It is getting increasingly clear that those looking for lower blood pressure should avoid fast foods. Its certainly no coincidence that runaway rates of high blood pressure, diabetes and extraordinary obesity in the West coincide with the rise of these products.
As an important point, 2 specific processed foods, products that have come to dominate complete food groups, are now obviously linked to obesity and raised blood pressure. They are hydrogenated, or trans-, fats and high fructose sweeteners. These freaks can justly be called 'Frankenstein Foods' as examples of science gone wrong.
Trans-fats undergo a process that turns liquid oil into solid fat. We know this substance most commonly as margarine. The features of many of those margarines are no coincidence ; the chemical structure of hydrogenated fat is analogous to plastic. Unnecessary to say, trans-fats don't happen naturally.
Ironically, margarine and other hydrogenated fats were once promoted as healthy choices to saturated fats. But we know now that natural fats contain trace minerals, amino acids and other nutrients essential to good health. Its hydrogenated fats that are the monsters.
Consumers need to read food labels carefully and treat hydrogenated fats with caution. And if you have raised blood pressure you need to avoid them like the plague. Of course, with extensive coverage of the health risks of trans-fats this recommendation may appear old hat. A number of progressive shops and food producers have even taken the 1st steps to ban trans-fats in their products.
Another known cause of hypertension is high fructose syrups. These sweeteners were similarly promoted as healthy alternate choices to the feared cane sugar. Food producers have pulled the wool over the publics eye by stressing the association of the name 'fructose' with fruit. Fruit contains fructose but it is in no fashion the same substance as the high fructose syrups, most frequently corn syrup, utilized in the food industry.
High fructose syrups are only now being exposed as a health risk and few folk recognize the size of the difficulty. High fructose corn syrup is less expensive than cane sugar and many times sweeter. The result is not surprising ; high fructose syrup is literally everywhere in processed foods from cola drinks to ketchup to spaghetti sauce. Even Coca-Cola has used high fructose corn syrup since 1985.
Like hydrogenated fats, fructose sweeteners also increase gut fat, much much more than conventional sugar. The consequence is a deadly condition called metabolic syndrome. Obesity, defective insulin metabolism, high cholesterol and raised blood pressure are all results. What's more, fructose sweeteners have the capability to damage the liver as they pass undigested through the small intestines where they head directly to the liver.
But our shops remain stacked high with countless other hypertension causing foods. These include processed cheese, beef from animals treated with expansion hormones and other chemicals, fake salt substitutes, dairy substitutes and plenty more. Basically, they include any foods that have been chemically or mechanically made, reinforced or improved. Please remember that not all of these foods are damaging if eating in minute quantities, but most are just not required for the security of our food supply and our good health.
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