Why Fat Around the Belly Can Raise Blood Pressure
Role of Hyperinsulinemia and Insulin Resistance in Hypertension: Metabolic Syndrome Revisited.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Too much belly fat can squish the kidneys and turn on brain signals that raise blood pressure. Even though insulin problems are common in obesity, they don’t directly cause high blood pressure. But when high blood pressure and insulin issues happen together, they hurt blood vessels and kidneys more.
Surprising Findings
Chronic high insulin does not raise blood pressure in large animals or humans, despite early theories.
For over 30 years, medicine has taught that hyperinsulinemia causes hypertension via sodium retention and SNS activation. This review shows that while short-term effects exist, long-term BP doesn’t rise.
Practical Takeaways
Focus on reducing visceral fat through diet and exercise to lower blood pressure, rather than solely targeting insulin levels.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Too much belly fat can squish the kidneys and turn on brain signals that raise blood pressure. Even though insulin problems are common in obesity, they don’t directly cause high blood pressure. But when high blood pressure and insulin issues happen together, they hurt blood vessels and kidneys more.
Surprising Findings
Chronic high insulin does not raise blood pressure in large animals or humans, despite early theories.
For over 30 years, medicine has taught that hyperinsulinemia causes hypertension via sodium retention and SNS activation. This review shows that while short-term effects exist, long-term BP doesn’t rise.
Practical Takeaways
Focus on reducing visceral fat through diet and exercise to lower blood pressure, rather than solely targeting insulin levels.
Publication
Journal
The Canadian journal of cardiology
Year
2020
Authors
A. D. da Silva, Jussara M. do Carmo, Xuan Li, Zhen Wang, A. Mouton, J. Hall
Related Content
Claims (5)
If your body has too much insulin for a long time, it can make your kidneys hold onto more salt, which increases your blood volume and raises your blood pressure—even if you're not eating too much salt.
Some people and animals can have serious insulin problems without getting high blood pressure — even when they're obese — which means these insulin issues don't always cause high blood pressure.
Even though high insulin levels can briefly rev up the nervous system and make the kidneys hold onto salt, having high insulin for a long time doesn’t seem to raise blood pressure in people or animals — fat or thin — so it probably isn’t the main reason high blood pressure happens in obesity.
When someone has metabolic syndrome, high blood sugar and unhealthy fats in the blood team up with high blood pressure to harm the blood vessels and kidneys, making things worse over time.
When your body becomes resistant to insulin, it makes more insulin to compensate, and that extra insulin can make your kidneys hold onto too much salt, which over time can lead to high blood pressure.