Does fasting reduce blood pressure levels?

Answer from top 1 papers

Caloric restriction and fasting have been shown to have beneficial effects on blood pressure reduction. In spontaneously hypertensive rats, four days of fasting lowered blood pressure by 19%, while eating 50% of ad lib intake reduced blood pressure by 10% (). This effect was less pronounced in normotensive rats, suggesting that caloric restriction may be particularly effective in hypertensive individuals.
Interestingly, the DASH diet, which emphasizes fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods, has been shown to lower blood pressure effectively, especially when combined with sodium reduction (). However, the DASH diet alone, without caloric restriction or exercise, resulted in minimal improvements in insulin sensitivity or lipids despite clinically significant reductions in blood pressure ().
In conclusion, various forms of intermittent fasting, including alternate-day fasting, the 5:2 diet, and time-restricted eating, have been found to produce mild to moderate weight loss (1-8% from baseline) and consistent reductions in energy intake (10-30% from baseline). These regimens may benefit cardiometabolic health by decreasing blood pressure, insulin resistance, and oxidative stress (). Additionally, caloric restriction diets have been shown to counteract aging and delay the onset of cardiovascular diseases through the reduction of body fat mass, systolic and diastolic values, free radicals production, and oxidative stress (). However, more long-term studies are needed to fully understand the effects of caloric restriction on blood pressure and overall cardiovascular health.

Source Papers

118
10.1097/00004872-200211000-00026

Orlistat improves blood pressure control in obese subjects with treated but inadequately controlled hypertension.

Nov 01, 2002
Journal of Hypertension
George Bakris + 5 more +5

To investigate the hypothesis that weight reduction with orlistat plus mild caloric restriction leads to better blood pressure control than diet alone in obese individuals with inadequately controlled hypertension. DESIGN This was a 1-year, prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial of orlistat plus diet versus placebo plus diet in obese hypertensives. Participants were randomized to receive either orlistat or placebo; all received a 600 kcal deficient diet with no more than 30% of calories from fat. Weight and blood pressure, lipid levels and fasting glucose and insulin levels were followed. Patients on orlistat experienced greater weight loss (-5.4 +/- 6.4 versus -2.7 +/- 6.4 kg, P< 0.001) and greater reduction in body mass index (-1.9 +/- 2.3 versus -0.9 +/- 2.2 kg/m2, P<0.001). Target weight loss, defined as > or= 5% body weight (BW), was obtained in more orlistat-treated patients than in the placebo group (46 versus 23%, P<0.001). Diastolic BP decreased more in orlistat-treated patients than in the placebo group (-11.4 +/- 8.3 versus -9.2 +/- 8.4 mmHg, P = 0.002). A greater percentage of orlistat-treated patients reached goal diastolic blood pressure (BP), defined as final diastolic BP< 90 mmHg or a reduction of at least 10 mmHg (67 versus 53%, P< 0.001). The orlistat-treated group had significantly greater reductions in total cholesterol ( P<0.001), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = 0.001) and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P< 0.005) and target 30% cardiovascular risk reduction was obtained in more orlistat-treated patients (36.1 versus 24.0%, P< 0.04). A weight-loss program with orlistat is more effective than diet alone to lower blood pressure and results in greater cardiovascular risk reduction.