Scientists from Università Telematica Pegaso and elsewhere found that a very low-calorie keto diet could reduce high blood pressure.
Obesity is linked to hormonal, inflammatory, and blood vessel changes in the body. These changes may contribute to high blood pressure and may increase heart disease risk.
The keto diet is primarily used to help reduce the frequency of epileptic seizures in children. The diet aims to force the body into using a different type of fuel.
Instead of relying on sugar (glucose) that comes from carbohydrates (such as grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits), the keto diet relies on ketone bodies, a type of fuel that the liver produces from stored fat.
In the current study, researchers aimed to examine the effect of a very-low-calorie ketogenic diet on blood pressure in women with obesity and high blood pressure.
They tested a total of 137 women who ate a very low-calorie ketogenic diet.
The researchers examined their body weight, height, waist circumference, body composition, systolic (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) before the study and after 45 days of eating the diet.
They found that after the diet intervention, all the women had a big reduction in body weight and an overall improvement in body composition.
In addition, inflammation levels were strong, while phase angle (PhA) increased by almost 9%.
(Phase Angle (PhA) makes an assessment of cellular health by examining a cell’s integrity and the amount of water it contains.
This can be used to estimate a cell’s health and level of nutrition. Generally speaking, the higher the phase angle, the healthier a person is).
The team also found both SBP and DBP were strongly improved.
Based on the findings, the team concludes that a very low-calorie ketogenic diet reduces blood pressure in women with obesity and high blood pressure in a safe manner.
The research was published in The Journal of Translational Medicine and conducted by Luigi Barrea et al.
Copyright © 2023 Scientific Diet. All rights reserved.
