Research

Hormonal

In White males, increased body fat and hyperinsulinemia are positively associated with increased muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), which in turn is associated with higher blood pressure.

For White males, losing weight and managing insulin levels may help lower blood pressure by reducing sympathetic nervous system activity. This study confirms that in this group, higher body fat and insulin lead to higher stress signals (MSNA) and higher BP.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
In whites, MSNA was positively related to percent body fat and the fasting insulin concentration... HR and BP were positively related to percent body fat and MSNA
Christian Weyer et al. · Hypertension · 2000

Why this rating

Direct measurement of MSNA, large sample, statistical significance.

Source

Ethnic Differences in Insulinemia and Sympathetic Tone as Links Between Obesity and Blood Pressure

Christian Weyer et al. · Hypertension · 2000

DOI 10.1161/01.hyp.36.4.531

cross_sectional · n=119Cited 137×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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