Sweet Enough - High Blood Pressure and High Sugar Intake

The following article briefly discusses the correlation between high blood pressure and excessive blood sugar. Both appear interrelated with medical research pointing to the detrimental aspects sugar is having on health. The premise here is that through high sugar Western diets, we are literally eating ourselves to chronic disease. 

 A significant increase in blood sugar levels globally has given rise to high blood pressure, specifically hypertension, subsequently there has been an increase in blood vessel related illness. (Johnson et al., 2007) propose prior to the introduction of high sugar Western diets, hypertension appears to have been almost nonexistent in non-Western peoples. Studies conducted with Native Americans, Australian Aborigines, Maori, Alaskan Eskimos, Asians, and African blacks have witnessed considerable change in hypertension rates since the introduction of Western culture and diet. 

Atkins, Vernon and  Eberstein (2004) affirm the relation to illness, a mixture of high blood pressure and high sugar is dangerous. If you have both, you are at much greater risk for blood vessel injury, leading to stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, blindness and amputations. Regulating diet seems a logical response. 

 A diet with low sugar intake can significantly reduce systolic blood pressure. Research conducted by OmniHeart tested three diets on individuals with hypertension (BP > 140/90) or pre-hypertension (BP >120/80). Each diet was high in fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy foods, beans, nuts, and other foods containing key nutrients. In individuals with hypertension, a  reduction of systolic blood pressure by 13 points was recorded. Those diets, which contained only 30 to 50 calories of added sugars a day, reduced systolic blood pressure by 16 points (Liebman, 2010). In contrast, Kretowicz, Johnson, Ishimoto, Nakagawa and Manitius (2011) conducted a study of overweight men and administered 200g of fructose daily for two weeks. Here a marked increase in ambulatory blood pressure was recorded.

 Falkner, Lurbe and Schaefer (2010) assert that improving diet, increasing physical activity, and controlled weight loss are significant for both the prevention and the nonpharmacologic treatment of hypertension. Research has shown that even small improvements in blood pressure and blood sugar - along with weight loss - can improve your chances of avoiding blood vessel related illness  (Atkins, Vernon &  Eberstein 2004). It is clear there is little place for sugar in a diet that is designed to lower blood pressure (Liebman, 2010).