Foods that cause high blood pressure that must be avoided & bull; hello healthy

One of the causes of hypertension or high blood pressure is the intake of food that you consume every day. Therefore, when you are diagnosed with high blood pressure, it is important to start a diet that avoids various foods that cause hypertension. This can also be done by those of you who want to prevent high blood pressure in the future. Then, what are the foods that trigger high blood pressure that you should avoid?

List of foods that cause or trigger high blood pressure or hypertension

Based on the cause, there are two types of hypertension that are common, namely essential or primary hypertension and secondary hypertension. In primary hypertension, the cause of high blood pressure is not known with certainty. However, generally this condition is associated with a bad lifestyle, one of which is an unhealthy diet.

An unhealthy diet includes eating foods that are high in sodium as well as cholesterol and bad fats (saturated and trans fats). Too much of this content in the blood can increase the risk of narrowing of blood vessels due to plaque buildup in them, also known as atherosclerosis. This condition can increase your blood pressure.

In addition, too much sodium can also interfere with the work of the kidneys, making it difficult to remove remaining fluids from the body. If there is too much fluid in the body, the risk of developing high blood pressure is very large.

Then, what foods contain high sodium and cholesterol and bad fats, which cause high blood pressure or hypertension? Here's a list of foods that trigger high blood pressure that you should avoid:

1. Salt

Salt or sodium chloride is a compound composed of 40 percent sodium and 60 percent chloride. Both are electrolytes that play an important role for the health of the body, including regulating your blood volume and pressure.

Although it is important for health, consuming too much salt can also cause health problems, including hypertension. Excess sodium content can damage the balance of sodium and potassium in the body. In fact, this balance is needed by the kidneys to remove excess fluid from the body.

If there is excess sodium in it, the kidneys become unable to get rid of the remaining fluid, resulting in fluid retention (buildup) in the body which will also be followed by an increase in blood pressure.

Besides being able to raise blood pressure, this condition also increases the risk of heart disease or other complications of hypertension.

Indeed, not everyone can experience hypertension even though they eat foods with high salt content. However, some others, such as those with hypertension, obesity, or the elderly, are sensitive to salt so that these foods can cause high blood pressure for them.

If you are one of them, you need to avoid or reduce salt consumption as a way to prevent and reduce hypertension. The reason is, the sodium level in salt is quite high.

As an estimate, the American Heart Association (AHA) says, half a teaspoon of salt contains 1,150 mg of sodium, while one teaspoon of salt contains 2,300 mg of sodium. On the other hand, the AHA also recommends limiting sodium intake to 2,300 mg per day, while for those of you who suffer from hypertension, the recommended daily sodium intake limit is 1,500 mg.

To be able to reduce salt or sodium consumption, you can follow the DASH diet guidelines or a special diet for people with hypertension. To compensate for this, you also need to eat foods high in potassium, such as fruits, vegetables, or other high blood pressure foods.

2. Processed, canned, or packaged foods

Other foods that cause high blood pressure include processed, canned, or packaged foods. The reason is, this type of food contains high amounts of sodium. In 8 ounces or 227 grams of packaged food, there are about 500 - 1,570 mg of sodium.

The use of sodium in these types of food is not to improve taste, but as a food preservative to make it more durable. As is known, sodium does have several uses in food, such as to enhance taste, preserve, thicken, retain moisture, roast, or tenderize meat.

Apart from sodium, some packaged foods can be high in saturated fat, except for some food products that are labeled low in fat.

Therefore, people with hypertension are advised to limit and even avoid consuming processed, canned, and packaged foods because they have the potential to trigger high blood pressure. Eat fresh foods that are healthier and are not included in the taboo for people with hypertension.

If you want to eat processed foods, packaged foods, or canned foods, you should pay attention to the salt or sodium levels in them. Check the labels on these foods and read the nutritional value information on the packaging, so you can control your sodium intake.

As a consideration, choose a food product that says "Salt / Sodium-Free"Because it only contains less than 5 mg of sodium per serving. You can also still select foods that say "Very Low Sodium"With a sodium level of 35 mg or"Low Sodium"With a sodium content of 140 mg per serving.

As for food products that read "No-Salt-Added"Or"Unsalted"It does not contain salt in the manufacturing process. However, this product may contain sodium that is not derived from salt, unless it is stated "Salt / Sodium-Free“.

3. Cucumber pickle

Never tried pickle or pickled cucumber? It turns out that the salt or sodium content in pickles is very high, so this food is one of the causes of high blood pressure.

From data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), in 100 grams of pickled cucumbers, there are around 1,208 mg of sodium. The high sodium content in this food is because the manufacturing process requires a lot of salt as a preservative.

Pickles are made by soaking cucumbers in water that has been mixed with vinegar and salt. The longer a cucumber or other vegetable is steeped in salt water, the more salt it will absorb.

Therefore, if you have a history of hypertension and like pickles, you should avoid these foods from now on. Instead of eating pickles, you better eat cucumbers or other fresh vegetables to prevent symptoms of high blood pressure in yourself.

4. Fast food

If you like and often eat fast food or fast food, you'd better start limiting it now. This is because fast food, such as pizza, fried chicken, burgers, french fries, and others, contains high sodium or salt and bad fats, namely trans fats and saturated fats, which are high so that they can trigger high blood pressure.

The content of sodium and bad fats is obtained from processed foods that are commonly used in fast food, such as processed meat, cheese, pickles, bread, frozen french fries, and others. For example, in 100 grams of pizza topped with cheese and processed meat contains 556 mg of sodium and 3,825 mg of saturated fat.

High levels of bad fats can increase LDL cholesterol levels in the body so that it has the potential to cause fat accumulation in the arteries. This condition can increase the risk of developing hypertension and other serious diseases, such as coronary heart disease.

Apart from fat and bad cholesterol, fast food also contains high calories. The excess calories can lead to obesity or obesity, which is another cause of hypertension.

5. Red meat and chicken skin

Although not processed, red meat (beef, pork, and lamb) and chicken skin are also taboo foods that people with hypertension need to avoid. The reason is, these two types of food are high in saturated fat, which can be a cause of high blood pressure.

In 100 grams of beef contains 6 grams of saturated fat, while saturated fat in pork is about 1.2 grams. As for lamb, the highest saturated fat content reached 8.83 grams.

On the other hand, many say that goat meat can also cause high blood pressure. However, this is not entirely true.

In fact, goat meat also contains saturated fat. However, the content is lower than other types of red meat. At 100 grams of mutton, the saturated fat in it is only about 0.93 grams.

Therefore, you can choose mutton as a substitute for other red meat. However, you still shouldn't overeat this type of red meat. Because, consuming too much goat meat can also cause high blood pressure, especially if you cook it by frying it.

Apart from mutton, you can also choose chicken meat which also contains low saturated fat. However, keep in mind, don't use chicken skin which can increase bad cholesterol levels in your body.

Among all these types of meat, you better choose fish, which clearly contains omega-3 or fatty acids that are good for the body and have been shown to lower blood pressure.

6. Foods or drinks with artificial sweeteners

Not only salt, it turns out that sugar also affects your blood pressure. If not controlled, excess sugar intake can also cause hypertension. Therefore, you should avoid consuming foods or drinks that contain excess sugar or artificial sweeteners, especially if you have a history of high blood pressure.

Excess sugar intake, especially those obtained from the artificial sweeteners in processed foods, is associated with increased weight gain and obesity. As for people with obesity, it can easily experience high blood pressure.

In addition, too much sugar can raise blood sugar and insulin levels in the long run. This condition can cause various diseases, especially diabetes. While diabetes and hypertension have a relationship, one of them is diabetes can cause high blood pressure.

To prevent your hypertension from getting worse, you better start reducing your intake of foods and drinks with artificial sweeteners. The AHA recommends limiting added sugar intake to 6 teaspoons (about 24 grams) per day for women and 9 teaspoons (about 36 grams) for men.

7. Coffee or caffeinated drinks

Coffee is a favorite drink of many people from all walks of life. However, for those of you who have hypertension or prehypertension, you should be careful because caffeine in food and drinks has the potential to be a cause or trigger for high blood pressure. Apart from coffee, other caffeinated drinks, namely tea, sodas, and energy drinks.

Caffeine is said to cause a temporary rise in blood pressure. Experts suspect that caffeine can inhibit the release of the hormone adenosine, a hormone that keeps blood vessels dilated.

In addition, caffeine can also stimulate the adrenal glands to release more adrenaline and cortisol hormones, so it is included in dietary restrictions for people with high blood pressure or hypertension.

However, not everyone who consumes caffeinated drinks can have an effect on their blood pressure. However, for those of you who have hypertension, it is better to avoid excessive consumption of this drink. At least, coffee consumption does not exceed four cups per day.

8. Alcoholic drinks

It is common knowledge that drinking too much and frequently alcoholic beverages can increase blood pressure. In fact, if you have hypertension, drinking excess alcohol can also worsen the high blood pressure that you are suffering from.

Reporting from the Mayo Clinic, alcoholic drinks contain high calories which can cause weight gain. This condition can increase the risk of developing high blood pressure.

Therefore, you should avoid alcohol consumption. If you have consumed it, it is better for you to drink less alcohol, which is not more than two glasses a day. For seniors over 65 years, drinking alcohol should not exceed one glass a day.

Abstinence from high blood pressure also needs attention

Apart from avoiding foods that cause high blood pressure, you also need to avoid other restrictions that can worsen your hypertension. Some other things you need to avoid, namely smoking, laziness to move, stress, and lack of sleep.

If these bad habits are carried out and continuously, hypertension in yourself is difficult to avoid. Even if you have adopted a healthy diet, these bad habits can still affect your blood pressure. If this happens, your risk of developing complications is even higher.

Therefore, you need to avoid these various restrictions by implementing various methods of preventing hypertension, the main thing is a healthy lifestyle. One way is to do exercise for hypertension regularly and regularly.

In addition, you also need to regularly take high blood medication as prescribed by your doctor. Never skip, reduce or increase a dose, stop or change medication without your doctor's knowledge. This condition actually causes your blood pressure to be difficult to control and increases the risk of other diseases.