Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Fasting lowers blood pressure by reshaping the gut microbiota
ScienceDaily.com-Ana María Rodríguez, Ph.D./Circulation Research ^ | April 29, 2021 | Baylor College of Medicine/Dr. David J. Durgan and associates

Posted on 05/04/2021 7:58:04 AM PDT by ConservativeMind

At Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. David J. Durgan and his colleagues are dedicated to better understand hypertension, in particular the emerging evidence suggesting that disruption of the gut microbiota, known as gut dysbiosis, can have adverse effects on blood pressure.

…”Previous studies from our lab have shown that the composition of the gut microbiota in animal models of hypertension, such as the SHRSP (spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rat) model, is different from that in animals with normal blood pressure," said Durgan, assistant professor of anesthesiology at Baylor.

"This result told us that gut dysbiosis is not just a consequence of hypertension, but is actually involved in causing it," Durgan said. "This ground work led to the current study in which we proposed to answer two questions. First, can we manipulate the dysbiotic microbiota to either prevent or relieve hypertension? Second, how are the gut microbes influencing the animal's blood pressure?"

…"These results demonstrated that the alterations to the microbiota induced by fasting were sufficient to mediate the blood pressure-lowering effect of intermitting fasting."

The team discovered that the SHRSP hypertensive animals that were fed normally had lower bile acids in circulation than normotensive animals. On the other hand, SHRSP animals that followed an intermittent feeding schedule had more bile acids in the circulation.

"Supporting this finding, we found that supplementing animals with cholic acid, a primary bile acid, also significantly reduced blood pressure in the SHRSP model of hypertension," Durgan said.

Taken together, the study shows for the first time that intermittent fasting can be beneficial in terms of reducing hypertension by reshaping the composition of gut microbiota in an animal model. The work also provides evidence that gut dysbiosis contributes to hypertension by altering bile acid signaling.

(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: autophagy; fasting; intermittentfasting; keto; lowcarbdiet
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-32 next last
Translated: Bacterial colonies in our intestines can become dysfunctional from normal diet eating patterns. Simply removing some meals makes the same standard diet work by shifting bacterial colony make up (seemingly, constant eating enhances growth of some bad bacteria over some good bacteria). A strange consequence from the bad bacteria is greatly lowered bile acid, which, oddly, may cause greatly increased blood pressure. The effect is so enduring that simply moving the dysfunctional bacteria into healthy, but high blood pressure-prone mice makes them immediately get high blood pressure (seemingly until their fasting diet can undo the bad bacterial growth).

Amazingly, supplementing with bile acid reduced blood pressure, regardless of bad bacteria. You can buy such supplements (perhaps something like Jarrow “Bile Acid Factors”).

Do note that chronic high blood pressure remodels vascular walls and other damage from soft and hard calcium plaques can semi-permanently keep blood pressure higher than normal. There are approaches to reduce soft and hard plaques separate from this study’s scope.

1 posted on 05/04/2021 7:58:04 AM PDT by ConservativeMind
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind

Interesting - so excess acid in the stomach (bile) makes its way into the bloodstream and somehow lowers blood pressure. (Maybe acting as a “cleaning agent” in the blood and thinning it out?


2 posted on 05/04/2021 8:02:25 AM PDT by Skywise
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Skywise

The stomach does not produce any bile.

The bile duct, which comes after and separate from the stomach, releases it.


3 posted on 05/04/2021 8:05:10 AM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind

I can change my gut microbiota by eating pickled eggs and drinking beer.

Wife does not particularly like it afterwards though.


4 posted on 05/04/2021 8:06:48 AM PDT by crz
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind
Sounds like @Mangan150 on Twitter.

Follow this guy on Twitter.

I don't know where he finds all the research papers that he does.

5 posted on 05/04/2021 8:09:04 AM PDT by taildragger ("Do you hear the people Singing? Singing the Songs of Angry Men!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind

I am a heart patient who had bypass surgery in 2017. My cardiologist has been telling me for the last few years that researchers were discovering that gut bacteria was suspected of having a big impact on heart disease. Last month, when I went to the pharmacy to pick up meds, my family doctor had called in a prescription for a probiotic. I assumed the verdict is in on gut bacteria influencing heart disease. I think I have an appointment later this month with my family doctor and this will be a topic of discussion.


6 posted on 05/04/2021 8:12:27 AM PDT by RatRipper ( Democrats and socialists are vile liars, thdieves and murderers - enemies of good and America.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind

Not a doctor, but I think the pancreas produces the bile and it is stored in the gall bladder. Don’t quote me for a medical book, though. . . .


7 posted on 05/04/2021 8:14:32 AM PDT by RatRipper ( Democrats and socialists are vile liars, thdieves and murderers - enemies of good and America.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind

This is a game changer!...................


8 posted on 05/04/2021 8:15:47 AM PDT by Red Badger (Jesus said there is no marriage in Heaven. That's why they call it Heaven.....................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: crz

Me too!....................... My wife eats them too!...........


9 posted on 05/04/2021 8:17:04 AM PDT by Red Badger (Jesus said there is no marriage in Heaven. That's why they call it Heaven.....................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: RatRipper

Bile ducts carry bile from the liver to the gall bladder, then also from the gall bladder to the small intestine.


10 posted on 05/04/2021 8:18:11 AM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: RatRipper

I was researching HCL with Pepsin...which hub has to take (and I’ve started taking) and one article mentions how it can help heart health...fwiw


11 posted on 05/04/2021 8:20:10 AM PDT by goodnesswins (The issue is never the issue. The issue is always the revolution." -- Saul Alinksy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: RatRipper

Liver produces bile.
Gallbladder stores and concentrates bile.
Bile enters duodenum along with stuff from pancreas immediately below stomach.

Eighth grade anatomy and physiology.


12 posted on 05/04/2021 8:20:17 AM PDT by Born to Conserve
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Interestingly, these mice have high blood pressure due to a kidney issue, according to Wikipedia.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneously_hypertensive_rat

So fasting or bile addition mitigates a common form of high blood pressure.


13 posted on 05/04/2021 8:24:41 AM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: RatRipper

Look into kefir


14 posted on 05/04/2021 8:25:40 AM PDT by Cold Heart
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: RatRipper

You could try a supplement or fasting now and see how that helps.

It would be a harmless test. Your doctor won’t likely know about this study.


15 posted on 05/04/2021 8:26:48 AM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Cold Heart

Absolutely! Kefir is great for the gut. Can resolve heartburn and indigestion in the process.

So easy to get some grains online, then make and serve yourself a cup of it daily. Even the name “kefir” supposedly comes from the Turkish word for “feels good”, because of how it makes you feel good after you eat/drink it.


16 posted on 05/04/2021 8:29:53 AM PDT by 9YearLurker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Born to Conserve

Should have known. The 8th grade was a lifetime ago- 1970


17 posted on 05/04/2021 8:30:49 AM PDT by RatRipper ( Democrats and socialists are vile liars, thdieves and murderers - enemies of good and America.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind

I dramatically improved my metabolic health by eating only one low carb meal per day. My numbers went from the doctor scolding me to her now asking me questions about how I did it. In spite of my success, she still tells me I eat too much cholesterol.


18 posted on 05/04/2021 8:33:42 AM PDT by IamConservative (I was nervous like the third chimp in line for the Ark after the rain started.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RatRipper

no kidding - 63 here.

I was still trying to find out how many baseball cards I could attach to the spokes of my bike to make that neat sound.


19 posted on 05/04/2021 8:38:13 AM PDT by stylin19a (Golf is a game invented by the same people who think music comes out of a bagpipe.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: IamConservative

Good for you!

We have to have 1,000 - 1,500 mg of cholesterol a day or we will have to make it ourselves in our liver.

It’s hard to eat foods with 1,500 mg of cholesterol a day. That’s 7.5 - 8 eggs.


20 posted on 05/04/2021 8:46:32 AM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-32 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson