Dr Chris Steele shares diet tips on reducing blood pressure

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High blood pressure describes the long-term force of blood against your arteries that is high enough to trigger health problems. These can range from heart attacks to strokes – both considered medical emergencies. What’s worse, hypertension doesn’t cause many noticeable symptoms.

Hypertension is different from a temporary rise in blood pressure.

Your blood pressure can fluctuate throughout the day, experiencing high and lows.

However, once the force in your blood becomes consistently high, you could be risking developing further problems.

Currently, high blood pressure affects around one third of British adults – with many not even knowing they have the condition, according to the NHS.

Luckily, keeping an eye on the foods you eat could help to keep your levels in check.

When it comes to foods that raise your hypertension risk, the best known suspect is salt.

And one popular vegetable that is packed with the common household ingredient is pickles.

Characterised by its vinegary punch, 100 grams of pickles can contain up to 1.5 grams of salt.

This can bring a serving of 52 grams to 13 percent of your daily maximum salt intake.

In case you’re not aware, the NHS explains you shouldn’t have more than six grams of salt daily, which represents 2.4 grams of sodium.

While one portion of pickles won’t stir any problems, eating too much or adding these pickled vegetables onto an already high-salt diet might.

A study published in the journal of Clinical Nutrition Research even suggested that “there might be a significant association” between pickle consumption and higher blood pressure.

This is because salt is the “single biggest cause” of high blood pressure as it makes your body hold onto water, Blood Pressure UK explains.

When you eat too much of the popular seasoning, there will be more water in your blood as well as more pressure in your arteries.

This can raise your blood pressure levels. What’s worse, salt can even further hike your reading if you already suffer from hypertension.

Plus, it might even counteract with your blood pressure medication.

And the tricky part about keeping your salt intake in check is not the seasoning you add into your food. The charity warns that the foods you buy in stores can already contain high amounts of salt and sodium.

That’s why Blood Pressure UK advises to “cut down” on high-salt foods like pickles.

Other foods that also made the cut include:

• Cooking sauces
• Table sauces (ketchup and mustard)
• Cheese
• Bacon
• Olives.

The good news is that cutting back on the common ingredient is “one of the simplest ways” to lower hypertension.

What’s more, you can reap these benefits quite quickly – even in weeks.

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