Impact of Low Caloric Diet and Exercise on Atherogenic Indices in Obese Hypertensive Adults

Background and aims: The influence of a low caloric diet with exercise were studied on several biochemical parameters including the lipid profile and atherogenic indices in overweight subjects including obesity with hypertension. Material and method: The study focused on 327 patients (144 men and 183 women) aged 54-73 years selected randomly, We chose hypertensives who live in the city of Tiaret and are over 50 years old, because it is the age group most affected by hypertension in Algeria and even in the world. We invited the subjects of our study to follow a program involving a low caloric diet, which was characterized by the suppression of the consumption of sucrose and refined white flour and by the choice of low-fat products, especially dairy products. Results: We observed a decrease in the mean value of blood pressure with its two components, systolic and diastolic. Systolic blood pressure ranged from 13.06 ± 1.40 cm Hg for the overall sample to 13.01 ± 1.12 cm Hg after the six-month program. The same finding is made for diastolic pressure, which decreased by 1.58% for the study population. For biochemical parameters, we observe a decrease in the mean value of all parameters after participation in the low-calorie diet and physical activity program, with the exception of HDL-c, which experienced an increase of 6.25%. Conclusions: The hypocaloric diet with exercise that we proposed to a group of hypertensives showed its effectiveness. A healthy lifestyle including a healthy and balanced diet with physical activity therefore allow better management of the hypertensive subject and could actually prevent atherosclerosis.