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13 Foods to Avoid with High Blood Pressure List

Are you looking for foods to avoid with high blood pressure? If you are concerned with your high blood pressure but fail to find a solution, this article would be fruitful. Do we all know our diet well, or do we eat dairy foods out of our habit and appetite? I can assume what will be your answer.

We eat because we love to eat; we ate what seems tasty to our tongue, such as salty, spicy junk foods and fried with lots of added sugar and salt. Somehow, we avoid less spicy foods and less tasty but healthy benefits unless we face critical health issues like high blood pressure.

However, if we show a little awareness of our diet, we can live a better and healthy living. Today through this article, we will discuss the foods to avoid high blood pressure.

What is High Blood Pressure?

In medical term blood pressure is the measurement of the force that our heart usually pumps to all our organs of your body. Here are few facts in a nutshell-

• Always blood pressure is measured by two figures.

•   Systolic Pressure— the pressure the heart gives to push out the blood.

•   Diastolic pressure—the pressure rate when the heart rests between beats. 

• So when Dr. measures our blood pressure is 140/90, it indicates that systolic pressure is 140 and diastolic pressure is 90. 

• The perfect blood pressure rate has been considered as 120/80.

• When systolic pressure reaches 140 or higher and diastolic pressure is 90 or higher, it is called high blood pressure.

In What way High Blood Pressure Affects our Health?

Hypertension can affect our lives in every way. The first and foremost on the list, it causes damage to our heart by putting excess pressure on the arteries.

It happens slowly, and it’s tough to notice any changes in our daily health conditions. Therefore it remains unnoticed, and we do not feel the urge to control our diet and lifestyle. Let us check how it causes damage.

  • Arteries that are meant for carrying pure blood from the heart to the organs get damaged if blood pressure remains high for a long time. The thin inner wall of the arteries can tear due to the extra blood pressure, and the blood flow gets obstructed. Over time plaque can be formed due to excess fat consumption and the risk of heart blockage increased.
  • High blood pressure can damage our heart by poor blood circulation. Therefore chest pain, irregular heartbeat, cardiac arrest is common occurrences.
  • Eye blood vessels and retina to get damaged by high blood pressure.
  • Kidney, which is the strainer of our body, consists of small blood vessels that bring oxygen and nutrients to the blood. But in case the blood pressure crossed the limit, then the blood vessels could not work properly as they get clogged.
  • High blood pressure also affects brain cells due to inadequate delivery of blood chances of brain stroke increases. Even the power of thinking, vision gets damaged.

ALSO READ: Natural Cure for High Blood Pressure

Who are at the High-Risk Zone

 The rising of blood pressure levels varies a lot depending on various health factors. Usually, the result of different studies has revealed that individuals with the following at the high-risk zone—

• Male over 45 years and female over 55 year’s age.

• Who has excess body weight.

• Family history.

• Less physically active.

• Intake too much sodium.

• Intake low potassium.

• Diagnosed with a kidney problem.

• Intake excess alcohol.

• Smoker.

Foods to Avoid with High Blood Pressure

Foods are directly related to our health issues like blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and many more. So it’s the essential step we can take to control our health management.

Control of diet is a successful key to manage high blood pressure issues. So knowing your diet well is necessary.

You must avoid some food if you are experiencing high blood pressure. In the first phase, you can quickly normalize your high blood pressure at home by adding regular exercise and blocking those foods that contain excess fat, salt, and sugar. So, let us find those foods.

1. Dairy Products

Dairy Products

Dairy products are delicious, and people under any age group like them. Milk, Chocolate, cheese, butter, ice cream, paneer all comes under dairy products, and we somehow consume them daily.

It is a source of nutrition also. But it is dangerous for individuals experiencing high blood pressure as it contains natural sodium that aids to raise blood pressure levels.

2. Canned Whole Milk

Canned Whole Milk

Canned whole milk contains high calories and fat as it is condensed than regular milk.

The fat content in one cup of canned milk whole milk is almost 8grams, out of which 5 grams is unsaturated fat.

This unsaturated fat is harmful enough as it helps to raise blood pressure levels. It also serves 340 calories per serving that helps top increase fat cells in the body.

In a nutshell, consuming canned milk can result in clogged arteries and high blood pressure in the future.

ALSO READ: 9 Instant Home Remedies for High Blood Pressure

3. Red Meat

Red Meat

Red meat includes goat, beef, pork, and lamb. The fat and cholesterol content of all these meat is high; therefore, consuming red meat frequently increases the fat cell and thus raise blood pressure to a high level.

4. Table Salt

Table Salt

Salt is an inevitable ingredient in the kitchen, but too much salt consumption can create an adverse effect on your health.

So there should be a limit on salt consumption—those who are highly salt-sensitive area at the high-risk zone to get high blood pressure levels.

So if you are living with high blood pressure, you have to sacrifice the additional use of table salt.

Consuming excess salt raises the sodium content in bloodstreams and raises the water balance of the body. Therefore kidneys have to take the extra load to remove excess water.

This results in high blood pressure, which puts additional strain on the blood arteries.   

RELATED: 7 Top Reasons Why you should Limit your Salt Intake

5. Ready to Eat Food

Ready to Eat Food

Canned noodles, frozen pizzas, doughnuts, frozen pot pies, and canned chicken soup all come under this high in sodium and fat category. Let us check the amount of sodium and fat content in those foods.

• A single serving of pot pie contains 1,400mmg sodium and 35gram of Trans fat.

• A cup of canned chicken noodle soup serves 760mg of sodium.

•    Doughnuts are highly prohibited as it is worse than any other snacks. One piece of doughnut contains 300 calories, 42% fat, and 54% carbohydrates. It has also saturated fat as it is fried.

•    Canned noodles also have a high proportion of sodium and Trans fat.

6. Refined Flour

Refined Flour

The regular white flour we use every day to make bread, chapattis, and other foods are highly prohibited for those with high blood pressure. It is called” White Poison.”

During the time of processing from wheat, it lost all the good and health-friendly nutrients.

Also, refined flour contains a high amount of carbohydrates that increase the body weight, inflammation, and thus it aids in high blood pressure levels.

7. Sugar

Sugar

Unlike salt, sugar also plays a vital role in raising blood pressure levels. New research and studies have revealed that eating food with added sugar can increase systolic blood pressure by 6.9mmHg and diastolic pressure by 5.6mmHg in the short term.

Also, soft drinks that contain fat and added sugar can be responsible for blood pressure hikes.

ALSO READ: Instant Noodles are Dangerous to Your Health

8. Caffeine

Caffeine

Tea and coffee have caffeine, and it also affects the blood pressure level. Intaking coffee use to block the hormones which are necessary to keep blood arteries widen.

Several cups of coffee per day can increase the adrenalin hormone level in the blood, raising the high blood pressure level.

9. Alcohol

Alcohol

Scientific studies and researches show that alcohol plays a vital role in increasing blood pressure levels.

Alcohol contains calories that aid in obesity and fat deposition, which is directly related to hypertension.

If you take more than one drink in one sitting, your blood pressure may increase temporarily, but repeated excessive drinking affects blood pressure long-term.

10. Processed Meat

Processed Meat

To increase the shelf life, meat is processed. But it is considered an unhealthy food as many chemicals and salts are used in processing.

Sausages, bacon, salami, and ham are some of the processed meat that we bought from the market to use in foodstuff and invite some chronic disease.

High blood pressure is one of them. So deli meats or processed meat contains excess sodium and harmful fat, increasing blood pressure levels.

ALSO READ: Unusual Ways to Lower Your Blood Pressure Quickly

11. Pickles

Pickles

We make pickles with food to enhance the taste, but overeating it could raise blood pressure.

Pickle is made with different fruits and vegetables processed with salt and oil to last for a long time.

These salt and excess fats are not health-friendly, and they help increase blood pressure levels.

12. Margarine

Margarine

Margarine is heart-friendly and better than butter. Margarine is generally made from vegetable oil that contains good polyunsaturated fat. But not all margarine is manufactured in the same way.

Some margarine contains Trans fat which increases the cholesterol level. So those who are at high risk of high blood pressure should avoid this spread.

13. Canned Fish and Seafood

Canned Fish and Seafood

Seafood is considered healthy food but not for all. The sodium content in meats from sea animals are high, so there are chances that frequent consumption can increase blood pressure.

Also, the canned fish that are available in supermarkets are highly salted. The fresh fish is soaked in saltwater to improve the shelf life. So it’s wise to avoid them.

So friends, lastly I would like to say that prevention is better than cure as far as health is concerned. Therefore to live a safe life, a little sacrifice of spicy food is necessary on your part.

You must make your diet chart or talk to your medical advisor so that you can bring the necessary changes to your lifestyle and daily routine.

We hope that going through the above Foods to Avoid with High Blood Pressure will surely help you. Eat healthily and stay healthy.

Dr Maria

MD. Board Certified physician. Fellowship In Family Medicine UK. 8 years of medical experience in Lifestyle-related health disorders. Graduated from AIIMS – All India Institute Of Medical Science, INDIA

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