Can being hungry cause high blood pressure?

If you’re feeling a little light-headed and your stomach is growling, do you ever wonder if being hungry could lead to high blood pressure? It’s an interesting question, but the answer might surprise you.

What Is High Blood Pressure?

Before we dive into whether hunger can cause high blood pressure, let’s first understand what high blood pressure is. In medical terms, it’s called hypertension and occurs when there is too much force against the walls of your arteries as your heart pumps blood throughout your body.

Some Statistics

High blood pressure affects about 33% of all adults worldwide according to WHO (World Health Organization). This means almost one in three people across the globe have hypertension!

Symptoms

Some symptoms of high blood pressure include headaches, shortness of breath, nosebleeds and dizziness; but in most cases there are no symptoms at all.

Risks Associated with Hypertension

Hypertension can increase your risk for many serious health conditions such as heart disease, stroke or kidney damage. So now that we know what elevated BP does to our body .let’s try answering the question- ‘Can hunger also contribute towards it?’

Hunger & its impact on BP:

Feeling famished? Hangry even? Before you throw down an entire pizza just because you missed breakfast this morning –calm down! Here are some things you should consider:

Definition –

When hunger strikes us‚ our body releases hormones like adrenaline (aka epinephrine) cortisol‚ norepinephrine from various organs including adrenal glands which signals brain that food needs to be given – (Count them! Three ultra-important hormones). These substances can affect both systolic and diastolic numbers due to constriction caused by them in peripheral vessels. Further acute release leads rise in glucose levels sympathetically causing change in hemodynamics of vessels escalating aortic stiffening and amount of vasoconstrictor present in body.

Can Hunger lead to High BP?

So, does hunger cause high blood pressure? There is no definitive answer. It depends on many factors like age, race, sex or baseline Blood Pressure values as per some findings. However almost 30-40% individuals experience rise in Blood Pressure readings after meal skip from their average (Resting) figures. Food deprivation may also cause reduced production of nitric oxide causing arteries to harden & reducing flexibility which worsens hypertension.Prolonged withholding/neglecting “Bae”(Body Always Eating 😉 ) can have quite an adverse impact!

Factors Contributing towards Rise in BP Due To Hunger:

Let’s take a look at some factors that could contribute towards elevated blood pressure when we’re feeling hungry.

Dehydration

Maybe you’re not actually hungry; maybe you’re just thirsty! Mild dehydration can mimic the feelings of hunger pangs; and combined with thirst,this makes things worse for our heart with restricted flow especially during physical activity !

Adrenaline Release

Adrenaline release caused by feeling extremely hungry excessively activated sympathetic NS‚leading to vascular constriction ,elevated pulse rate& ultimately shooting Bp numbers temporarily higher than normal level but what comes up must come down!

Baseline Blood Pressure Levels

Some studies showed individuals already suffering from hypertension are more prone to rapid changes than healthy ones.A diet deficient or low in salt/sodium rich food would assist them well too adding produce naturally containing potassium levels.

Ageing

Our chance game-I’m afraid increases if we’ve had “some” ring wear¬ getting any younger because our response decreases resulting into emergence /presetting HPN(Hypertension).

These restrictions could put additional burden creating hypertensive crisis events such as cerebrovascular incident/ CHF( Congestive Heart Failure) events which lead towards piling up of medi-care expenses.(Honestly, this is the last thing I’d want)

How To Manage Hunger & Blood Pressure

So, how do we manage our hunger and blood pressure? Here are some tips:

Eat Regularly

Stopping by for grabs from different spot might seem tempting to our taste buds but sticking on it has its pros! Schedule a regular time each day to have your meals ‚and try not to skip them. It’s better giving stomach something than nothing!

Drink Plenty Of Water

Staying hydrated helps control both food cravings and modulate Bp response.Cool down those summer days with H20.

Choose Healthier Options

A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean protein can help maintain healthy BP levels along with balanced minerals like zinc,magnesium & fiber rich greens such as artichokes ,spinach,potatoes etc . Pay special attention towards naturally low salt foods(Bonus : They’re good for cuisine diaries too!)

Snack Healthy

Eating smaller portions several times throughout the day instead of having big hungry-ass long gap between each meal could help stabilize Bp readings plus metabolism rates make sure healthy options are there never neglecting the timely snacking schedule especially while indulging into physical activities or when out in scorching heat !

In Conclusion

There is no definitive answer when it comes down to whether being hungry can cause high blood pressure. However cutting red tapes plays significant role – choosing healthier eating habits, drinking plenty of water -could prevent or even reverse hypertension onset.Your safe bet though would be asking “gut”(intuition) if you think feeling irritable, light headed¬ all yourself because who wants hungover home without party?(Food=Celebration). So eat well‚stay hydrated –easy right?

Random Posts