High blood pressure can increase your risk of heart disease and kidney problems, but your numbers aren’t set in stone. While factors like your genes can have an influence, so can your daily decisions. This means choosing potassium-rich foods that promote healthy blood pressure, like lentils and leafy greens, while cutting back on other foods that cardiologists recommend limiting. Here are 10 to know.
When it comes to blood pressure, processed meats like bacon, sausages, and cold cuts are less than ideal. “These often contain a lot of sodium,” said Pritha Gupta, MD, PhD, a cardiologist and assistant professor of medicine at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. Excessive consumption of sodium, a major component of salt, can increase blood pressure in the short and long term.
Plus, Gupta added, these foods are also high in saturated fat, which can raise LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.
When possible, she recommended replacing processed meat with fresh chicken or fish, or with beans and meat without added salt.
Johanna Contreras, MD, a cardiologist at Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, recommended checking the nutrition label on “anything that comes in a can,” including pantry staples like canned vegetables. Most often, she says, you’ll find a ton of salt “because it’s a good preservative.”
Frozen vegetables tend to contain less sodium than their canned counterparts. For soups, Gupta recommended making your own at home with no-salt-added broth.
Some canned soups are available in low-sodium varieties, but check the sodium content on the nutrition label to be sure.
Just like burgers, hot dogs, chicken wings, and other tailgate entrees, pizza probably isn’t at the top of a cardiologist’s list of recommendations. “The sodium content goes up pretty quickly if you have crust, sauce, cheese and processed meats,” Gupta said.
If you are able to make your own pizza at home, ideally without cold cuts, chances are the sodium content will be lower.
Here’s a quick tip from Clyde Yancy, MD, MSc, chief of cardiology in the department of medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine: Just like most products that come in cans, almost anything packaged in plastic will raise your blood pressure.
Although the snack aisle is full of options that claim to be healthier than your average potato chip, Gupta said they’re all likely to be ultra-processed. “Some brands are, I’m sure, better,” she said. “But as a general rule, I wouldn’t eat it on a daily basis.”
Instead, look for whole foods like fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
Many sports drinks are high in sodium, making them less than ideal for people with high blood pressure. But sodium isn’t the only ingredient to watch out for.
According to Gupta, added sugar can also contribute to weight gain and make blood pressure more difficult to manage. “It’s well known that soda is not a healthy choice,” she said. But sugary coffee drinks and other sugary liquids are also worth watching.
Ultimately, she says, the healthiest choice is water.
Because it can raise blood pressure, Gupta doesn’t recommend drinking alcohol, including wine, as a heart-healthy strategy. (If that’s not enough, alcohol is also considered a Group 1 carcinogen.) “Alcohol consumption should be reduced as much as possible,” Gupta said. And even if you indulge in a drink every once in a while, she added, “I would avoid making drinking a weekly habit.” »
Seasoning blends can save you time, but if you’re not careful, they can also introduce a lot of sodium into your diet. “A lot of blended seasonings like adobo, Creole seasoning, everything else, already have tons of salt in them,” Contreras said. And on top of that, many people don’t realize it and add even more salt when cooking with it.
Instead, she recommended ingredients like lemon, garlic, black pepper and herbs, which deliver lots of flavor without excess sodium.
Many of us can probably guess that toppings like ketchup and barbecue sauce are loaded with sugar, but more often than not, they also contain a lot of salt.
These aren’t the only bottled sauces to watch out for, either. For example, Contreras said, “Many salad dressings contain enormous amounts of sugar. » Besides checking nutrition labels, you can always make simple salad dressings at home with olive oil, vinegar and pepper.
Unlike frozen vegetables, which may be less salty than their canned counterparts, Contreras cautioned that frozen dinners are a different story, even those that promote themselves as healthy. “Often the sauces that accompany these meals contain a lot of salt,” she said.
If possible, it is best to prepare dinner at home. But if you buy frozen products, be sure to check the nutrition label.
When you char foods like hamburgers over an open flame, chemicals can form on the meat and contribute to high blood pressure. According to Yancy, “nitrites are a real concern.” Cooking does not have the same effect; Yancy said open fire was a key element.
That’s why the American Heart Association recommends avoiding open flames and high temperatures when grilling.
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