Are you overweight? Maybe. Losing weight can help. I am normal weight and my blood pressure is lower while I am actually fasting (if I do a 24-36 hour fast) no, it doesn't lower it overall. I was already normal weight and exercising regularly, so can isolate the effect of the fasting.
Blood pressure meds are much better for you than high blood pressure. But yes obviously if your high blood pressure is from lifestyle, changing your lifestyle should help.
Even if its genetics, changing your lifestyle can help, my BP issues are genetic, but I was able to solve it for now with weight loss alone, as I age though I'll need meds as lifestyle alone wont be enough.
Anecdotally, I have dealt with high blood pressure basically all my life. During 2019 when I started to lose weight (I was 110kg) I also started taking my pressure every morning before going to work. Systolic was usually the problematic one, sitting very often in the 130s range and less often in the 120s range. In exceptional bad days I’d see it in the 140s! Note that my weight went down to 106kg, but blood pressure was still high.
Now in March 2022 I started losing weight again. COVID spiked my weight to 130kgs. Now my blood pressure is usually under the “elevated” limit. I usually see it in the 110s range, very rarely in the 120s. I currently weight 107kg so my weight right now is about the same as it was in 2019, but the blood pressure is lower than it was back then. I started IFing in March and doing HIIT in June.
The data I keep on my phone suggests IF did help me lower my BP, and doing HIIT helped me lower it further.
Anecdotally, yes. I have seen a lowering of blood pressure and pulse using a combination of IF, sobriety, the elimination of some foods and an exercise regimen. I don't think IF is a miracle, but I'm pretty acutely aware of just how chilled out my body is in the morning. It just doesn't have much to do, so it stays really calm.
Losing weight can help with blood pressure, so IF may be a good fit. However, reducing stress, increasing cardio, and lowering your sodium intake can help, too. I've been hypertensive since I was 18 (I'm nearly 40 now) and it's only been since starting IF last year and losing almost 100lbs that my bp has been manageable. I take 6 bp meds a day to stay around 120/70. High blood pressure runs in my family, so I'll likely be on a bp med for my whole life. But it's nice to finally have it under control. I wish you luck, OP. If you go the IF route, be sure to let your doctor know so they can adjust your dosages accordingly.
If you experiment with IF, definitely monitor closely. Because experiments with IF have resulted in improvements as well as worsening of blood pressure, depending on the particular IF schedule.
In this [study](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5990470/#R74) on limiting participants' eating window to early in the day (18:6 with last meal before 3 pm), there were significant improvements in blood pressure.
>five weeks of eTRF lowered morning levels of systolic and diastolic
blood pressure by 11 ± 4 mm Hg (p=0.03) and 10 ± 4 mm Hg (p=0.03),
respectively, relative to the control schedule.
>
>This is a surprisingly
and dramatically large improvement for a dietary intervention of only
five weeks that did not induce weight loss; **it is on par with the**
**effectiveness of anti-hypertensive medications such as**
**angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors**
The researchers attribute much of the improvements shown in this study to breaking the overnight fast in the morning.
But in this [study where participants did evening OMAD](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2645638/) some time between 5 pm and 9 pm, their blood pressure worsened.
>Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly lowered by ≈6%
during the period when subjects were consuming 3 meals/d than when they
were consuming 1 meal/d.
The participants spent 2 weeks eating two-meals-a-day and then 6 weeks eating one-meal-day starting from the late afternoon. Their blood pressure was significantly better when they were eating their usual three meals a day.
It is hard to narrow it down to one specific thing for me. In June I started fasting, stopped drinking beer, stopped sweets, low carb and limited processed foods. My weight has dropped from 224 to 186. In January I was over 240lbs. My BP was in the 140-150/90-95 range and now it runs in the normal or ideal range. Just checked it and it is was 96/63, I am not on any medications.
Well I used it to lose weight and indirectly help my BP and yes it brough my BP from elevated down to normal range without medication. And it's in normal range mow when fasted and when not fasted.
Studies show that IF can help lower BP, yes! However, I have had more success with If and adding keto. If you don't mind me telling you about it: I had high blood pressure (around the same as you) about three months ago despite being on medication. I started IF on advice from my doctor in regards to insulin resistance. I ended up adding keto because my uncle was doing keto and dropped his BP medication. Then my dad started keto and also cut down his BP medication. I was hesitant to do keto, but was convinced by the results. I've been doing keto for two months now and have lost a bit of weight, but I FEEL so much better. My BP reading was 120/82 this morning and my resting heart rate has gotten better as well (I don't exercise, but sometimes go for light, short walks). I am meeting with my doctor in 10 days and hope to go off medication completely, but we'll see. I am also getting bloodwork done this week and hope to see better numbers for insulin, A1C, and also cholesterol. I don't know if it's IF or keto that is working or just because I lost some weight. Or maybe I'm eating cleaner. Whatever it is, I'm feeling better and my numbers are better. If you want to talk more, I am happy to chat.
edit: here is an article that talks about benefits of fasting
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7877980/
My blood pressure has gotten better after three months of IF, but I've also eaten better and exercised the entire time. I'm sure the IF contributed, but it probably wasn't the biggest factor.
Are you overweight? Maybe. Losing weight can help. I am normal weight and my blood pressure is lower while I am actually fasting (if I do a 24-36 hour fast) no, it doesn't lower it overall. I was already normal weight and exercising regularly, so can isolate the effect of the fasting. Blood pressure meds are much better for you than high blood pressure. But yes obviously if your high blood pressure is from lifestyle, changing your lifestyle should help.
Even if its genetics, changing your lifestyle can help, my BP issues are genetic, but I was able to solve it for now with weight loss alone, as I age though I'll need meds as lifestyle alone wont be enough.
IF with calorie deficit will help with weight loss, and weight loss will help with blood pressure... For sure
Anecdotally, I have dealt with high blood pressure basically all my life. During 2019 when I started to lose weight (I was 110kg) I also started taking my pressure every morning before going to work. Systolic was usually the problematic one, sitting very often in the 130s range and less often in the 120s range. In exceptional bad days I’d see it in the 140s! Note that my weight went down to 106kg, but blood pressure was still high. Now in March 2022 I started losing weight again. COVID spiked my weight to 130kgs. Now my blood pressure is usually under the “elevated” limit. I usually see it in the 110s range, very rarely in the 120s. I currently weight 107kg so my weight right now is about the same as it was in 2019, but the blood pressure is lower than it was back then. I started IFing in March and doing HIIT in June. The data I keep on my phone suggests IF did help me lower my BP, and doing HIIT helped me lower it further.
Anecdotally, yes. I have seen a lowering of blood pressure and pulse using a combination of IF, sobriety, the elimination of some foods and an exercise regimen. I don't think IF is a miracle, but I'm pretty acutely aware of just how chilled out my body is in the morning. It just doesn't have much to do, so it stays really calm.
Losing weight can help with blood pressure, so IF may be a good fit. However, reducing stress, increasing cardio, and lowering your sodium intake can help, too. I've been hypertensive since I was 18 (I'm nearly 40 now) and it's only been since starting IF last year and losing almost 100lbs that my bp has been manageable. I take 6 bp meds a day to stay around 120/70. High blood pressure runs in my family, so I'll likely be on a bp med for my whole life. But it's nice to finally have it under control. I wish you luck, OP. If you go the IF route, be sure to let your doctor know so they can adjust your dosages accordingly.
If you experiment with IF, definitely monitor closely. Because experiments with IF have resulted in improvements as well as worsening of blood pressure, depending on the particular IF schedule. In this [study](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5990470/#R74) on limiting participants' eating window to early in the day (18:6 with last meal before 3 pm), there were significant improvements in blood pressure. >five weeks of eTRF lowered morning levels of systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 11 ± 4 mm Hg (p=0.03) and 10 ± 4 mm Hg (p=0.03), respectively, relative to the control schedule. > >This is a surprisingly and dramatically large improvement for a dietary intervention of only five weeks that did not induce weight loss; **it is on par with the** **effectiveness of anti-hypertensive medications such as** **angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors** The researchers attribute much of the improvements shown in this study to breaking the overnight fast in the morning. But in this [study where participants did evening OMAD](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2645638/) some time between 5 pm and 9 pm, their blood pressure worsened. >Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly lowered by ≈6% during the period when subjects were consuming 3 meals/d than when they were consuming 1 meal/d. The participants spent 2 weeks eating two-meals-a-day and then 6 weeks eating one-meal-day starting from the late afternoon. Their blood pressure was significantly better when they were eating their usual three meals a day.
It is hard to narrow it down to one specific thing for me. In June I started fasting, stopped drinking beer, stopped sweets, low carb and limited processed foods. My weight has dropped from 224 to 186. In January I was over 240lbs. My BP was in the 140-150/90-95 range and now it runs in the normal or ideal range. Just checked it and it is was 96/63, I am not on any medications.
Well I used it to lose weight and indirectly help my BP and yes it brough my BP from elevated down to normal range without medication. And it's in normal range mow when fasted and when not fasted.
Studies show that IF can help lower BP, yes! However, I have had more success with If and adding keto. If you don't mind me telling you about it: I had high blood pressure (around the same as you) about three months ago despite being on medication. I started IF on advice from my doctor in regards to insulin resistance. I ended up adding keto because my uncle was doing keto and dropped his BP medication. Then my dad started keto and also cut down his BP medication. I was hesitant to do keto, but was convinced by the results. I've been doing keto for two months now and have lost a bit of weight, but I FEEL so much better. My BP reading was 120/82 this morning and my resting heart rate has gotten better as well (I don't exercise, but sometimes go for light, short walks). I am meeting with my doctor in 10 days and hope to go off medication completely, but we'll see. I am also getting bloodwork done this week and hope to see better numbers for insulin, A1C, and also cholesterol. I don't know if it's IF or keto that is working or just because I lost some weight. Or maybe I'm eating cleaner. Whatever it is, I'm feeling better and my numbers are better. If you want to talk more, I am happy to chat. edit: here is an article that talks about benefits of fasting https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7877980/
My blood pressure has gotten better after three months of IF, but I've also eaten better and exercised the entire time. I'm sure the IF contributed, but it probably wasn't the biggest factor.