7 Common Foods That Might Devastate Your Blood Pressure
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Sugar
Now that we understood how many harmful effects salt can have on our blood pressure, it’s time to move on to another dangerous ingredient: sugar.
Seems to only get worse and worse, right? Multiple studies have already showed that consuming sugar excessively (especially sugar-sweetened beverages) is a huge contributor in weight gain for both adults and children. As the journal Nutrients reports, the more extra pounds you have, the more likely you are to suffer from high blood pressure.
According to the American Heart Association, these are the ideal daily sugar limits for adults:
- 25 grams (6 teaspoons) for women
- 36 grams (9 teaspoons) for men
Interestingly enough, a 2019 study published once again in the journal Nutrients analyzed women diagnosed with high blood pressure. When they decreased their daily sugar intake by 2.3 teaspoons a day, subjects reported an 8.4 mmHg drop in systolic and a 3.7 mmHg drop in diastolic blood pressure. These results only go to show that small changes can make a huge difference in your physical health.
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Trans and/or saturated fat
There are countless reasons why it’s best to avoid any food that contains trans fats – and while saturated fats aren’t as bad, they shouldn’t be consumed excessively either.
Trans fats are basically artificial fats that help packaged foods seem fresh for longer and increase their shelf life.
Aside from the fact that they mostly offer empty calories, these fats also raise your bad cholesterol (LDL) while lowering good cholesterol levels (HDL). This imbalance increases the risk of hypertension especially in the long run. Trans fats are also notorious for how much they can increase the risk for:
- Heart disease
- Type 2 diabetes
- Stroke
Trans fats are encountered in almost every pre-packaged meal and other processed foods on the supermarket aisles. The same foods also happen to be ridiculously high in sugar, sodium and low-fiber carbs – all of which increase your blood pressure as well.
Saturated fats are less dangerous, but it’s best to replace them with healthier alternatives whenever you can. This type of fat is usually encountered in animal products such as red meat, butter, full-fat cream and chicken skin.
