Foods we eat on a regular basis could be driving up our blood pressure and raising our risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Brits have been issued a warning over four popular types of food that are surprising culprits for high blood pressure. This potentially dangerous medical condition, which is also known as hypertension, occurs when the force of blood flowing through your blood vessels continues to be too high.
As a result the heart has to work harder than usual to pump blood around the body. This can damage the heart and other organs, as well as seriously increase your risk for heart disease and stroke among other serious issues.
Worryingly it is thought around one in three adults in the UK are living with high blood pressure although many may not realise due to the fact it is largely symptomless. And what we eat could be the main reason this problem is so widespread.
Eating too much salt is often found to be the biggest cause of high blood pressure. This is due to the fact that salt can cause the body to hold on to more water, placing extra pressure on blood vessels.
You might think then that by simply not adding salt on top of your meals could bring your blood pressure down. Although this will help experts have advised that a lot of the salt we eat could be hidden in foods we may not realise.
According to the British Heart Foundation (BHF), a whopping 14 percent of the salt consumed in the UK comes from the bread we eat. However, this will depend on the type of bread you buy, with mass-produced white bread typically being the worst offender.
Some types of bread can contain as much as 1.48g of salt per 100g, far more than a standard pack of ready salted crisps which has around 0.34g per 100g.
Part of the issue is also how much bread we tend to consume. The BHD explains: “Bread isn’t as high in salt as some foods, but most of us eat it often and so the amount of salt adds up.
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“Use the nutrition labels to compare bread products, and try to choose the one that’s lowest in salt (and also wholegrain). You can also reduce salt by swapping your breakfast toast for porridge, and lunchtime bread or toast for a jacket potato.
“You can avoid salt in shop-bought bread by making your own.”
Other staple carbohydrates were found to also contain high amounts of salt with the BHF warning that pasta dishes, rice dishes and pizza make up about seven percent of our daily salt consumption.
This tends to be due to how these meals are seasoned. It said: “It’s not the pasta and rice themselves that are the problem, but the other things that go into these dishes: like salty sauces, processed meats, cheese, olives or anchovies.
“Making your own versions of these dishes means you can control how much salt you add as well as keeping a limit on salty additions like cheese, olives and anchovies.”
According to the NHS, adults should have no more than six grams of salt a day (around one level teaspoon). If you are concerned about your blood pressure you should speak to your GP.
