Obesity, Nutrition and Heart Rate Variability

Abstract

Heart rate variability (HRV) represents the activity and balance of the autonomic nervous system and its capability to react to internal and external stimuli. As a measure of general body homeostasis, HRV is linked to lifestyle factors and it is associated with morbidity and mortality. It is easily accessible by heart rate monitoring and gains interest in the era of smart watches and self-monitoring. In this review, we summarize effects of weight loss, training, and nutrition on HRV with a special focus on obesity. Besides weight reduction, effects of physical activity and dietary intervention can be monitored by parameters of HRV, including its time and frequency domain components. In the future, monitoring of HRV should be included in any weight reduction program as it provides an additional tool to analyze the effect of body weight on general health and homeostasis. HRV parameters could, for example, be monitored easily by implementation of an electrocardiogram (ECG) every two to four weeks during weight reduction period. Indices presumibly showing beneficial changes could be a reduction in heart rate and the number of premature ventricular complexes as well as an increase in standard deviation of normal-to-normal beat intervals (SDNN), just to name some.

Correlation between physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness and heart rate variability among young overweight adults

“…The resting heart rate influences autonomic control, and a higher resting heart rate is indicative of reduced parasympathetic activity. 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 In the present study, the average resting heart rate of overweight individuals was 70 beats per minute. Also, CAF fluctuates throughout the day and varies according to different activities, the regulation of hormones and muscle mass in an individual.…”

Nature-Based Relaxation Videos and Their Effect on Heart Rate Variability

“…Even though the BDI-score did not influence the present results, many studies reported a negative effect of depressive symptoms and other factors on HRV (Kemp et al, 2010). A more rigorous sampling that accounts for effects of depressiveness, and underor overweight (Peyser et al, 2021;Strüven et al, 2021) could benefit future studies. Furthermore, this study only looked at one video condition in comparison to questionnaires before and after the videos.…”

The heart-brain axis: A proteomics study of meditation on the cardiovascular system of Tibetan Monks

“…The level of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) was not changed in Gelug and Sakya monks (P BH adjusted > 0.05) or a bit lower in Nyingma monks (N vs Z: 1.13 ± 0.19 vs 1.32 ± 0.18, P BH adjusted = 0.046, ANCOVA, adjusted BMI, Supplementary Table 7). Despite being overweight or even obese, which is frequently comorbid with hypertension 30 and reduced HRV, 31 all three sects of monks have both blood pressure (all P BH adjusted > 0.05, Student's t-test or Mann-Whitney U test, Supplementary Table 7) and HRV measures (all P BH adjusted > 0.05, Mann-Whitney U test, Supplementary Figure 6) comparable to their matched Tibetan controls. In addition, we determined the relationship between the length of meditation and these clinical indicators.…”