High Blood Pressure and T2D

aneurysm blood glucose blood pressure blood vessels calcium cholesterol electrolyte balance fatty liver fructose glycogen heart attack high blood pressure high-fructose corn syrup insulin insulin resistance kidney disease obesity potassium renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system sodium stroke sympathetic nervous system type-2 diabetes Jun 01, 2024

The word 'HYPERTENSION' traced on scattered sugar, a stethoscope above it

Almost half of adults in the U.S. have high blood pressure (also called hypertension). But many of them have no idea they have it.¹

That’s because high blood pressure rarely causes symptoms on its own. Yet it can damage your major organs even before you realize anything’s wrong. This is why high blood pressure is known as the “silent killer.”²

Untreated high blood pressure can enlarge your heart, or give you a heart attack or heart failure. It can also cause stroke, aneurysms (swelling on the walls of your arteries), and broken blood vessels in your eyes. High blood pressure can lead to kidney disease too.²

Plus, there’s a connection between high blood pressure and type-2 diabetes (T2D) — one of the topics we’ll cover in this article:

What is high blood pressure?
Who is at risk of having high blood pressure?
Electrolytes and high blood pressure
The link between high blood pressure and diabetes
Insulin resistance and fructose

Before diving any deeper, let’s define “high blood pressure.”

What is high blood pressure?

Blood pressure is a measure of the force of your blood inside your arteries. Arteries are strong and muscular blood vessels. They transport oxygen-rich blood from your heart to your other body parts. Arteries are different from veins. Veins are blood vessels with thin, elastic walls. They carry large amounts of oxygen-poor blood back to your heart. Around three-fourths of your blood is in your veins.^2,3

A blood-pressure reading consists of two numbers. The first number is called systolic blood pressure. It measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart beats. The second number — the pressure in your arteries when your heart rests between beats — is known as diastolic blood pressure.²

An example of a blood-pressure reading is 120/80 mm Hg. This reads “120 systolic and 80 diastolic.” But you can simply say “120 over 80.”⁴

Your blood pressure varies throughout the day depending on your activities. But you’ll be diagnosed with high blood pressure if your reading is constantly at least 130 systolic or at least 80 diastolic.^1,5

Who is at risk of having high blood pressure?

As with so many other health problems, your genes, your existing health problems, and your lifestyle all contribute to your risk of high blood pressure.

You’re more likely to have high blood pressure if other members of your family have it. Your risk is also higher if you’re African American.²

Being obese, having high cholesterol, or being diagnosed with diabetes are all associated with high blood pressure too.²

What’s more, your risk of high blood pressure increases if you use tobacco products or don’t exercise.²

If you’re a woman, taking birth-control pills is a risk factor as well.²

Last but not least, when your sodium intake gets out of balance with potassium — an easy thing to do in today’s world of chemically preserved processed foods — it’s likely to bring your blood pressure up.²

Electrolytes and high blood pressure

Sodium, potassium, and calcium are key electrolytes in your body. Electrolytes are substances that carry a positive electrical charge when dissolved in water.⁶

Sodium helps your cells maintain the right balance of fluids by holding onto water. More sodium means more fluid in your blood. And the more fluid there is, the greater the pressure against your blood-vessel walls.^6,7

On the other hand, potassium helps your body remove excess sodium. This is because your cells use sodium and potassium at the same time: When a sodium ion enters your cell, a potassium ion exits, and vice versa.⁶

Potassium also helps your kidneys to work well. As a result, you can get rid of the excess fluid in your body through urine production.^7,8

This all means that having too much sodium and too little potassium in your body can lead to high blood pressure.⁹

As for calcium, it helps your blood vessels contract and relax when they need to. A low calcium intake stimulates your parathyroid hormone, which in turn constricts your blood vessels. What’s more, having too little calcium activates your renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS). The RAAS is a complex system of enzymes, proteins, and hormones that, when activated, leads to increased blood pressure.^10,11,12

The link between high blood pressure and diabetes

Earlier, we mentioned that diabetes is linked to high blood pressure. Indeed, you’re twice as likely to have high blood pressure if you’re diabetic.

Diabetes scars your kidneys. This damage leads to salt and water retention, elevating your blood pressure.¹³

Plus, over time, diabetes damages your small blood vessels. The vessel walls stiffen and malfunction. These changes contribute to high blood pressure.¹³

Diabetes and hypertension may have similar causes, one of which is insulin resistance. Insulin resistance eventually leads to persistently high blood sugar and T2D.^14,15

Responding to insulin resistance, your pancreas puts out more insulin to try to help glucose enter your cells. This is why insulin resistance leads to higher-than-normal levels of insulin in your blood.¹⁵

High levels of insulin can then raise your blood pressure through different mechanisms. For instance, insulin stimulates certain proteins in your kidneys. These proteins allow your body to reabsorb sodium from the fluids that your kidneys filter.¹⁶

Insulin can also activate your sympathetic nervous system (SNS) — a network of nerves in charge of your body’s “fight-or-flight” responses. When activated, the SNS makes your heart pump more blood throughout your body. A stimulated SNS can also trigger the RAAS.^17,18

Moreover, insulin alters the movement of ions like sodium, potassium, and calcium into and out of your cells. These changes can disrupt your sodium-potassium balance and lead to tightening of your blood vessels, as we described earlier.¹⁹

Lastly, insulin causes thickening of the smooth muscle on the walls of your very small arteries. As a result, those arteries resist blood flow. Your blood pressure must then increase to counter this resistance and maintain the flow of blood in your body.^19,20

Insulin resistance and fructose

Your diet is a top contributor to developing insulin resistance. Watch out especially for fructose. This simple sugar naturally occurs in fruits. At the same time, it’s the main component of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).^21,22

HFCS can be found in virtually all processed foods: candies, cookies, cereals, crackers, breads, jams, sauces, ice cream, and fast food. Drinks such as soda, sweetened teas, and juice products all contain HFCS as well. For these reasons, it’s easy to consume excessive fructose (as HFCS) nowadays.²²

The fructose that enters your body gets processed mainly by your liver cells. In your liver, fructose is broken down into glucose and glycogen (the stored form of glucose). The problem is, your liver can only store limited amounts of glycogen. Once your liver’s glycogen stores are full, any excess, unprocessed fructose becomes liver fat. Unfortunately, a fatty liver directly leads to insulin resistance.^23,24,25

Conclusion

If you have T2D, you’re more likely to also have high blood pressure.

High blood pressure and T2D are linked via several mechanisms, one of which is insulin resistance.

Among the causes of insulin resistance is a fatty liver, which can result from excessive intake of fructose (especially as HFCS).

Thus, you can avoid or manage both high blood pressure and T2D by limiting your fructose consumption. No idea how to start? Rest easy — we’ve done the hard work for you. Sign up for the Diabetes Diet Solution now.