High blood pressure: The surprising food that could help lower your risk of hypertension

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High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is when the pressure in your blood vessels is unusually high. It can be serious if not treated. Diet can have a huge impact on a person’s blood pressure. Salty and sugary foods, and foods high in saturated fats, can increase blood pressure. Avoiding them can help you get and maintain a healthy blood pressure. There is a surprising food which should be avoided in order to help reduce hypertension risk.

Eating pickles could be raising your risk of high blood pressure, according to medical website LiveStrong.

The average, medium-sized, pickle can contain as much as 800mg of sodium.

Adding extra sodium to your diet puts greater pressure on blood vessels, as more fluid enters them to dilute it.

Adults should not be eating more than 2.4g of sodium daily, according to the NHS – so just three pickles a day could be increasing your risk of high blood pressure.

Preserving any food requires salt. It stops the food from decaying and keeps it edible for longer.

The longer vegetables sit in canning and preserving liquids, the more sodium they pick up.

Anyone who is on blood pressure medication or looking to reduce their sodium intake should eat pickles in moderation or look for low sodium options, added WebMD.

Other surprising foods which increase hypertension risk include:

Ready-to-eat sauces, canned juices and soups, tomato sauces, soy sauce, and frozen foods all have generous servings of salt.

Cheese, cheese spread, margarine, mayonnaise – A single cube or slice of processed cheese and the teaspoon of margarine have enough sodium to spike blood pressure levels.

Meats- Cold cuts, slices, cooked meats and all kinds of pre-cooked or cured meat are high in sodium levels.

If struggling with high blood pressure, you know the constant battle to watch your diet in order to improve your health, said Dr Kathy McManus, director of the department of nutrition.

She continued: “The foods you eat and don’t eat very much factor into your blood pressure.

“For instance, high sodium foods disrupt the balance of water in your body, which strains your blood vessels and causes blood pressure to rise.

“It’s better to opt for low sodium snacks that offer 140 mg of sodium or less per serving.”

Controlling salt intake is integral for people following high blood pressure diet.

Health experts recommend opting for fresh homemade food whenever possible and avoid processed food as much as possible.

This includes food served at express food counters such as french-fries, pizzas and foot long sandwiches.
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