5 Worst Foods For Your Blood Pressure

5 Worst Foods For Your Blood Pressure

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Imagine pouring one and a half teaspoons of salt directly into your mouth. Can you taste it? Blah, blech! Youd shed an ocean of tears trying to choke down those tongue-tingling crystals.

Yet, if youre a typical American, you eat that much salt every single day. And thats one primary reason why 50 percent of us are considered at risk for high blood pressure.

I know, that sounds impossible you seldom if ever reach for the salt shaker, right? Well, you dont have to: Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that most of us consume about 3,400 mg of sodium a day, but only 5 percent of it comes from home cooking. Some occurs in foods naturally, but the overwhelming majority of the sodium you eat 77 percent comes from foods sold in supermarkets and restaurants. Heart disease is the number-one killer of Americans, and sodium is one of the primary culprits.

We should be eating no more than 2,300 mg a day, and less about 1,500 mg if were at risk for high blood pressure. And yet, while researching my latest book, The Eat This, Not That! No-Diet Diet, I uncovered countless restaurant meals with one, two, even three days worth of salt in them. Think Im exaggerating? Take a peek at the saltiest dishes coming from Americas kitchens.

1. WORST PASTA

Ruby Tuesday Mediterranean Shrimp Pasta

3,933 mg sodium 1,086 calories 63 g fat
Sodium Equivalent: 11 Large Orders of McDonalds French Fries

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Somebody needs to tell Ruby Tuesday that to make Mediterranean pasta, you dont need to actually boil the noodles in Mediterranean seawater. Ruby Tuesday makes only one pasta dish with fewer than 2,000 mg of sodium (almost an entire days worth!), and it has only two pasta dishes with fewer than 3,000 mg. The other four pasta dishes on the menu each have more than 3,000 mg.

Eat This Instead!

Ruby Tuesday Plain Grilled Petite Sirloin with Steamed Broccoli and White Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

987 mg sodium 460 calories 22 g fat

2. WORST BREAKFAST IHOP

Thick-Cut Bone-In Ham & Eggs

4,310 mg sodium 1,170 calories 61 g fat (19 g saturated)
Sodium Equivalent: 37 servings of Planters Cocktail Peanuts (thats more than three 12-oz cans!)

IHOP is another chain known for egregious sodium levels. Even foods that sound relatively sodium-free are swimming in the stuff. Take an order of Buttermilk Pancakes. One order 5 pancakes has 2,640 mg sodium. Things turn especially ugly when you start adding meat to the plate. Youd be wise to avoid any dish with steak or ham, which consistently contribute to a total of more than 2,000 mg per dish.

Eat This Instead!

IHOP Simple & Fit Turkey Bacon Omelette with Fresh Fruit
730 mg sodium 420 calories 21 g fat (10 g saturated)

3. WORST HEALTHY ENTREE

Applebees Weight Watchers Chipotle Lime Chicken

4,990 mg sodium 490 calories 12 g fat (2 g saturated)
Sodium Equivalent: 31 servings of Ruffles (thats more than two Family Size bags!)

Avoiding salt at Applebees is nearly impossible. Not even the healthy selections pass muster. The six items on the Under 550 Calories menu average 2,341 mg of sodium per entree. The five items on the Weight Watchers menu average 2,448 mg. Even the side dishes are dangerous. A side of Loaded Mashed Potatoes will cost you 1,340 mg, and a side of Broccoli Cheddar Soup will cost you 1,690. If you order anything off this menu, youd be wise to stick to sodium-free foods for the rest of the day.

Eat This Instead!

Applebees Asiago Peppercorn Steak
1,520 mg sodium 390 calories 14 g fat (6 g saturated)

4. SALTIEST APPETIZER

Applebees Appetizer Sampler

6,830 mg sodium 2,590 calories 173 g fat (54 g saturated)
Sodium Equivalent: 370 Funyuns (thats more than four bags of em!)

Restaurant appetizer samplers are notoriously riddled with sodium, but Applebees is a full-blown tour de force of heart-stopping potential. Piled onto this plate are a bacon and cheese quesadilla, fried cheese sticks, spinach and artichoke dip and chips, and boneless buffalo wings. Just one of those things is bad enough, but add all four and you have three days worth of sodium and more than an entire day of calories in just one appetizer!

Eat This Instead!

Applebees Classic Southern BBQ Wings

1,070 mg sodium 660 calories 35 g fat (9 g saturated)

5. SALTIEST CHINESE

P.F. Changs Double Pan-Fried Noodles with Pork

7,900 mg sodium 1,652 calories 84 g fat (12 g saturated)
Sodium Equivalent: 263 Triscuit crackers (thats 4.3 boxes!)

PF Changs menu is probably the saltiest in America; even a bowl of Hot and Sour Soup has 5,000 mg. For that half of the population thats supposed to max out at 1,500 mg daily sodium, the Double Pan-Fried Noodles with Pork harbors more than five times the limit. Even for those in the higher tier, it still represents three-and-a-half days worth of sodium consumption. If you end up at Changs, let the Steamed Buddha Bowl be your safety plate. But remember: Its got to be steamed. Order it stir-fried and the same dish suddenly leaps to 2,740 mg sodium. Yikes.

Eat This Instead!

PF Changs Steamed Buddhas Feast Lunch Bowl (brown rice) with Egg Drop Soup

800 mg sodium 480 calories 7 g fat (0 g saturated)

About the Author:
Local, national and international news. Balita.com is your premiere source for Philippino News, Phil-am News & Philippine Inquirer.



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