Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Lowering your systolic blood pressure by 3-6 mmHg and your diastolic blood pressure by 1.4 mmHg may reduce your risk of stroke, coronary heart disease, cardiovascular events, and risk of death by as much as 30%.
High blood pressure is an emerging global health problem (1) and has been recently identified as the number one burden of death today (2). As both the global and American population continue to age, a potential economic burden of high blood pressure looms that will be far greater than the $76 billion it currently costs the American healthcare system (3).
While previous research has identified foods to add to your diet for a healthy blood pressure, such as 30 grams of milled flaxseed per day (4), a new study (5) has identified what to exclude from your diet, specifically, sugar. In the review, researchers analyzed 12 studies comprising 324 subjects and found that elevated sugar intakes of longer than 8 weeks produced significant increases in blood pressure. Specifically, while the overall effect of elevated sugar intake only caused a 1.4-mmHg increase (p = 0.02) in diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number), the strongest evidence came from a 2002 study showing that elevated sugar intake ((175 grams of sucrose per day (6)) for longer than 8 weeks produced a 5.3-mmHg increase in diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.0005).
A similar result was seen with systolic blood pressure (the top number). While the overall effect of sugar on systolic blood pressure elicited a statistically insignificant 1.1-mmHg increase (p = 0.32), a 2002 study examining elevated sugar intake (175 grams of sucrose per day (6)) longer than 8 weeks noted a 6.9-mmHg increase (p = 0.0001).
When suggesting how sugar intake can have an adverse effect on blood pressure, the researchers suggested that excessive intake of dietary fructose, such as from sugar-sweetened beverages, increases fat levels in the liver, producing higher levels of triglycerides and cholesterol which can elevate blood pressure (7). In addition, excessive fructose consumption increases levels of a salt called urate, which decreases nitrous oxide synthesis, impairing the ability of blood vessels to dilate (8, 9).
The health implications of maintaining a healthy blood pressure are significant. Lowering your systolic blood pressure by 3-6 mmHg and your diastolic blood pressure by 1.4 mmHg may reduce your risk of stroke, coronary heart disease, cardiovascular events, and risk of death by as much as 30% (10). As a result, the researchers concluded “our findings support the idea that reducing free-sugar intakes might be expected to reduce blood pressure.”
Source: Te Morenga, Lisa A., et al. “Dietary sugars and cardiometabolic risk: systematic review and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials of the effects on blood pressure and lipids.” The American journal of clinical nutrition (2014): ajcn-081521.
© 2014 American Society for Nutrition
Posted November 16, 2015.
Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com.
References:
- Cutler JA, Sorlie PD, Wolz M, Thom T, Fields LE, Roccella EJ. Trends in hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control rates in United States adults between 1988-1994 and 1999-2004. Hypertension. 2008;52:818–827.
- Lim SS, Vos T, Flaxman AD, et al. A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990-2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet. 2012;380:2224–2260
- Lloyd-Jones D, Adams RJ, Brown TM, et al; Writing Group Members; American Heart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. Heart disease and stroke statistics–2010 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2010;121:e46–e215
- Rodriguez-Leyva D. Potent Antihypertensive Action of Dietary Flaxseed in Hypertensive Patients. Hypertension 2013 Dec;62(6):1081-9. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.113.02094. Epub 2013 Oct 14
- Morenga LA. Dietary sugars and cardiometabolic risk: systematic review and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials of the effects on blood pressure and lipids. Am J Clin Nutr 2014 May 7. [Epub ahead of print]
- Raben A, Vasilaras TH, Møller AC, Astrup A. Sucrose compared with artificial sweeteners: different effects on ad libitum food intake and body weight after 10 wk of supplementation in overweight subjects. Am J Clin Nutr 2002;76:721–9
- Johnson RJ, Segal MS, Sautin Y, Nakagawa T, Feig DI, Kang DH, Gersch MS, Benner S, Sanchez-Lozada LG. Potential role of sugar (fructose) in the epidemic of hypertension, obesity and the metabolic syndrome, diabetes, kidney disease, and cardiovascular disease. Am J Clin Nutr 2007;86:899–906.
- Kretowicz M, Johnson RJ, Ishimoto T, Nakagawa T, Manitius J. The impact of fructose on renal function and blood pressure. Int J Nephrol 2011;2011:315879
- Mene` P, Punzo G. Uric acid: bystander or culprit in hypertension and progressive renal disease? J Hypertens 2008;26:2085–92
- Neal B, MacMahon S, Chapman N. Effects of ACE inhibitors, calcium antagonists, and other blood-pressure-lowering drugs: results of prospectively designed overviews of randomised trials. Blood Pressure Lowering Treatment Trialists’ Collaboration. Lancet 2000;356: 1955–64
