Introduction
The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carb diet that limits the intake of carbohydrates. It's been prescribed for epilepsy and some other medical conditions, mostly in children. But can it lower blood pressure?
It involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis.
When this happens, your body becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy. It also turns fat into ketones in the liver, which can supply energy for the brain.
Ketogenic diets can cause massive reductions in blood sugar and insulin levels. This, along with the increased ketones, has numerous health benefits.
Aldosterone and Angiotensin II
The keto diet may affect two hormones that regulate blood pressure: aldosterone and angiotensin II. Aldosterone is an important hormone that helps your body maintain fluid balance in your cells and tissues. It also plays a role in regulating sodium retention, which can help prevent your kidneys from becoming swollen with water from too much sodium intake (salt). Angiotensin II is a powerful hormone involved in controlling blood volume, so when you eat carbohydrates or refined carbs like white breads or pasta, it causes constriction of arteries leading to heart attacks as well as high blood pressure.
Although these effects are still being investigated by scientists around the world, some studies suggest that eating less carbohydrate than what’s recommended on the Standard American Diet (SAD) could lower systolic BP by 5–10 mmHg without affecting diastolic BP significantly.
High Blood Pressure Can Be Hereditary or Lifestyle-related
High blood pressure is a common condition. It's a medical condition that occurs when the pressure of your blood against your artery walls becomes too high, putting strain on your heart and other organs.
High blood pressure can be hereditary or lifestyle-related. Genetics play a role in how much pressure you develop over time, but environmental factors such as dieting, smoking and stress may also contribute to high blood pressure levels. Medications may also contribute to worsening or reducing overall health status including weight gain or loss; poor sleep patterns; muscle weakness; fatigue and dizziness due to lack of energy (hypoglycemia).
High blood pressure is a serious condition that can lead to heart disease and stroke. If you have high blood pressure, it's important to control your symptoms so you don't develop complications from the condition.
If you're diagnosed with high blood pressure, it's important for you to see your doctor regularly as part of managing this disease. You may need medication or lifestyle changes like diet and exercise in order to lower your blood pressure over time.
Keto is a Low-carb, High-fat Diet
Keto is a low-carb, high-fat diet. It's important to know that these aren't just arbitrary words. The keto diet is not the same as Atkins or South Beach.
Ketogenic diets are characterized by their high levels of dietary fat and low intake of carbohydrates—the body can't burn fat for fuel without carbs present in the bloodstream (this is called glucose intolerance). In fact, once you start eating keto foods like butter and avocados you'll find yourself getting hungry again quickly because your body needs more energy than it's getting from those foods alone.
Saturated Fats Are in Dairy Products and Foods of Animal Origin
Butter, cheese and other dairy products, this type of fat is solid at room temperature and has a high concentration of energy.
Saturated fats can cause high levels of cholesterol to build up in your blood vessels (atherosclerosis). This can increase the risk of heart disease or stroke by lowering the amount of oxygen reaching organs such as your brain.
However there’s strong evidence that eating less saturated fat reduces your chances of developing these conditions – so it might be worth including more unsaturated fats like olive oil in your diet too.
Milk, Yogurt and Cheese Are Good Sources of Calcium
Calcium is an important mineral that helps keep your bones strong. It also plays a role in blood pressure control, so if you're looking to lower your blood pressure, calcium is one of the best things you can eat.
Some good sources of calcium include:
Milk (1 cup) contains about 200 mg of calcium per serving. Look for low-fat or nonfat milk products when choosing an option that'll help keep your diet balanced without adding extra calories or fat grams. You can find more information about low-fat options here.
Yogurt (1 cup) has about 300 mg per serving; check with brands that offer Greek yogurt varieties before buying any kind of yogurt because they tend to have less carbs than regular types due to their thick texture.
The Ketogenic Diet May Help Lower Blood Pressure, and Research is Ongoing
The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that focuses on eating processed foods like bacon, eggs, and butter. It's been used for decades by those who want to lose weight or improve their overall health. In addition to the weight loss benefits of the keto lifestyle (which we'll get into later), several studies have shown that it can help lower blood pressure in people with hypertension—a condition where your blood pressure increases too much because there are too many chemicals in your body called "metabolic poisons."
Conclusion
In conclusion, I think you can take away two things from this article:
If you have high blood pressure, Keto may help lower it.
However, there is no evidence that eating a ketogenic diet will help people with heart disease or kidney disease.
Reference
Comments