Is it good to eat sweet potatoes for high blood pressure? Why can't people with high blood pressure eat too much salt?

We all know that patients with high blood sugar should eat less high-sugar foods and control sugar intake, and patients with high uric acid and gout should eat less foods with high purine content. High blood pressure should be controlled by a low-salt diet and avoid eating too salty food. In addition to seasonings, some foods themselves actually contain salt. So can people with high blood pressure eat sweet potatoes?

Is it good to eat sweet potatoes for high blood pressure?

You can eat sweet potatoes.

Sweet potatoes are rich in protein and trace elements, as well as various vitamins, such as cellulose, carotene, vitamin C, B vitamins, and more than 10 elements such as potassium, magnesium, copper, and calcium. Sweet potatoes contain so many nutrients that can reduce the absorption of cholesterol in the intestines, lower blood lipids, promote blood circulation, soften blood vessels, prevent atherosclerosis, and help lower blood pressure.

When we say that people with high blood pressure should control their diet, we are actually controlling the high-risk factor for high blood pressure: salt. No more than 6g of salt per person per day, and the salt content of sweet potatoes is not high.

Why can't people with high blood pressure eat too much salt?

Simply put, eating more salt means more water entering the blood vessels, increasing the pressure on the blood vessel walls and ultimately raising blood pressure. In addition, salt increases the burden on the heart and kidneys, and is a scourge of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. As the pressure in the blood vessels increases, the heart load increases, and symptoms such as heart hypertrophy, heart failure, and kidney dysfunction appear over time.

A high-salt diet increases sodium and sodium retention in the body. To avoid an increase in cardiac output, the body overperfuses tissues, causing increased constriction of smaller systemic resistance vessels, leading to increased peripheral vascular resistance and further increases in blood pressure. Therefore, patients with hypertension should eat a low-salt diet.

How to control salt intake for high blood pressure

1. You don’t need to use a lot of salt to season the food. Condiments such as black pepper, vinegar, star anise, Sichuan pepper, basil, lemon juice, etc. can also give the food a richer flavor.

2. It is best not to add the iodized salt we usually eat when cooking. It should be added just before the dish is served to reduce the amount of salt used.

3. In addition to table salt, soups, kimchi, salad dressings, soy sauce and many other foods also have high salt content. For example, 15ml of soy sauce is equivalent to 1g of table salt. In addition, chicken essence, fermented black beans, and oyster sauce are all condiments containing sodium, so you should also pay attention to this when purchasing.