5 Meals to Keep away from When Taking Blood Stress Treatment

What you eat issues when taking blood stress remedy. Meals can improve, decrease, or counteract the results of those medication.

Well being requested specialists which meals to keep away from when taking blood stress medicines. These embrace grapefruit, grapefruit juice, aged cheese, different high-tyramine meals, and meals excessive in sodium and potassium, and licorice.

Why It’s a Concern: Grapefruit blocks an enzyme known as CYP3A4. This enzyme breaks down many medication. When grapefruit blocks the enzyme, the medication stays in your blood longer. This may make the drug stronger and trigger negative effects. Grapefruit juice also can scale back the absorption of some medicines. This decreases the drug’s results.

Grapefruit or grapefruit juice can improve the results of calcium channel blockers. Additionally, grapefruit juice can scale back the absorption of beta blockers.

What Consultants Say: “Sure fruit juices, corresponding to grapefruit and orange juice, can decrease the absorption of beta blockers, making them much less efficient,’’ Jacqueline Dowe, MD, a board-certified and fellowship-trained heart specialist on the Orlando Well being Coronary heart and Vascular Institute, informed Well being.

Why It’s a Concern: Aged cheese is wealthy in tyramine. Tyramine can immediately elevate blood stress when mixed with monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), a kind of antidepressant. MAOIs block the enzyme that breaks down tyramine. Take into accout, this does not apply to everybody, simply people who find themselves additionally taking antidepressants.

Different meals excessive in tyramine embrace fermented greens corresponding to sauerkraut, smoked meats like bacon, salami, and ham, and sure alcoholic drinks. Consuming high-tyramine meals, like aged cheese, whereas taking MAOIs can elevate tyramine ranges in your blood.

What Consultants Say: “MAOIs work together with aged cheese and might trigger a sudden spike in blood stress. Aged cheese, which is excessive in tyramine, just isn’t off-limits if you’re taking customary antihypertensive medicines,” Leonard Pianko, MD, a heart specialist at Aventura Cardiovascular Heart in Florida, informed Well being. 

Various: You may change aged cheese with low-tyramine choices corresponding to recent mozzarella, ricotta, cottage cheese, or plain yogurt.

Why It’s a Concern: Research present that consuming much less sodium can enhance blood stress. Additionally, the American Coronary heart Affiliation (AHA) recommends limiting sodium consumption to 1,500 milligrams per day. A high-sodium eating regimen can counteract the impact of blood stress medicines.

Excessive sodium normally comes from packaged meals corresponding to quick meals, frozen meals, condiments, and salty snacks. Test vitamin labels and decide choices with much less sodium per serving.

What Consultants Say: “Consuming meals with a excessive salt content material can scale back the effectiveness of medicines corresponding to diuretics and beta blockers, that are supposed to decrease blood stress. The salt in your meals can improve fluid retention in your kidneys, probably resulting in elevated blood stress,’’ stated Pianko. “I like to recommend that my sufferers unfold out their salt consumption fairly than consuming it unexpectedly.”

Various: Use spices, herbs, onions, and garlic to taste your meals with out including additional salt.

Why It’s a Concern: Some blood stress medicines can improve potassium ranges in your blood, so it is not really useful for individuals with persistent kidney illness, or taking sure medicines like spironolactone, who’ve had points with excessive potassium meals.

Whereas potassium is really useful for many individuals with hypertension, some blood stress medicines may cause hypokalemia (low blood potassium ranges). Seek the advice of your physician earlier than decreasing potassium consumption.

What Consultants Say: “In the event you’re on a drugs that will increase potassium degree, corresponding to a potassium-sparing diuretic (for instance, spironolactone) or an ACE inhibitor (for instance, lisinopril, enalapril, fosinopril, captopril), attempt to keep away from consuming meals wealthy in potassium,’’ stated Dowe.

Why It’s a Concern: Licorice is a root that is naturally candy and utilized in candies and natural cures. Licorice may cause your physique to carry extra sodium and water whereas it loses extra potassium. This reduces the effectiveness of diuretics and ACE inhibitors. This may occasionally elevate blood stress and trigger irregular coronary heart rhythms. In extreme instances, it will probably result in severe coronary heart circumstances.

Professional tip: Swap actual licorice for options, corresponding to anise-flavored sweet or licorice-flavored treats that don’t include actual licorice.

Some vitamins or compounds in meals can have an effect on blood stress medicines in a number of methods:

Block drug absorption: Meals can decrease drug absorption, making the remedy much less efficient.Cut back drug breakdown: Meals can block drug breakdown, so the medication stays in your blood longer. This may trigger extra negative effects.Improve drug absorption: Meals can improve drug absorption. An excessive amount of drugs within the physique may cause negative effects.Improve blood stress, which might counteract drug results: Some meals, like these excessive in sodium, can improve blood stress. This may work in opposition to the results of medicines.Trigger mineral imbalances: Potassium and sodium stability is vital for controlling blood stress. Some medicines change how your physique retains or eliminates these minerals.

For instance, in case your drugs retains extra potassium in your blood and also you additionally eat a whole lot of potassium, it will probably trigger hyperkalemia. This implies an excessive amount of potassium in your blood, which might be harmful if not handled.