High blood pressure means a person’s blood pressure is consistently too high and means that one’s heart has to work harder to pump blood around the body. While the condition doesn’t pose much of a health risk in the beginning, overtime, a consistently high blood pressure reading can lead to heart and circulatory diseases like heart attack or stroke.
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If a person has high blood pressure, they can lower their blood pressure by eating a healthy diet.
Likewise, a person can increase their blood pressure by including the wrong foods in their diet.
If a person has been diagnosed with high blood pressure, they may be required to take medication to bring their numbers down.
But simple lifestyle changes can also play a huge role in treating high blood pressure.
If one is able to avoid certain foods it could help to prevent or control the condition and maybe even reduce the need for medication.
Eating a diet that is rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products can lower one’s blood pressure by up to 11mmHg.
When it comes to what to avoid when dealing with high blood pressure, salt or sodium is the biggest culprit.
Leading health experts agree that those concerned with their high blood pressure should try to limit their daily sodium intake to just 1,500mg.
Five of the worst foods
Deli meat
Processed deli meat or lunch meats can be packed with salt.
These meats are often cured, seasoned and preserved with salt and have been referred to as one of the worst foods due to their high sodium, fat and added preservatives.
Frozen pizza
Frozen pizza should try to be avoided due to their combination of cheese, cured meats, tomato sauce and crust which adds up to a lot of sodium.
One serving of a frozen cheese or meat and cheese pizza can contain more than 700mg of sodium, sometimes even more.
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Canned or bottled tomato products
Tomato products with added salt are particularly problematic for people with high blood pressure.
Most canned tomato sauces, pasta sauces and tomato juices are high in sodium. Half a cup serving of classic marinara sauce can have 400mg of sodium or more.
Pickles
When preserving foods salt is required as this stops the food from decaying and keeps it edible for longer.
Good news for the preservation of the food, not good news for those with high blood pressure as the added salt can make even the most innocent cucumber a salt sponge.
Chicken skin and packaged foods
Trans fats are found naturally in small amounts of fatty meats such as chicken skin and processed foods.
Trans fats are created in a process called hydrogenation, where liquid oils are infused with air to make a solid oil.
Trans fat wreaks havoc on the heart and should be avoided if trying to manage your high blood pressure.
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