Fat: why does it affect blood pressure?
We often think of fat as something that sits under our skin. It shows up on our weighing scale to our dismay.
But fat is not passive.
It is a living tissue, secreting hormones and signaling molecules. It directly affects the blood pressure in your arteries.
When fat accumulates around your belly and organs it sets off a cascade of events. Your blood vessels squeeze harder, your heart pumps faster.
Your blood pressure rises.
Let's start with body mass. Every extra kilo of fat demands its own blood supply. Your body responds by making more vessels and circulating more blood.
More blood means more pressure. It is simple physics. More volume of blood in the same artery means more pressure. Your heart has to work harder.
But it doesn’t stop there.
Fat drives insulin resistance, meaning your body no longer listens well to insulin. To compensate, it produces more. High insulin triggers your fight-flight response.
Imagine your vessels continously getting signals to constrict. Your body is preparing for danger, regardless whether it is there or not.
That tension translates into higher blood pressure.
Your body has a hormonal system that is activated by fat tissue. Its job is to hold on to salt and water and tighten vessels when the body needs to preserve resources.
With obesity, this system is always switched on. You experience it as persistent water retention.
Finally let's talk inflammation. Fat tissue is like a slow-burning fire. It releases molecules that irritate and damage the lining of blood vessels.
The lining is a thin layer that produces nitric oxide. Nitric oxide makes the tissue of your arteries relax.
When you dont make enough, your arteries get stiff.
Even sleep becomes a victim. Extra fat can block your airway at night, causing sleep apnea.
So you have to think of fat, not for its optics, but for what it does to your homeostatic balance.
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