High blood pressure is a tough bacon to beat, or it’s tough not to eat bacon. Whichever way, it’s a battle you have to fight if you wish to enjoy life a little bit longer.
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost one-third of adult Americans have high blood pressure. This can be caused by various factors such as genetics, other pathological illnesses, but more commonly, unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles.
If you’re already doctor-diagnosed as hypertensive, be sure to take your hypertension medications religiously as prescribed. But not only that – you also need to trade off your old habits and replace them with healthier ones, starting with your eating choices.
Here are 5 food and drinks you should avoid if you are trying to lower your blood pressure:
Salt
Salt and sodium are the most common culprits behind high blood pressure and heart disease. Doctors suggest that hypertensive individuals limit their daily sodium intake to just 1500 mg.
Be aware though that most of your sodium intake does not come from your saltshaker, but from your consumption of packaged foods such as frozen pizza, canned soup, vegetable juices, and deli meat.
Deli Meat
These meat slices are often cured, seasoned and preserved with salt. Learn to say no to some cold cuts if you’re trying to manage your high blood pressure the natural way.
Frozen Pizza
All pizzas in general are unhealthy food choices for hypertensive people. The combination of cheese, cured meats, tomato sauce, and crust adds up to a load of sodium. However, the frozen kind of pizza, is the worst devil.
One serving of frozen pizza can pack more than 700 mg of sodium, and sometimes even more. The rule of thumb to keep in mind: the thicker the crust and the more toppings you have, the higher the sodium content.
Pickled vegetables
Preserved food always contain salt. This is because salt deters decay and keeps it edible longer. However, salt can transform even the healthy cucumber into a sodium bomb.
The longer vegetables sit in the can, the more sodium they can pick up.
Canned Soups
Canned soups are our go-to dinner savers for when we don’t have time or for when we aren’t feeling well enough to cook from scratch. However, canned soups are sodium-filled dinner options. Needless to say, they’re bad for your blood pressure as some soups can have almost 900 mg of sodium in just one serving, which is typically a ½ cup.
A better option is to pick reduced-sodium labels and or make your own soup and watch the sodium on your food packaging.
This list has been adapted from Healthline’s article on what food and drinks to avoid for people with high blood pressure.
Manage your high blood pressure the natural way by slowly reducing your consumption of the foods on this list and swapping them out for healthier ones.
Do you live with hypertension and have a few low-sodium recipes to share? Let us know in the comments below!
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