#1 Food That Can Cause Unhealthy Blood Pressure (2024)

If you didn’t already know, at least ⅓ of US adults have blood pressure problems^.1  And having blood pressure problems is one of the leading causes of heart problems.¹

Most people, including doctors, mistakenly consume less salt to support healthy blood pressure. However, low-salt diets typically don’t make much of a difference.

What does make a big difference in lowering sugar in your diet and more specifically, “high fructose corn syrup”

In a recent study in the journal Open Heart², the authors write:

“Evidence from epidemiological studies and experimental trials in animals and humans suggests that added sugars, particularly fructose, may increase blood pressure and blood pressure variability, increase heart rate and myocardial oxygen demand, and contribute to inflammation, insulin resistance and broader metabolic dysfunction.

Thus, while there is no argument that recommendations to reduce consumption of processed foods are highly appropriate and advisable, the arguments in this review are that the benefits of such recommendations have less to do with sodium — minimally related to blood pressure and perhaps even inversely related to cardiovascular risk—and more to do with highly-refined carbohydrates and sugars.”

The Problem Started In The 1970s

Food and beverage manufacturers began switching their sweeteners from sucrose (table sugar) to corn syrup in the 1970s when they discovered that High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) was far cheaper to use in their products.

 

In fact, HFCS is the #1 source of calories in America!!!³

It’s found in almost everything you can think of. More specifically, in sodas and fruit juices. But also in many pre-packaged foods. This also includes “healthy sugars” sweetened with agave.

My Recommendation For You

You must do your best to limit and eliminate all HFCS and to do this, make sure you read labels. Again, the LESS pre-packaged the food, the better.

Limit your TOTAL fructose to 25 grams or less, that’s about 100 calories daily. This includes the natural fructose found in fruits.

If you are already suffering from blood pressure problems or signs of insulin resistance, are overweight, and have cholesterol problems, you should be particularly careful to limit your fructose, including that from whole fruits to 15 grams per day or less. That’s about 60 calories daily.

So there you have it. Focus more on limiting your sugars, this includes fruit sugar, fructose …, and especially “high fructose corn syrup” which is found in most pre-packaged foods, especially sodas and fruit juices.