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Is it sugar or salt that causes high blood pressure in the first place? Why?

Is it sugar or salt that causes high blood pressure in the first place? Why?

Hypertension is very common in clinical practice, and the causes of hypertension are complex, among which dietary factors are important, especially the intake of salt and sugar, which are components that should be taken care of for hypertensive patients. So the first element that causes high blood pressure is sugar or salt? The following is a detailed description.

First let's talk about the relationship between salt and high blood pressure:

Studies have shown that salt intake and hypertension are positively proportional, that is, the more salt the human body ingests, the higher the level of blood pressure, the average daily intake of salt increases by 1 gram, the average blood pressure rises by 2 mmHg, low pressure rises by 1.7 mmHg. The average daily salt intake per person in northern Japan is as high as 30 grams, and the results show that the incidence of high blood pressure and strokes is significantly higher than the world average level, which is known as the Kingdom of Hypertension, whereas the Jamaican An island daily salt intake per person is less than 2 grams, there is no hypertension. China's hypertensive disease of the north high south low trend, also shows the relationship between salt and hypertension. And long-term high salt diet will also increase the burden on the kidneys, resulting in calcium loss, and at the same time can induce gastric cancer, so, usually must be cautious of high salt food, eat more light food.

Next is the relationship between sugar and high blood pressure:

Studies have found that sugar is also a trigger for high blood pressure. Sugary soft drinks are the largest source of added sugar in the modern diet, and excessive intake increases the incidence of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other events. Experiments in mice fed sucrose have shown that sucrose stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, which accelerates heart rate, promotes renin secretion, renal sodium retention, and elevates vascular resistance, all of which are alterations that can lead to increased blood pressure. The results of fructose intake alone in humans were similar to those in mice, with excessive sugar intake leading to insulin resistance and insulin stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system, which in turn caused an increase in blood pressure.

From these two aspects, both sugar and salt have a certain relationship with high blood pressure, in fact, high blood pressure is not simply due to excessive salt or sugar, there are many causes of high blood pressure, as well as a combination of causes.Of course, long-term intake of sugar or salt excess are the culprits that may induce hypertension disease. Long-term excess salt intake is indeed the most direct cause of hypertension, and even the animal tests, epidemiological investigations and clinical studies conducted over the past hundred years on the relationship between salt and blood pressure have basically affirmed that salt is an important predisposing factor for hypertension.At present, the guidelines for the prevention and treatment of hypertension introduced by various countries and organizations around the world have all taken salt restriction as one of the important measures for the prevention and treatment of hypertension. In addition.Excessive calorie intake, leading to obesity, overweight and metabolic syndrome have also been clearly linked to the development of hypertension, and sugar is one of the sources of calories, so excessive consumption of sugary foods has also been linked to hypertension.

It can be seen that excessive salt intake is directly related to the development of hypertension, and excessive sugar intake is also indirectly related to the development of hypertension. Comparatively speaking, the effect of salt is greater, but it does not mean that excessive intake of calorie sources (e.g., sugar) is not important, and there are many risk factors that lead to hypertension, which are all important, and it is not appropriate to compare these factors with each other to see which one of them is more or less important. Therefore, both salt and sugar intake should be emphasized in order to avoid hypertension caused by improper diet.

Instructor: Wu Hui, Professor, Chief Physician, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Specialties: Combination of Chinese and Western medicine in the prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease, hypertension, arrhythmia and heart failure; specializing in the treatment of coronary heart disease, hypertension, arrhythmia, cardiovascular intervention and pacemaker implantation.

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Prevention of hypertension is always a top public health priority, especially for middle-aged and elderly people, and blood pressure control is very important. Hypertension is a clinical syndrome mainly characterized by increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the body circulation, which may be accompanied by functional or organic damage to organs such as the heart, brain and kidney. At present, it is still the most common chronic disease and the most important risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.


As we all know, the occurrence of hypertension has a great relationship with genetic factors, according to statistics, 30% to 50% of hypertensive patients have genetic history. Hypertensive patients are prone to headaches, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, which in severe cases can lead to cerebral hemorrhage or cerebral hemorrhage, so it is important to be strict in combating hypertension. Most people are also aware that all dietary interventions ever made have focused on limiting sodium intake at the expense of sugar intake. In fact, refined foods often contain large amounts of added sugars as well, and excessive sugar intake is likely to have a more direct impact on hypertension and cardiometabolic disease risk than salt, but it does vary with the situation.


There is a well-established link between sugar and metabolic syndrome, which is a convergence of many cardiovascular disease indications, such as insulin tolerance, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high triglycerides and excessive obesity, diabetes mellitus, etc. In particular, the accumulation of fat in the abdominal area can easily lead to the development of hypertension or hyperlipidemia. In addition, too much high-sugar diet easily lead to elevated blood sugar, which in turn stimulates the body to secrete more insulin, and insulin will also stimulate the heart rate to accelerate and thus lead to the emergence of increased blood pressure. Therefore, controlling the intake of sugar and salt in general is an important indicator of life to prevent hypertension and reduce the occurrence of hypertension.


In fact, any excessive intake of either sugar or salt can be harmful to the heart, as well as lead to increased blood pressure. Usually a large amount of sugar intake will be on the body, especially the metabolism, will cause adverse effects. If you have to distinguish between sugar and salt which is more harmful, this is difficult to determine, to develop a good habit, low salt, low sugar, low fat diet, usually more exercise, reduce obesity, in order to help reduce the occurrence of hypertension.


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Definitely salt. More sodium intake leads to water and sodium retention, increased blood volume and higher blood pressure due to osmotic pressure. In addition, antihypertensive drugs such as Prilosec and sartans are sodium-dependent, the more sodium in the body. The worse the antihypertensive effect.


The number one cause of high blood pressure is not salt or sugar. Although both salt and sugar have an effect on high blood pressure.

There are many factors that lead to high blood pressure, but mood is definitely the first element. When we are in a good mood, the blood pressure is very stable; mood is not good, blood vessels quickly contract, blood pressure upward straight Biao ...... If the mood has been bad, the blood pressure can not come down, and even a sudden stroke cerebral hemorrhage death ...... We have a colleague, usually good, but because of a sudden quarrel with others, blood pressure Biao, cerebral hemorrhage death for many years, died. He had a coworker who was usually fine, but because he suddenly quarreled with someone else, his blood pressure went up and he had a cerebral hemorrhage. ...... He was paralyzed for many years and died. So mood is the absolute first element that leads to high blood pressure.

Interestingly, high blood cholesterol is also the most important factor contributing to high blood pressure. Now research shows that mood is also the number one factor that leads to hyperlipidemia. This is because when you are in a bad mood, your body's fat metabolism is disrupted, which leads to hyperlipidemia.

Understand, my friend, mood is the first factor that leads to high blood fat, high blood pressure. In fact, mood is also the absolute first factor that leads to insomnia, leads to depression, leads to cancer, and leads to problems with our health....... Hopefully, this will cause friends to pay close attention!

Smile, ten years less; serenity is the only way to get far. I hope that my friends have a good mood every day, and I wish them good luck and eternal health and peace!

20170529 Wuhan

The effect of sugar and salt on high blood pressure stems from genetic tolerance which is also known as familial inheritance, and also includes the inheritance of lifestyles, habits, and people who have no self-control are like people who have no immunity in their bodies, and anything unlucky can be staked out.

Most of the high blood pressure of modern people is the high pressure of life in the period of economic development, did not form a normal routine of work and rest, no leisure habits, no hobbies, do not know the relationship between making money and enjoying life.

The state does not limit overtime and overtime inaction, is at the expense of people's health, people are tired or stressed, like to eat high salt and high sugar food, reducing the ability of people's self-control, anxiety and insomnia, so that people are in a state of long-term excitement, this state does not take ten years, hypertension and high blood pressure, diabetes, etc., trouble pestering the body, the devil is a chess master, to give you the checkmate, there is no medicine for regrets.

Survival in the modern world is a skill to have your own fixed routine, your own behavioral bottom line, what time to rest, how much sugar and salt to eat every day, how many meals per day, when to exercise or leisure every day, all have the principle of unbreakable and bottom line red line. This is the wealth that ensures a smooth life.

Neither is true. Is the human kidney function is poor, affecting the heart function, because the heart is like a submersible pump, pumped blood can not be up to the brain, but the human body has an automatic junction function, thus making the cerebral arterial vascular small, (here, I give you an analogy, the fire engine, fire hose, it's a small outlet (muzzle), so the pressure is big, jet far, if the gun nozzle to change a big mouth, or, change a Big double the water pipe, try, you know the principle,) lead to taut blood vessels, blood pressure rises, resulting in the brain supply dish does not spit, dizziness, headache, vertigo insomnia and other disorders. Therefore, Western medicine to lower blood pressure are to bracket the blood vessels and lower blood pressure. Almost all experts say that once you have high blood pressure, you need to take life-long antihypertensive drugs (Western drugs), otherwise there are many dangers, but Western drugs to lower blood pressure side effects, many complications, so that patients look at the West (medicine) to stop. I say this because ten years ago to check the high blood pressure, treatment stop stop stop, stop stop stop treatment, western medicine ate a lot of drugs, stopping drugs on the rebound, taking western drugs to lower blood pressure is like smoking "white powder" as a day can not get away from it, and then the blood pressure is as high as 160/120 and sometimes 180, all day dizziness, sleep in bed like sleeping on a boat, really! The pain is unbearable, and I have the heart to die, but I feel that there are many things that I have not accomplished as a father and a husband, and I am not willing to do so. So, I'm going to try to fix it! I've been cooking Chinese medicine every day, and now I'm down to 120/75, and I don't have to take Chinese medicine every day. I'm so glad! Here I advise everyone to prevent high blood pressure, less alcohol, less salt, sleep enough, do not want to worry, keep optimistic and cheerful mood, is true, here I would like to discuss with everyone, hope to correct. (I bought myself an electronic blood pressure monitor, often measured)

With the progress of the development of society, people's living standards have been improved, the eating habits are less and less attention to health, the body is not as good as before. Today I bring you the dietary taboos and treatment of hypertension patients! I hope you treat your body correctly and restore your health soon.

[Dietary contraindications for high blood pressure

1. Meat

This kind of food contains high fat, although it is high protein, but the saturated fatty acid content is very high, easy to cause high blood lipid in the blood, inducing coronary heart disease.

2、Multi-salt food

The main component of table salt is sodium chloride, and sodium slippage can cause an increase in extracellular fluid, an increase in cardiac output, and a rise in blood pressure. Therefore, hypertensive patients should limit the amount of salt intake.

3. Animal protein

Patients with hypertension should limit or prohibit the intake of animal protein, because protein metabolism produces harmful substances that can cause blood pressure fluctuations. Normal diet can be used for high biomass quality protein, such as fish, milk and so on.

4. Strong tea

Hypertensive patients avoid drinking strong tea, especially avoid drinking strong black tea. Because black tea contains the highest theophylline, can cause brain excitement, restlessness, insomnia, palpitations and other discomforts, thus making the blood pressure rise.

5. Dog meat

Although the causes of hypertension are many, but most of them are of the nature of yin deficiency and hyperactivity, dog meat warms the kidneys and helps the sun, which can aggravate the condition of yin deficiency and hyperactivity type of hypertension. Other types of hypertension, or for kidney yang deficiency, false yang upward disturbance, phlegm and fire accumulation, blood stasis obstruction, etc., consumption of dog meat or agitation floating Yang or aggravate phlegm and fire or help fire and dry blood, are unfavorable with the condition.

6. Spicy food

Spicy and fine food can make the stool dry and difficult to discharge, easy to lead to constipation, patients defecation, will make the abdominal pressure rise, blood pressure suddenly rise, induced cerebral hemorrhage, so patients with high blood pressure prohibit spicy and fine food.

7. High-calorie food

High-calorie foods (glucose, sucrose, chocolate, etc.) can induce obesity, and obese people have a higher incidence of hypertension than normal-weight people. Hypertensive patients are mostly combined with overweight or obesity. Therefore, patients with this disease should limit the diet of high-calorie food.

8, Liquor

Drinking alcohol can increase the heart rate, blood vessel contraction and blood pressure, and can also promote the deposition of calcium salts and cholesterol in the wall of blood vessels, accelerating arteriosclerosis. A large amount of long-term alcohol consumption is more likely to induce arteriosclerosis and aggravate hypertension. Therefore, hypertensive patients should quit drinking.

[Treatment of hypertension

1. Regular exercise

Such as walking at a certain speed, cycling, gymnastics, swimming, etc., but do not overly strong physical activity, especially the age has been older or cardiac decompensation, should pay attention to prevent exercise-induced angina pectoris, heart failure, stroke and sudden death.

2. Appropriate use of health care products

Appropriate use of supplements that can lower blood lipids, soften blood vessels, lower blood pressure, and promote microcirculation.

3. Change your bad habits and hobbies

Dietary requirements of low tonic, smoking cessation and alcohol restriction, maintaining a light and balanced diet, eating more high-fiber foods, reducing tonic, sweets and high cholesterol diet. A small amount of low alcohol consumption is conducive to lipid regulation and blood circulation, but it is still inappropriate for people with severe elevated blood pressure, and there are already statistics that people who drink a lot of alcohol are three times more likely to have a stroke than those who don't drink.

4. Weight control

Regular work and rest, guaranteed sleep, relief of mental tension, and an open-minded attitude toward life are all helpful in controlling blood pressure.

5. Eat more potassium foods

There are many foods that buffer potassium in the body such as pinto beans, zucchini, celery, fresh mushrooms, soybeans, tomatoes, and a variety of leafy green type vegetables. Fruits, on the other hand, include watermelon, kiwi, persimmons, pineapple, bananas, pears, oranges, and apples.

6. Eat more calcium food

U.S. medical experts believe that patients with high blood pressure every day to insist on eating high-calcium foods, can make about 2/3 of the people by the obvious effect of lowering blood pressure. There are many calcium-containing foods, such as dairy products, soy products, sesame paste, shrimp, kelp, bones, etc. are rich in calcium.

This is a question I want to answer seriously today.

Since I am a medical student, I used to think that I knew the causes of hypertension theoretically, and I was well informed when I gave lectures to others. In addition, I had been using physical exercise to avoid triggering hypertension. However, at the age of over 50, I was unaware that my blood pressure had risen.

At first there was some stuffiness in the head and some swelling sensation in the temples, and I suspected that the blood pressure was high. After carrying the ECG monitor and ambulatory sphygmomanometer for 24 hours, I had to admit that my blood pressure was really high. Because in 24 hours, only a few times in the early morning blood pressure is normal, the other hours of the blood pressure is out of the normal range, and it is scary high. So the doctor had to give me a prescription for medication to lower my blood pressure.

In the midst of puzzlement, I took a moment to analyze the causes of high blood pressure from my own situation, and I thought the following points were the main reasons:

I. Genetic factors. My family has a history of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular genetic disease, since my father's generation, most people in the family, including women, died because of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease has also appeared in my peers and later generations regardless of age, showing a trend of increasing incidence. I have analyzed this through epidemiology, and it is the genes in our family that are at work.

Second, eating habits. Playing since childhood, the family meal must have pickles. When I was a child, because of the difficulties of life, not to eat pickles, no vegetables. In the planned economy era, the family did not have their own land, no vegetables to eat, can only be divided into the production team of vegetables pickled into pickles, in order to prepare for winter consumption. Therefore, the habit of eating pickles was developed, and later, one could not eat without pickles. In addition, the living conditions of rural people are poor, the eating habits of the old family is to mix a lot of cold dishes, and mixing cold dishes with only salt, chili and vinegar, so that the daily intake of salt exceeds the standard.

I think the number one contributor to high blood pressure in terms of dietary habits is salt not sugar.

Third, physical exercise. In the past, the fathers and mothers are in the rural farming, every day is face to face, either on the mountain or the ground, has been in the middle of the activity, although the family has a genetic history, but in the 70 years of age before the onset of the disease is not much, mainly agricultural production and labor exercise the body, there is no signs of obesity, so, almost never heard of hypertensive patients.

And now, our generation, most of them go to school and work to live in the city, city life makes people lazy, less exercise, body fat, all kinds of diseases come. The most obvious is that the number of hypertensive patients in our family has increased and, moreover, the age is showing a downward trend.

Fourth, personality and temperament. I think a person's character temperament is also a factor that can not be ignored to cause high blood pressure.

To summarize, there are many factors that lead to high blood pressure. If we have high blood pressure, we have to face it positively and control the increase of blood pressure through various methods. If the blood pressure has not exceeded the limit, then we should take active preventive measures to control or delay the increase of blood pressure.

The reason for high blood pressure is neither sugar nor salt, but clogged blood vessels, and the reason for clogged blood vessels is that there is a lot of grease and hardening of the arteries, so people who are obese are more likely to be hypertensive

Why do clogged blood vessels lead to high blood pressure? It is because the body metabolism requires a certain volume of blood, when the blood vessels are thin, you must raise the pressure in order to maintain the amount of delivery, for example, a minute must be used to a bucket of water, if the water pipe is thick, the flow rate is large, then the pressure is small enough, if the pipe is thin, the flow rate is small, you must raise the pressure, or else a minute to catch less than a bucket of water. So hypertensive patients are bound to lack of blood, lack of blood will be dizzy and headache, lack of blood will be irritable, temper, lack of blood will be poor memory, forgetfulness, etc.,.

As for salt, (NaCl), in fact, is an electrolyte, sodium ions to promote the heart beat strong, resulting in high blood pressure pumping, so eat more salt will cause higher blood pressure, but the salt is not the essence of high blood pressure, think less salt can lower blood pressure, purely blind whole!

How can I lower my blood pressure?

1. Western medicine is simply impossible to cure high blood pressure, eat a lifetime of Western medicine can not be cured, because Western medicine is basically through the expansion of blood vessels to reduce blood pressure, the result is that the blood vessels are getting thinner and thinner, more and more hard, and finally filled with can not be, cerebral vascular rupture - stroke!

2 or Chinese medicine is reliable, more accurate, is not using drugs, eat some health products such as fish oil, lecithin, etc., to dissolve the oil, and then eat some panax ginseng powder, soften blood vessels, better than all the drugs. For example, I am 180 pounds, once blood pressure 90/140. three months after using the above method, blood pressure 85/130.

3. Don't eat pork, especially lard, which can stick to the walls of blood vessels and clog them. Eat more celery, onions, fungus, etc.

I'm Old Chang. Stay tuned.

Conventional wisdom has it that a high-salt diet is the culprit in the development of hypertension, and all major hypertension guidelines recommend that hypertensive patients should eat a low-salt diet, and try to limit their salt intake to 5-6g per day. Academics have also developed theories that a high-salt diet causes hypertension, such as sodium can lead to activation of the RAS system, increase sympathetic excitability, cause smooth muscle contraction leading to increased peripheral resistance and so on.

However, in recent years, there are also views that the culprit of high blood pressure is not salt, but sugar! This doctrine holds that the refined and processed foods that people eat in modern society often have large amounts of sugar added to them. As people consume these foods, they take in large amounts of sugar. Many studies have shown that excessive sugar intake led to an increase in blood pressure in the people tested, while at the same time once they changed to a low-sugar diet, their blood pressure decreased. Thus, the debate arose as to whether salt or sugar was the culprit for high blood pressure.

In fact, Dr. Zhang personally believes that the main problem of our people is different from that of the western countries, and that our dietary habits predispose our countrymen to a high salt diet more than a high sugar diet. I myself prefer that Chinese people should pay more attention to controlling salt intake. As for sugar intake, I should say that even in China, with the change of lifestyle, high sugar intake has become more and more serious, and we should also pay attention to it. While lowering salt intake, be sure to control sugar intake as well.

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