Overweight can cause hypertension

Weight loss reduces BP in hypertensive and normotensive subjects, suggesting that excess weight causes higher BP. Excess body weight is the sixth most important risk factor contributing to the overall burden of disease worldwide.

The Framingham Heart Study, a famous study for 44 years, estimated that excess body weight (including overweight and obesity), accounted for approximately 26 percent of cases of hypertension in men and 28 percent in women.

Technically, obesity is defined as the abnormal accumulation of ≥20% of body fat, over the individual's ideal body weight. The latter constitutes the maximal healthful value for an individual that is calculated based chiefly on the height, age, build and degree of muscular development.

Obesity and in particular central obesity have been consistently associated with hypertension and increased cardiovascular risk. Based on population studies, risk estimates indicate that at least two-thirds of the prevalence of hypertension can be directly attributed to obesity.

Obesity might lead to hypertension and cardiovascular disease by activating the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system, by increasing sympathetic activity, by promoting insulin resistance and leptin resistance, by increased procoagulatory activity and by endothelial dysfunction. Further mechanisms include increased renal sodium reabsorption, causing a shift to the right of the pressure–natriuresis relationship and resulting in volume expansion.

High dietary content in fat and carbohydrate has been suggested to acutely stimulate peripheral α1 and β-adrenergic receptors thereby leading to the elevation of sympathetic activity and hypertension.
Overweight can cause hypertension

Causes of High Blood Pressure

Causes of High Blood Pressure
The causes of short term rises in blood pressure high last only seconds or minutes are well understood, but these are not what we normally mean by high blood pressure. High blood pressure is important only when it is maintained for months or years – it is a high average pressure which is significant, not occasional high peaks. The causes of a long term rises in average pressure are not fully known, but we do know that it runs in families. This inherited tendency seems to account for about half the differences between people; the rest seems to depend on how they live and what they eat (not just in adult life, but they ate in infancy and childhood and how well nourished they were before they born).

One cause we do know about is overweight and weight reduction is a sensible first step in treatment. Weight loss depends mainly on using up more energy by taking more exercise and reducing energy input. In practice the most healthy way to do this is by reducing the amount of fats, oils, meats, sugar and alcohol in the diet, and instead eating more fruit, vegetables, cereal foods and fish. Eating less fat and oil is by far the most important of these changes. Another benefit from these changes in diet is that they help lower blood cholesterol levels and so reduce the risk of developing coronary heart disease.

Another known cause us excessive alcohol (which means more than 4 units of alcohol a day for a man or 3 units a day for woman – a unit alcohol is one glass of wine or one single measure of spirits or half a pint of average strength beer or lager). Again the biggest effect is in young people, limiting alcohol intake often brings high blood pressure back to normal without any other treatment.
Causes of High Blood Pressure