yourself at risk of some serious, and often life-threatening, health problems.
These can range from stroke, heart attack, kidney disease, eye problems, dementia and more.
How Can Losing Weight Help Lower Blood Pressure?
Losing weight, if you are overweight or obese, will reduce your blood pressure as your heart doesn’t have to work as hard to pump blood around your body.
In fact, losing weight with a weight loss programme if you have high blood pressure is the best thing you can do to help reduce your blood pressure and improve your quality of life.
With less strain on your heart, and lower blood pressure, you will also lower your risk of many other conditions too, such as stroke, diabetes, heart attack and heart disease.
Losing weight and lowering your blood pressure will also make you feel better, give you more energy and increase overall feelings of well-being.
How Much Weight Do I Need To Lose To Lower My Blood Pressure?
The amount of weight you need to lose in order to lower your blood pressure isn’t set.
However even losing 5 – 10% of your body weight could make a massive difference to your blood pressure.
Other ways you can reduce your blood pressure are:
- Reducing Salt Intake
- Being More Active
- Eating A Healthy, Balanced Diet Full Of Fresh Fruit and Veg
- Limit Your Alcohol Intake
- Lose, Or Maintain a Healthy, Weight
- Give Up Smoking
How Do I Know If I Am A Healthy Weight?
You will know if you are a healthy weight by having a conversation with a weight loss doctor, such as those at The Slimming Clinic, and measuring your BMI.
You can measure your BMI with our free BMI calculator. If you find that your BMI and blood pressure is raised, you can book in online for a consultation with our weight loss doctors who will tell you more about how you can lower your blood pressure, get into a healthy weight range for you and improve your overall health too.
The best part about talking to us at The Slimming Clinic if you have high blood pressure, is talking to experts who can help treat the causes of your high blood pressure.
Our weight loss doctors aren’t just experts in losing weight, but trained professionals in all areas of your health.
That is why we only offer doctor-led weight loss, so we don’t just help you lose weight, but improve your health, well-being and life quality too.
Improve your quality of life with The Slimming Clinic today.