Blood pressure,body mass index lowering and ketogenesis in Qigong Bigu

Background:Hypertension is one of the most common comorbid conditions of epilepsy.Hypertension and epilepsy may be related to each other.Qigong Bigu practice induces a similar effect as fasting in the first week.As ketogenesis is induced during ketogenic diet therapy,we hypothesize that ketogenesis is detectable and related body weight loss would occur during the first week of Qigong Bigu practice.Methods:During the prospective observational study,34 healthy adult participants attended the Qigong Bigu practice for one week.The blood pressure,body weight,calorie consumption,blood glucose and beta-hydroxy butyrate level were measured.Results:The body weight and body mass index decreased by 2.39±1.34 kg(95%CI1.92-2.85)and 0.94±0.57(95%CI 0.73-1.15),respectively,after five days of practice(P<0.001).The systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased by 17.86±14.17 mmHg(95%Ci 12.36-23.35)and 9.75±7.45 mmHg(95%CI 6.86-12.64),respectively(P<0.001).The average five-day calorie consumption was 1197.47±569.97 kcal(95%CI 998.60-1396.35).Meanwhile,no symptomatic hypoglycemia or other significant side effects were observed.The blood beta-hydroxy butyrate level increased to a nutritional level of 1.15±1.12 mmol/L(95%CI 0.76-1.62).The calorie consumption negatively correlated to the beta-hydroxy butyrate level in the blood.The loss of body weight and the decrease of body mass index were positively correlated to the blood beta-hydroxy butyrate level.Conclusions:Qigong Bigu can decrease the blood pressure,the body weight and the body mass index in healthy adult participants.The fasting stage of Qigong Bigu is accompanied by ketogenesis.Clinical trial of Qigong Bigu in hypertension and epilepsy patients might be worthwhile.The blood beta-hydroxy butyrate might be used as a biomarker to evaluate the effect of Qigong Bigu practice during fasting.