Frequent trips to a fast-food restaurant are likely to increase your waistline and your blood pressure. Greasy french fries and loaded burgers are not the only offenders, however. Sodium is sometimes hiding in foods that appear healthy, such as a simple 4-inch oat-bran bagel, which has around 532 mg of sodium. Because most Americans consume around 3,400 mg of salt daily, much more than the acceptable daily limit, revamping your diet is probably a good idea.
Hypertension
As your heart beats, it pumps blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure measures the force of your blood against the artery walls. It is highest when your heart is beating and lowest when it is resting between beats. A normal blood pressure is 120/80 or lower. Slightly higher is considered prehypertension, and anything above 140/90 is high, or hypertensive. High blood pressure can be dangerous because it raises your risks of stroke, heart attack and kidney failure. Simple diet changes, however, often go a long way toward reducing blood pressure levels.
Processed Foods
Most salt in the average American diet comes from processed foods, reports MayoClinic.com. Manufacturers add sodium and other additives to give food flavor and increase shelf life. Although these foods are convenient, the sodium they contain is likely to negatively affect blood pressure, particularly right after eating, when the body is working to breakdown the meal.
Meal Tips
Not all sodium-laden food tastes salty; therefore, reading labels is essential to reducing the salt in your diet, so you can decrease your post-meal blood pressure levels. Scan food packages for sodium-containing compounds such as baking soda, sodium nitrate or nitrite, monosodium glutamate and disodium phosphate. Also limit alcohol with meals because it can raise blood pressure, as well.
Although your doctor should tell you how much salt is acceptable in your diet, the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans publication says you should limit your intake to less than 2,300 mg per day. Those with increased risk factors for high blood pressure, such as black people, those with certain health conditions, or those 51 and older, have a stricter limit of less than 1,500 mg per day.
Considerations
Because high blood pressure is often present without symptoms, it is important to have regular blood pressure screenings to avoid health problems that stem from hypertension. This is especially true for people who have risk factors for high blood pressure, or whose blood pressure readings are usually high after meals. Purchasing a home blood pressure monitoring kit will help you keep track of your readings without making frequent trips to your doctor's office. If your doctor has prescribed medicine for blood pressure, the home kit will allow you to have a better idea of how the drugs are working.
