Fasting refers to not eating food and relying only water or juice for sustenance over one to five days, the American Cancer Society explains. Broth or tea are sometimes included in the fasting process. Proponents of metabolic therapy make use of fasting as a means of detoxifying your body. Fasting is purportedly beneficial to people with heart disease and hypertension. This suggests that fasting for at least a day will not elevate your blood pressure.
Blood Pressure
Blood pressure measures the force applied to the walls of the arteries while your heart supplies blood through your body, MedlinePlus, a service of the National Institutes of Health, explains. Blood pressure readings use mmHg to express measurements. The two numbers that are used to express blood pressure represent the systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings. Constantly having blood pressure readings over 120/80 mmHg and below 139/89 mmHg is considered prehypertensive. Blood pressure readings of 140/90 mmHg to 159/99 mmHg is considered mildly hypertensive, and readings constantly over 160/100 mmHg is moderately to highly hypertensive. People who suffer from hypertension generally have high blood pressure and require medications to keep their blood pressure within normal parameters.
Fasting Insulin and Blood Pressure
The relationship of fasting insulin and blood pressure was examined by a study published in a 1990 issue of "Arteriosclerosis." The study involved 4,576 young adults and the effects of fasting insulin levels on the risk of cardiovascular disease and blood pressure. The study determined that insulin was positively associated with blood pressure. The study also showed that high levels of fasting insulin are associated with an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis in young adults. This suggests that not eating does increase your blood pressure.
Malnutrition and Blood Pressure
A study published in the 2004 issue of the "Nephron Clinical Practice" looked at the relationship between malnutrition and blood pressure in children. The study involved more than 172 children older than 2 living in shantytowns in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Ninety one children were malnourished and 20 had recovered from malnutrition after about six years. The rest of the children in the study were non-malnourished. The study discovered that a majority of the malnourished children and those who had recovered had elevated systolic or diastolic blood pressure. This suggests that malnutrition actually increases blood pressure and continues to do so after an average of six years after malnutrition has been corrected. This also implies that malnutrition elevates the risk of blood pressure problems later in life.
Fasting, Cholesterol and Blood Pressure
A study in the 2000 issue of "Psychosomatic Medicine" examined how cholesterol and fasting insulin affect blood pressure. Participants of the study were between 20 to 52 years of age and were generally 80 percent to 150 percent of their ideal weight. Their average fasting cholesterol level was about 183 mg/dL. The study determined that fasting insulin moderately increased the blood pressure of people with below to average levels of cholesterol. This suggests that cholesterol levels affect the effect that fasting has on blood pressure. More research is necessary to validate this assertion.
References
- American Cancer Society; Fasting; November 2008
- "Arteriosclerosis"; Association of Fasting Insulin with Blood Pressure and Lipids in Young Adults; Manolio TA, et al.; May 1990
- "Nephron Clinical Practice"; Malnutrition is Associated with Increased Blood Pressure in Childhood; Sesso R, et al.; 2004
- MedlinePlus; Blood Pressure; David C. Dugdale; May 2010
- "Psychosomatic Medicine"; Influence of Cholesterol and Fasting Insulin Levels on Blood Pressure Reactivity; Bardwell WA; July 2000
