FOODS TO AVOID IF YOU ARE PRE-HYPERTENSIVE|HYPERTENSIVE

People who have hypertension have been advised by their doctors to avoid salt, sugar, maggi, some oils and margarine. The general rule is that with high blood pressure, you have to avoid foods that are high in fats and sodium. Here are some foods to avoid if you have hypertension.

1 Donuts and other fast foods

Donut is a must avoid snack if you have hypertension. It has a lot of calories, trans fats and saturated fats. Consuming high amounts of trans fats and saturated fats increases the amount of bad cholesterol (Low Density Lipoprotein LDL) in your body. LDL can cause hypertension to rise which may lead to further complications such as coronary heart disease.

2 Margarine

When buying margarine, it is important to pick the one with no trans fats or saturated fats. But since it is not easy to determine which is which, it is better to avoid them.

3 sugar

Sugar is very high in calories. This is a risk factor for obesity which is also a risk factor for hypertension. It is better to replace your sugar with natural honey. Avoid foods and drinks that have been sweetened with sugars. Limit your intake of sweet drinks because they have been highly sweetened with artificial sweeteners. 

4 Alcohol

Alcohol is not healthy for those with hypertension. It is important for hypertensive people to limit their intake of alcohol. Consuming excess alcohol can raise your blood pressure and damage the wall of your arteries. 

5 Red meat

It is recommended that those who are hypertensive should try as much as possible to limit their consumption of red meat.

6 Table salt

Table salt has a lot of sodium in it. In some places it is called as salt shakers or cooking salt. Sodium damages our arteries and helps in raising our blood pressure.

7 pickles

Pickles are cucumbers that are being preserved in a concentrated salt solution. In order to prevent or control hypertension, it would be wise of you to avoid pickles

8 canned products

Majority of canned products are high in sodium. Examples of canned products are canned tomatoes and canned soups. It should be avoided it you have hypertension.