Sugar Can Raise Your Blood Pressure

Most people associate salt with high blood pressure, but sugar is actually much worse.

Eating too much sugar can cause you to gain weight, and overweight people are more prone to high blood pressure. However, new research has shown that even if you’re slim, eating too much sugar can still give you high blood pressure. This research appeared in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

This is important research because most people think if they’re slim, they can get away with eating as much sugar as they like, and their only worry might be ending up with rotten teeth. It’s important to realize that sugar is harmful to everybody’s health and metabolism, regardless of your body weight.

Scientists from the University of Otago in New Zealand reviewed several randomized controlled trials that looked at the effects of sugar on blood pressure and found that not only does sugar promote high blood pressure; it also promotes high blood fats such as cholesterol and triglycerides. Once again, it’s important to realize that you don’t have to be overweight to have high cholesterol or to have blocked arteries. Sugar will cause much more harm to your heart than salt or fat, regardless of your body weight.

Sugar can raise blood pressure and the risk of heart disease because it causes insulin resistance. Insulin has many important roles in your body. People with too much insulin in their bloodstream are said to have insulin resistance, syndrome X, metabolic syndrome or pre-diabetes. They are all interchangeable terms.

Due to modern diets and lifestyles, nearly everybody produces more insulin in their pancreas than they should. This is a problem because if blood insulin levels have been high for years, the cells of your body start to ignore it. The insulin becomes less and less effective at its important job in your body (getting glucose inside your cells so you can burn it for energy). Elevated insulin levels promote abdominal obesity and fatty liver. In time, blood sugar may creep upwards and a person can develop type 2 diabetes.

The following strategies may help you achieve a healthy blood pressure:

Magnesium
This is the most important supplement, as it helps your cardiovascular system in several ways. Magnesium relaxes the muscles in your arteries, which opens them up wider, thus lowering the pressure inside them; this effect also improves the circulation of blood to your organs. Magnesium strengthens the heart muscle, helping your heart to cope with high blood pressure; in other words magnesium makes your heart more robust. Magnesium also helps to relax your nervous system so that you are less stressed, and we all know what excess stress can do to your blood pressure! Magnesium improves sleep quality, and getting insufficient sleep or poor quality sleep can also raise blood pressure. So you can see how important magnesium really is. Taking a teaspoon of Magnesium Ultra Potent Powder each evening should greatly help. For more information about the benefits of magnesium see my book Magnesium: The Miracle Mineral.
Vitamin C
This strengthens the structure of the arteries and veins which reduces the risk of them rupturing and causing a hemorrhage in your brain. Take a supplement of 1000 mg daily of vitamin C. Also get more vitamin C from your diet in the form of citrus fruits, berries, tomatoes or bell peppers.
Reduce the carbs in your diet
People with insulin resistance cannot handle ordinary amounts of carbohydrate in their diet; as they oversecrete insulin in response to eating carbs. Sugar, bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, breakfast cereals, sugary drinks and anything made of flour will all cause a dramatic rise in blood sugar, therefore these foods should be minimized. If you are insulin resistant you are less likely to feel satisfied after eating these foods, as a result you tend to overeat. Glicemic Balance capsules contain herbs and nutrients that stabilize blood sugar. They help to reduce cravings and hunger. Berberine is a herbal extract that helps to lower insulin if it is elevated. In this way it helps with weight loss and blood pressure normalization. You can read about how berberine works here. There is an easy to follow eating plan designed to correct insulin resistance in my book I Can’t Lose Weight and I Don’t Know Why.
Exercise is important
Exercise has significant health benefits such as reducing blood pressure, improving cardiovascular health, promoting a healthy mood and aiding weight loss. Exercise also helps get blood sugar down because your muscles suck glucose out of your bloodstream for their metabolism. So if you have a big meal or eat more sugar than you intended, going for a walk afterwards can help reduce the consequences. Making exercise a regular part of your life should help keep your blood sugar, blood pressure and insulin lower.