The FastDay Forum

Hi All, not sure wether this is a suitable topic for here or in general chat but here goes.
MY hubby is being treated for High blood pressure.The drugs are making his legs swell up.He has been given an alternative but wants to get off them althogether. Can anyone tell me if you had High BP and if losing weight on 5:2 has helped you reduce it.
I hate drugs as they just seem a slippery slope onto the next drug to cure the effects of the first.If I could show him how real people had lost wieght and improved their BP it would give me a better lever to get him to join me.
I only started last saturday and have lost 4lbs inside a week. I am very inspired.
thanks, Barbara

[carorees]

Hi Barbara

I've just been posting on this very topic! The answer is yes, 5:2 definitely reduces BP. Dr M says there is plenty of evidence for it. Have a look at some of the papers linked in threads in this part of the forum, especially those by Krista Varady.

After 6 weeks on 5:2 my BP had dropped by about 2--3 points, since Xmas I have added a high intensity exercise regime to the fasting (3 x 30 secs max biking, 3-5 times a week) and am now feeling rather lightheaded after the exercise and on and off at other times too. I have booked an appt with my GP to see if my blood pressure is going too low - watch this space!

Well it depends on whether it is the weight causing his high BP but losing weight is very likely to help reduce it. Of course not everyone's BP is caused by excess weight - I have a very slim brother-in-law and his BP is very high. But for myself, every diet I have ever been on has lowered my blood pressure. (Unfortunately I have had a tendency to regain the weight, sending my BP back up again). So I know for sure that my BP is weight related. I am considered overweight by BMI but most people tell me I don't look it. I am clearly someone who can't carry any excess weight without it effecting my blood pressure. I am hoping that this 5:2 way of eating is more sustainable than being "on a diet" and I am very excited about all of the health benefits it offers me. I hope you can persuade your husband to give it a try. I certainly don't want to go on any more medication in addition to the low dose BP meds I am now taking.

BP can be raised by what is termed "total peripheral resistance" so that's why it can be sensitive to weight as well as the other factors, salt, etc.

Mine was high and I was being dragged in for frequent checks before seeing the doctor but it was down last time after losing just a few pounds.

They say that even dropping just 10% of your weight brings big benefits.

thsnks evryone for your responses.
He he ,I cant see him doing a lot of excercising.He is quite active though in his job and he likes a glass or three of wine at night. He wont get on the scales but I think 20 stone wouldnt be wide of the mark.
His health has been good ,recently he was asked (presumably because of his weight )to participate in a diabetes research but was found to be ineligable due to haveing normal tests.
He does have an hiatus hernia which the doc says is the cause of low iron but I wonder if its years of taking antacids which is to blame.
Personally Ive always been somewhat over weight and have always had very low blood pressure. So ,it dosnt follow I know but I think getting rid of 5/6 stone would maker a new man of him.
Now if only I can convince him !
Barbara

Go on the diet yourself, if he wants to join you fine but I think people have to be motivated to basically starve, particularly if working hard. Not something to be talked into, imo.

My OH isn't on the diet but has lost weight due to the different food available.

I have been on the fasting diet for over a week but not the 5:2 regime; what I have been doing is fasting for around 12 to 24 hours daily with slight variations to this in the hopeful attempt to stop my bodily cells going into the preservation mode when apparently the body ceases to lose weight. I have one standard or normal meal daily and occasionally followed by a small snack a little later (twice, so far) then back to fasting. What is interesting is at the end of the first week my BP which was usually borderline at 140/80 dropped to 110/65 and has remained around this level over the past 3 days.

Possibly your husband might be interested.

[carorees]

Jennings - some words of caution about your chosen approach.

Frequent fasting results in high levels of triglycerides circulating in the blood and they can be taken up by the heart muscle which can become stiffened and its function is compromised. This has been shown in rats fasting every other day for a prolonged period. Back in the 1950s prolonged fasting was used as a cure for obesity but heart problems occurred in more patients than expected.

Please do not continue with this daily fasting lifestyle long term. I think that 2 days a week will prove fine as a long term weight control method but fasting daily may not be safe. Of course you will probably lose too much weight to be able to carry on indefinitely, but you should be aware that, like most things, too much may not be good for you. Two meals is likely to be fine but we don't know. Really I think the point is not to be in ketosis all/most of the time for many years. Also, IGF1 decreases with age and low levels can cause frailty (as seen in extreme age) so be sure not to cut your protein too much.

Sorry to have to dampen your enthusiasm...

I'm following this diet mainly to try and reduce my bp. Before I started it was regularly recorded at 148/90, 6 weeks in to this diet 3 checks with the nurse returned 135/85.

A week or so ago I got a home bp testing machine, the Omron M2. I have to admit to being a little frightened by the machine, when it starts I do feel myself tense up, but I am hoping by continued use I will become accustom to the noise and pressure.

I am regularly getting readings of around 125/75 now (7-8 months into this diet and still taking bp med). However yesterday (a fast day) I got quite a few readings of around 148/90 after HIT training and did not get any below 139/85 for the rest of the day. Maybe getting that reading stressed me out.

I think this diet has helped reduce my bp, but like Caroline I also started HIT a month or so ago which may also have helped. I think I have enough bp tablets for about 4 weeks, which means I will see the nurse for my next check in about 3, fingers and every thing else crossed

I'm hoping to see BP improvement on the 5:2 diet. Historically, I've found that there are certain weight breakpoints at which my BP jumps up or down, rather than a continuous slope.

I have a BP machine at home, and I've found that short duration interval exercise is more beneficial than longer duration low-intensity exercise, for BP. That is, four 30-second bursts of all-out pedaling on a stationary bike, over a total exercise period of 7 or 8 minutes has a better effect than a half hour of steady pedaling.

But that's just me.

In 6 months mine has dropped from 145/90 to 120/70. Been doing nothing else except 5:2 in that time, so I'm very confident that the drop is 100% due to 5:2.

Mine's down from high to slightly high, so very happy.

In 6 months mine has dropped from 145/90 to 120/70. Been doing nothing else except 5:2 in that time, so I'm very confident that the drop is 100% due to 5:2.

That's very encouraging. And six months is a real achievement!

After one fast day, my weight dropped 3.2 lbs. That's a huge water loss, of course. I didn't check my BP this morning, but I take a diuretic anyway and felt a bit sluggish, so I wouldn't be surprised if BP dropped just from the water loss.

I only just remebered this thread so am interested to see the experiences of those who have done 5:2 for a period of time .
It looks very positive.

To those who would like to know what natural substances might help at lowering blood pressure it could be found that serrapeptase, nattokinase, lumbrokinase, celadrin, bromelain, and antioxidants, are all beneficial in different ways. If the HBP is due to the narrowing of arteries then serrapeptase in particular is excellent at clearing them (and reducing inflammation) but so too is bromelain (from the core of the pineapple). If the problem is due to the inflexibility of the artery sheathing then antioxidants help to maintain their flexibility especially pine bark and grape seed. Brewer's yeast which contains the full range of B vitamins is also helpful but especially at reducing angina symptoms (folic acid is particularly good). You will undoubtedly want to check those benefits on a search engine.

PS. Carorees, I might be advanced in age but hardly old although the symptoms are slowly beginning to appear. While I opt to fast daily with one meal in the evening, the meal is a normal one so no calorie counting. I did attempt to change to the 5:2 regime but after 4 days had gained all that I lost in weight and my BP rose again to 135/73. I have returned to the daily fasting (when I encountered some rather good days). Today is the first day back. At seven o'clock (in 45 minutes) I will have dinner and thereafter nothing except mountain stream water until tomorrow night. I do, however, have the occasional cup of tea or coffee.