Pathogenesis and etiology of essential hypertension: role of dietary carbohydrate

High-glycemic index nutrition is suggested to play a key role in the etiology of hypertension: The chronic stimulus of pancreatic β-cells due to high-glycemic index nutrition may cause cell hypertrophy and dysfunction, resulting in postprandial hyperinsulinemia, and - in susceptible subjects - the development of EH. Since significant evidence suggests that hyperinsulinemia also represents a key factor for the development of obesity, insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome, the well-known common association of EH and these metabolic alterations becomes quite understandable.