How does diet affect blood pressure

These foods can keep your blood pressure elevated. Hypertension can cause health problems over time, including heart disease and stroke. This article looks at what foods to avoid or limit if you have high blood pressure, along with ideas for a heart-healthy eating pattern. Salt, or specifically the sodium in salt, is a major contributor to high blood pressure and heart disease. This is because of how it affects fluid balance in the blood.

The AHA recommend getting no more than 2, milligrams mg of sodium — the equivalent of 1 teaspoon of salt — each day. Most of the sodium in the American diet comes from packaged, processed food rather than what you add at the table. Sodium may be hidden in unexpected places.

Read more about the benefits and risks of eating salt here. Processed deli and lunch meats are often packed with sodium. One frankfurter, or hot dog, contains mg. Adding other high-salt foods, such as bread, cheese, various condiments, and pickles, mean that a sandwich can become loaded with sodium very easily. Read more about how processed meat affects health here. Frozen pizza can have especially high levels of sodium. Cheese is often high in sodium, with just two slices of American cheese containing mg of sodium.

This is generally in combination with a salty or sugary pizza dough and crust, cured meats, and tomato sauce. One 12 inch pepperoni pizza, cooked from frozen, contains 3, mg of sodium, which is well above the daily limit of 2, mg.

As a substitute, try making a healthful pizza at home, using homemade dough, low-sodium cheese, and your favorite vegetables as toppings. Get some tips for making a healthful pizza here. Preserving any food requires salt. It stops the food from decaying and keeps it edible for longer. One small pickled cucumber contains mg of sodium.

However, canned soups are high in sodium. Canned and packaged broths and stocks may contain similar amounts. This means they can elevate your blood pressure. One can of tomato soup contains 1, mg of sodium, while a can of chicken and vegetable soup contains 2, mg.

Try choosing low- or reduced-sodium soups instead, or make your own soup at home from fresh ingredients. Most canned tomato sauces, pasta sauces, and tomato juices are high in sodium.

This means that they can cause raise your blood pressure, especially if you already have high blood pressure. One serving g of marinara sauce contains mg of sodium. One cup of tomato juice contains mg. To lower your blood pressure, choose these alternatives or use fresh tomatoes, which are rich in an antioxidant called lycopene. Fresh vegetables have many benefits for heart health. Research shows that sugar — and especially sugar-sweetened drinks — contributes to weight gain in adults and children.

Overweight and obesity predispose people to high blood pressure. High intakes of potassium, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and protein, along with exercise and possibly vitamin D, may reduce blood pressure.

Less-conclusive studies suggest that amino acids, tea, green coffee bean extract, dark chocolate, and foods high in nitrates may reduce blood pressure. Short-term studies indicate that specialized diets may prevent or ameliorate mild hypertension; most notable are the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension DASH diet, which is high in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products, and the DASH low-sodium diet.

If you do need to lose some weight, it's worth remembering that just losing a few pounds will make a big difference to your blood pressure and overall health.

Get tips on losing weight safely. Being active and taking regular exercise lowers blood pressure by keeping your heart and blood vessels in good condition. Adults should do at least minutes 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as cycling or fast walking, every week. If you're a big fan of coffee, tea or other caffeine-rich drinks, such as cola and some energy drinks, consider cutting down. It's fine to drink tea and coffee as part of a balanced diet, but it's important that these drinks are not your main or only source of fluid.

Smoking does not directly cause high blood pressure, but it puts you at much higher risk of a heart attack and stroke. If you smoke and have high blood pressure, your arteries will narrow much more quickly, and your risk of heart or lung disease in the future is dramatically increased. Get help to stop smoking. Page last reviewed: 23 October Next review due: 23 October Healthy diet Cut down on the amount of salt in your food and eat plenty of fruit and vegetables.

Find out how to cut down on salt Eating a low-fat diet that includes lots of fibre, such as wholegrain rice, bread and pasta, and plenty of fruit and vegetables also helps lower blood pressure.