High blood pressure, which is a risk factor for deadly heart disease, is a condition that can actually be prevented or easily put under control, say health authorities. Unfortunately, about 50 percent of people suffering from it are unable to control their high blood pressure through diet and lifestyle modifications.
If your doctor told you that you have high blood pressure and advised you to deal with it in order to fend off heart disease, keep on reading. Below you will come across some of the foods that you should steer clear of.
Got family members or friends diagnosed with high blood pressure? Then make sure that you share this article on your various social media sites afterwards to let them know which foods they need to avoid if they want to deal with high blood pressure through an all-natural approach.
Bacon and Other Cured Meats
There are a couple of reasons why bacon is bad for anyone who has high blood pressure: sodium and cholesterol. It’s not just bacon, however, that you should steer clear of if you want to deal with your blood pressure via your diet, but also other cured meats that you can think of.
Canned Beans
Due to the fact that beans are excellent sources of fiber and potassium that can help reduce the blood pressure, they’re good for you. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for canned beans. That’s because these food products contain a lot of sodium in order to lengthen their shelf lives. Fret not because there’s something that you can do if canned beans are all that you have access to: make sure that you rinse them thoroughly to get rid of some of their sodium content.
Canned Soups
Unlike canned beans, you cannot rinse canned soups in water. It’s for this reason why you should refrain from serving these premade soups in front of you. The good news is if you don’t have the time and energy to cook soups from scratch you may simply look for canned soups that are low in sodium to keep your high blood pressure in check.
Frozen Meals
Just because something isn’t canned does not necessarily mean that it’s low in or free of sodium. Case in point: frozen meals. From pizza to sweet and sour chicken with rice, just about anything that you simply have to pop in the oven or microwave is laden with sodium. What’s more, majority of frozen meals contain other stuff that can wreak havoc to one’s health in a variety of ways, many of which can have an impact on one’s blood pressure.
Chinese Food
If you love Chinese food, you should start staying away from it if your goal is to keep your high blood pressure from preventing you from having a long and healthy life. According to experts, a single serving of practically any of your favorite Chinese food contains up to twice the recommended daily intake of sodium.
Tomato Products
Even though tomato products contain 3 things that can help lower the blood pressure (fiber, potassium and vitamin C), they tend to have lots of sodium. Many of them are also loaded with sugar, which can trigger inflammation that’s linked by scientists to high blood pressure. If you are planning on whipping up culinary masterpieces with tomatoes in them, opt for fresh tomatoes to considerably lower your sodium intake.
Bottled Salads Dressings
It cannot be denied that salads are great for your health. However, it’s a completely different story if you use bottled salad dressings on them. There are a couple of things that make bottled salad dressings particularly harmful for anyone who has high blood pressure: sodium and sugar.
WARNING: The pieces of information above should not be taken as professional advice that only a doctor can provide. If you have high blood pressure, make sure that you follow the diet recommendations of your primary health care provider.
