High Blood Pressure After Eating

Introduction

How does eating affect blood pressure?

Have you ever wondered what the ingredients in your favourite recipe do once they’re eaten and digested? 

Different foods do various things to our bodies - but certain components in your diet can end up making your blood pressure permanently high. 

Hypertension is the medical term for continuously high blood pressure and is commonly caused by the intake of salt.¹ Hypotension is the opposite, it is the medical term for low blood pressure. 

This topic is important to take into consideration when preparing meals and choosing foods with moderate amounts of salt and saturated fats. 

The following article aims to capture the main symptoms of blood pressure and detail the various foods that can cause hypertension and hypotension. It also aims to help you be aware of ideas that can regulate your blood pressure, and give you an understanding of when you should seek medical help. 

Symptoms of high blood pressure

Although it’s uncommon for high blood pressure to show symptoms that would be exclusive to the condition, it’s important to be aware of the few there are, as these will play a part in receiving the correct treatment.²

High blood pressure is measured with the unit mmHg (millimetres of mercury). Hypertension can be identified through a blood pressure reading, when your systolic blood pressure (the rate at which the heart contracts and pumps blood out) exceeds the level of 130mmHg, and your diastolic blood pressure (the rate at which the heart is filled with blood again and has relaxed) is under 80mmHg.^3,4

Blood pressure level is significant because it contributes to the heart rate and the overall health of the heart. This may link to why a raised blood pressure can eventually lead to cardiovascular disease, which is the source of the most amount of deaths worldwide.²  Approximately 17.9 million people have died in 2019 as a result of cardiovascular diseases, majorly due to an unbalanced diet.² The American Heart Association informs us that death after heart disease occurs due to a series of processes in the body that lead to heart failure.⁵

Other symptoms of hypertension include changes in eyesight, nose bleeding, and headaches early in the daytime, while extreme high blood pressure can lead to chest pain,  feeling and being sick, and anxiousness.²

Foods that increase your blood pressure

Salts 

A vast amount of studies have been carried out to prove the link between salt and blood pressure.⁶ As emphasized by the Cleveland Clinic, increased sodium intake can disturb the balance within the kidney: the organs which are essential for regulating over 100 quarts of blood a day.⁷  Since the regular role of the kidneys is to remove undesired fluid from cells, a diet with excessive sodium intake that hinders the kidney’s function will cause the unwanted fluid to accumulate in the kidneys, leading to hypertension. 

It’s important to note that different people’s kidneys will have a range in sensitivity to salt intake. For example, if two colleagues had the same lunch with the same amount of salt over several years, one person’s kidneys may be more tolerant to the sodium intake and face no rise in blood pressure.⁷ Meanwhile, the other colleague may be much more sensitive to sodium and develop hypertension quickly. ⁷ Salt sensitivity is found to be present in more members of the older population, as well as those who are above their recommended weight, and African-Americans. ⁷ Nonetheless, long-term hypertension for any individual will result in chronic kidney disease, and eventually, lead to kidney failure.⁷ 

Saturated fats

Harvard Public School of Health have established that saturated fats are those normally sourced from animal foods.^.8  They are found in milk, meat, ice cream, cookies, cakes and chocolates.^8,9

As saturated fats produce an exceptionally high amount of energy, the fat that you eat and don’t digest is stored as body fat.¹⁰ An excessive amount of body fat can lead to an increase in blood pressure.¹⁰ Various studies have shown that an increase in foods containing saturated fats is positively affiliated with higher blood pressure.¹¹

Foods that regulate blood pressure 

Protein 

Proteins, in particular plant proteins, are beneficial in lowering blood pressure.¹² While plant proteins seem to have the best benefit on blood pressure, any type of protein is effective in reducing hypertension.¹² For example, animal proteins, found particularly in eggs, consist of a substance known as arginine.¹²  Arginine opens the blood vessels wider, therefore lowering blood pressure.¹² Other sources of protein to include in your everyday diet include tuna, peanut butter, beans, milk and yoghurt.^12,13,14

Fibre

Studies testing the efficiency of fibre in the diet have noticed that fibre supplements tend to reduce blood pressure.¹⁵  According to Harvard Medical School good sources of fibre include  cereals, popcorn, and vegetables such as broccoli and carrots. ¹⁶ Since high blood glucose levels can harm tissues and organs that regulate blood pressure foods with high fibre can control high blood sugar and lessen the risk of blood pressure being negatively affected.^17,18 

Potassium

Eating foods with potassium is a significant way to decrease hypertension because an increase in the potassium consumed leads to an increase in the amount of sodium that is removed from the body through the urine. As sodium intake is a key factor in increasing blood pressure, its negative effect is counteracted.¹⁹ Potassium also reduces high blood pressure by making the blood vessels more relaxed.²⁰ Although bananas are arguably the most popular example of a food with potassium, including kiwis, spinach and sweet potatoes in your diet will increase  potassium intake.²⁰

Magnesium

Scientists have been researching the link between magnesium and its ability to lower blood pressure, and through a study, an answer has been given that magnesium likely has a positive effect on hypertension, as it lowers the resistance to blood flow from the circulatory system.^21,22  There are many sources of magnesium available, such as chia seeds, raisins, oatmeal, almonds, potatoes, and apples.²³ 

Tips on monitoring blood pressure

The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet is an excellent way to regulate the foods you are eating on a daily and weekly basis, as it assists you with setting goals for your nutrition.²⁴  The plan encourages less saturated fats and more fruits and dairy products to be included in your diet, per the foods that reduce hypertension.²⁴

Physical activity and weight loss are also important factors to regulate blood pressure for disease control since blood pressure is the first step in a series of more severe chronic illnesses.²⁵ 

Exercise can maintain the health of the heart and blood vessels; while it may increase blood pressure temporarily, physical activity works to bring the blood pressure down in the long term.²⁵  It’s also advisable to track your fitness and monitor your blood pressure after exercising, as continuous endurance training can lead to orthostatic hypotension, which is low blood pressure that occurs when standing, leading to lightheadedness.²⁶ 

While the foods mentioned above are mainly used to reduce hypertension, it’s equally important to be aware of postprandial hypotension, which is when blood pressure drops within two hours of having a meal. ²⁷  This may be avoided by having smaller, but more frequent meals, or having more water before you eat each meal.²⁸ 

When should I contact my doctor?

When you measure your blood pressure yourself and it is on average 135 over 85 (systolic pressure 135, diastolic pressure 85), on two separate occasions, this is a sign of hypertension, and your doctor should be contacted.²⁹

Make sure to stay vigilant for any accompanying symptoms that make you feel unwell, such as an extreme headache or blurred vision – if they are connected to your hypertension, do not wait to get in touch with your doctor.³⁰ 

Summary

Ultimately, balancing a combination of improved lifestyle factors and taking blood pressure medication when prescribed can help to combat the negative effects that saturated fats and sodium intake can cause on blood pressure. Having a healthier dietary approach while meal planning with the DASH diet could stop buying unhealthy impulse items that lead to hypertension.³¹ A person’s blood pressure should aim to not be too high or low to feel better physically.