New research shows that even losing a modest amount of weight can benefit one's health, according to researchers at Emory University in Atlanta.

Losing excess weight decreases the activity of a key enzyme called angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) that plays a critical role in high blood pressure, said Dr. Joyce Harp, associate professor of nutrition and medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, formerly with Emory University. Less body weight means lower blood pressure and therefore lower risks for cardiovascular disease, stroke, kidney disease and other health issues.

"We intensively studied 16 obese but otherwise healthy, non-diabetic adults on the clinical research unit," said Harp. "Our goal was to determine if blood pressure regulating enzymes and hormones that are produced in fatty tissue are lowered by modest dietary weight loss."

Study participants were provided with calorie-restricted, defined diets that allowed them to lose modest amounts of weight, about five to ten percent. Rather than put the participants on very low calorie diets (less than 1,000 calories per day) over a long period of time that would be difficult to maintain, the subjects were put on a diet that motivated obese patients could stick to.

Researchers found that in addition to significant lowering of blood pressure, ACE activity was suppressed dramatically with the weight loss.

"Even when people just lost about seven percent of their initial weight and were still obese at the end of the study, they still had a significant improvement in ACE activity and also in blood pressure," said Harp. "A previous study had shown that as body mass index went up, ACE went up as well. Our new work shows that it goes down as weight disappears."

ACE-inhibiting drugs are among the most often prescribed medications for controlling blood pressure and treating both coronary artery disease and diabetic kidney disease, said Harp. Future studies may show that modest weight loss and the associated decrease in ACE produce the same health benefits as ACE inhibitor drug therapy.

"It's well known that losing weight will lower your blood pressure," said Harp. "We believe our work helps explain why that happens. The most important new finding, we believe, is this hormonal/enzymatic change that accompanies weight loss."

Other sources: University of North Carolina