{"id":17134,"date":"2014-09-15T11:15:18","date_gmt":"2014-09-15T15:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/?p=17134"},"modified":"2014-09-21T11:42:28","modified_gmt":"2014-09-21T15:42:28","slug":"small-weight-gain-can-raise-blood-pressure-in-healthy-adults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/2014\/09\/small-weight-gain-can-raise-blood-pressure-in-healthy-adults\/","title":{"rendered":"Small weight gain can raise blood pressure in healthy adults"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the American Heart Association media release:<\/p>\n

\"obesity\"<\/a>Gaining just five pounds can increase your blood pressure<\/strong>, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association’s High Blood Pressure Research Scientific Sessions 2014.<\/p>\n

Many people understand the health dangers of large amounts of extra body weight, but reasearchers in this study wanted to see the impact of a small weight gain of about five to 11 pounds.<\/p>\n

“To our knowledge, for the first time, we showed that the blood pressure increase was specifically related to increases in abdominal visceral fat, which is the fat inside the abdomen<\/strong>,” said Naima Covassin, Ph.D., the study’s lead author and a research fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. “Our research suggests that healthy people who are more likely to gain weight in the stomach area are also more likely to have their blood pressure increased.”<\/p>\n

At the beginning of the eight-week study, a 24-hour monitor tested the blood pressure of 16 normal weight people. Researchers fed them an extra 400 to 1,200 calories each day with their choice of an ice cream shake, chocolate bar or energy drink to increase their weight by about 5 percent<\/strong>. Afterwards, their blood pressure was taken for another 24-hour period. Their results were compared to 10 normal weight, healthy people who maintained the same weight over the eight weeks. Researchers found:<\/p>\n