10 Foods to Avoid If You Have High Blood Pressure

5. Canned Biscuits and Frozen Breads

Bread rolls and frozen biscuits contain trans-fats – fats which increase the LDL cholesterol and reduce your HDL cholesterol. High levels of bad or LDL cholesterol are linked to higher risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.

Alternative

Since bread is one of the highest sources of sodium, make sure you check the sodium content the next time you buy bread. The best option is the multigrain bread.

6. Pickles

If you use the food preservation technique called pickling for even the most harmless veggies like cucumber, you are actually turning them into a high-sodium food. This technique delays decay and makes the food edible for longer by soaking the vegetable in a salt brine.

So, 1 ounce of green olives can have up to 441mg of sodium, while a whole dill pickle spear up to 306mg.

Alternative

What you can do to reduce the amount of sodium in picked food is rinsing the veggie before eating them. Another option is to choose low-sodium picked foods.

7. Tomato Products

Ketchup, tomato juice, canned tomato sauce, and other processed tomato products are loaded with sodium. Producers add different food additives like salt to make them more tasty and edible for longer.

So, a cup of tomato juice can contain up to 653mg of sodium, while a cup of canned tomato sauce around 1284mg.

Alternative

The best option is to use a homemade pasta sauce with organic tomatoes, spices, and fresh herbs. Or, you can choose low-sodium tomato products.

8. Alcohol

Excessive drinking, especially repeated drinking, can increase blood pressure levels up to dangerous levels and cause long-term problems. On the other hand, drinking more than three drinks per sitting can lead to temporary spikes in blood pressure.

Besides this, alcohol contains a lot of calories so you’ll end up with more kilos than you want. In fact, overweight or obese people have more chances of developing hypertension.

Alternative

If you have high blood pressure, avoid alcohol or at least have not more than one drink a day if you’re older than 65, and up to two drinks if you’re a man younger than that age.

9. Coffee

Coffee can lead to temporary spikes in blood pressure levels in everyone, especially in those with hypertension. Statistics show that people who drink coffee or other caffeinated beverages regularly have higher average blood pressure than their counterparts.

Alternative

Even though it’s best to avoid coffee and other caffeinated beverages completely, you can at least drink not more than two 12-ounce cups daily.

10. Canned Soups

Canned soups are really convenient, especially when not having enough time to prepare some other dish or when sick. But, this product is packed with sodium, just like packaged stocks and broths.

So, a serving of some soups can contain up to 890mg of sodium. This means that consuming the whole can will give you 2,225mg of sodium, which is a lot.