If you have hypertension, avoid these common lunchtime blunders. High blood pressure can have serious consequences for your health, including damage to your heart, arteries, brain, kidneys, eyes, and other organs. Most significantly, hypertension increases your risk of having a heart attack or stroke, which are two of the leading causes of mortality in the United States.
Your doctor may prescribe diuretics, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, or calcium channel blockers to treat it. They may also recommend foods to avoid if you have high blood pressure.
“It is crucial to highlight that, while food is an important part of treating and preventing heart disease, there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution. Gender, genetics, and lifestyle can all affect what your doctor prescribes to treat high blood pressure,” says cardiologist Nieca Goldberg, MD, a women’s health advocate and author.
However, she points out that certain foods may elevate blood pressure or contribute to blood pressure instability, and that these should be avoided if you’re at high risk for hypertension. Read on to discover the seven foods to avoid with high blood pressure
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1. Fatty meats.
If you have high blood pressure, you should also avoid eating fatty cuts of beef. “These can contain high levels of less healthy saturated fats, which may contribute to plaque buildup in your arteries,” according to Mohr.
However, he emphasizes that it is crucial to evaluate what you replace these fatty meats with since many people substitute items rich in saturated fat for those high in added sugar. “These can increase your heart’s workload and raise blood pressure,” the doctor warns.
Instead, replace saturated fats with healthy fat sources, such as salmon, herring, mackerel, and sardines. Switching to leaner protein sources such as poultry, seafood, or plants can also help improve your overall heart health.
2. Processed meats.
Similarly, processed meats are a significant risk factor for hypertension. Betz claims that this is “the number one food people should avoid if they have high blood pressure.”
While hot dogs, sausage, and bacon are well-known for their high salt content, the dietician warns that “lean” deli meats such as sliced turkey can be just as dangerous.
“One hot dog can easily have 700 mg of sodium, which is nearly 50 percent of the sodium recommendation in an entire day for people with high blood pressure,” Betz points out. “People often think a turkey sandwich is a heart-healthy choice, but just two ounces of deli turkey also packs nearly 700mg of sodium!”
3. Alcohol
Even if you consume alcohol in moderation, it can have a significant impact on your blood pressure. According to Mohr, women should limit their intake to one drink per day and men to two drinks per day.
“There’s no health benefit to even some alcohol, so moderate accordingly,” the doctor recommends.
According to Dasgupta, people taking high blood pressure medications should be especially cautious about their alcohol consumption because “overdoing it on the booze can negatively affect your blood pressure and interfere with certain medications, making it harder to manage your hypertension and potentially damaging your heart and liver.”
4. Excessive caffeine
Caffeine use can temporarily raise blood pressure, and experts are investigating its possible long-term implications. Meanwhile, many specialists advise decreasing your intake if you are concerned about your blood pressure.
“Caffeine causes neurons in our brain to fire with less stimulation than when caffeine is not present,” explains Stephanie Dunne, an integrative registered dietitian-nutritionist and the founder of Nutrition QED. “This increased brain activity causes a cascade of events throughout the body, including the release of adrenaline, our ‘fight, flight or freeze’ hormone, which constricts blood vessels and raises our blood pressure.”
She adds that those who already have hypertension may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of excessive coffee. “As such, for people who have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, I recommend avoiding caffeine to prevent exacerbations,” according to her.
5. Sugary snacks and beverages.
Eating too much sodium is a major contributor to hypertension, but extra sugar can indirectly elevate blood pressure by producing “weight gain from the increase of nutrient-empty calories,” according to Mohr.
He cites sodas, energy drinks, and sugary teas as examples of the worst offenders.
“Chugging too many of these can lead to weight gain and increase blood sugar, putting extra strain on your heart,” agrees Raj Dasgupta, MD, an ABIM quadruple board-certified physician specializing in internal medicine, pulmonology, critical care, and sleep medicine, as well as an NCOA medical reviewer.
6. Sodium-rich foods.
It’s no secret that high-sodium diets can lead to hypertension. When you take too much salt, your body retains water to compensate, increasing the fluid content of your blood and making it difficult to pump. Although sodium can be present in a variety of meals, canned soups and broths, pickled or fermented foods, and ultra-processed or pre-packaged foods are among the worst offenders, accounting for up to 70% of our sodium intake.
“In America, we consume about 3,500mg of sodium a day on average while we only need 500mg, which equals to one-fourth of a teaspoon, for proper body function,” Goldberg elaborates.
Chris Mohr, PhD, RD, a fitness and nutrition expert at Fortune Recommends Health, emphasizes the importance of ingesting potassium-rich foods in addition to reducing sodium intake. since those two act like a seesaw.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Sodium and potassium are electrolytes that help your body maintain fluid and blood volume.” When our bodies receive too much sodium and insufficient potassium, blood pressure might rise.
“Some options especially high in potassium are avocado, broccoli, tomato, oranges, potatoes, bananas, beans, nuts, and seeds,” adds Melanie Betz, MS, RD, founder and CEO of The Kidney Dietitian in Chicago, Illinois.
7. Fried foods.
Fried foods are typically heavy in sodium, saturated fat, and calories, making them “a recipe for high blood pressure and weight gain,” according to Dasgupta.
A 2020 study published in the journal Nutrition Research and Practice investigated the effects of fried foods on hypertension risk. The study verified that “high fried food intake was associated with high prevalence of prehypertension and hypertension.”
“The odds of having prehypertension and hypertension was higher in the third tertile of fried food intake among fried food consumers compared to non-fried food consumers,” the authors of the research claimed.
StationReporter provides the most recent information from top experts, fresh research, and health organizations, but our content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice. Always consult your healthcare professional directly if you have any questions about your medicine or your overall health.
