Relationships between Reduction in Body Weight and Reduction in Blood Pressure and Improvement of Glucose and Lipid Metabolism Induced by Short-Term Calorie Restriction in Overweight Hypertensive Women

We investigated the correlations between the reduction in body weight (BW) induced by calorie restriction and reductions in blood pressure (BP) and improvement in metabolic disorders in overweight women with essential hypertension. After eating a standard diet (diet-I) for 2 weeks, women in the calorie-restricted group (n = 25) received a low calorie diet for 2 weeks, and then standard diet-II for 1 week. Women in the calorie-nonrestricted group (n = 13) ate standard diet-I for 5 weeks. The calorie-restricted group exhibited a significant reduction in BP in association with loss of BW; their levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides levels, and their fasting levels of glucose and insulin were also reduced compared with the calorie-nonrestricted group. However, there were no significant differences in the level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, the areas under the 2-h glucose and insulin curves (AUC(glu) and AUC(ins)), or the ratio of AUC(glu) to AUC(ins) between groups. The change in BW was significantly correlated with a reduction in BP (r= 0.62, p < 0.01), but not with an improvement in metabolic disorders. Findings suggest that the degree of BW loss, induced by short-term, severe calorie restriction is associated with BP reduction, but not with improvements in glucose and lipid metabolism in overweight hypertensive women.