No, we’re not talking about salt.
Neither are we discussing fats.
Alcohol? No again.
There is one other ingredient whose consumption has sky-rocketed during the past 20 years. And it’s the main cause of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and even many types of cancer.
There was a time when salt and fat were considered to be the biggest enemies of blood pressure. But it turns out that sugar is even worse.
Particularly harmful is one type of sugar — fructose — that can be found in almost all prepared foods in one way or another.
At the turn of the 20th century, only 5–10 percent of the population had high blood pressure. Now, approximately 31 percent of adults do. It turns out that this alarming increase is directly related to a change in our diet as it is becoming high in added sugars — especially in the form of high-fructose corn syrup.
What does fructose do?
Fructose causes insulin levels to rise and keeps them elevated as long as you keep pumping it in. This slowly leads to insulin resistance followed by type 2 diabetes, weight gain, and high blood pressure.
Scary, isn’t it? But yes, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure seem to go hand in hand, and this is one of the main reasons you should be careful about what you eat.
According to a study from 2010, people who consumed 74 grams or more of fructose in a day had a 77 percent higher risk of high blood pressure. And an average American consumes about 70 grams of fructose every day, though the recommended amount is less than 25 grams. Throw in one soda can and you’ll easily exceed your daily recommended limit.
In fact, consuming 24 ounces of a carbonated soft drink has been shown to increase blood pressure, on average, by 15/9 mm Hg. Who expected this?
In another study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), researchers reported an interesting find. Compared with those who consumed less than 10 percent of their calories from added sugars, those who consumed 10–24.9 percent had a 30 percent higher risk of death through heart disease. Those who consumed more than 25 percent had an almost threefold increased risk.
The way fructose causes a rise in blood pressure is complicated. It breaks down into many waste products, including uric acid. This has a nasty habit of inhibiting nitric oxide in blood vessels.
How is this bad for your blood pressure? Nitric oxide keeps the blood vessels relaxed and elastic, and its suppression can reverse the effect and cause blood pressure to shoot up.
A good diet helps but doesn’t always cure high blood pressure completely or quickly. Amazingly, three exercises can do this without any side effects. Check out these easy blood-pressure exercises here…