High blood pressure: Does eating affect your blood pressure reading?

For those suffering from hypertension, keeping a track of their blood pressure is crucial. This helps them monitor their heart health and thereby lower the risk of heart attack and stroke by taking medication whenever required. But to get an accurate number, it is crucial to take the reading at the right time and the right way. Several factors can cause blood pressure to rise and fall that includes your meal timing and the types of food you eat. Keep reading to know how eating and your food choices affect your blood pressure reading.

Our blood pressure tends to take a slight dip after meals. That's because after eating food, our body gets busy redirecting the blood to the digestive tract to help in the digestion process. This diversion of blood pressure may lead to a temporary decrease in the blood pressure in other parts of the body. To compensate for this change, the blood vessels in other parts of the body constrict, causing your heart to beat faster and with more pressure to maintain a healthy blood pressure level throughout the body.

In some people, the blood pressure does not drop after meals because the blood vessels outside of the digestive system do not constrict. This condition is referred to as postprandial hypotension or low blood pressure after eating. The symptoms of postprandial hypotension include lightheadedness, dizziness, fainting, chest pain, vision disruption and nausea. Staying in a fasted state for long periods can also cause a drop in blood pressure.

If you are dealing with the issue of hypertension, you must also be careful about the kind of food you add to your diet. Some foods may elevate your blood pressure level and regular intake of such food possesses a long term risk. High intake of salt and saturated fat are linked with hypertension. So, it is best to have them in moderation. To stay healthy and fit add more protein, fiber, potassium and magnesium to your diet.

Our blood pressure fluctuates throughout the day depending on the food we eat or the activities we perform. To get the correct reading, here are a few things that you must keep in mind.

Do not smoke or drink alcohol, or exercise for at least 30 minutes before taking the reading.

Make sure your bladder is empty while measuring the blood pressure

Sit with your back straight, legs uncrossed, and both feet flat on the floor. Rest the arm on a flat surface in a way that the upper arm is in line with the heart.

Rest comfortably for 5 minutes before taking a reading.

Place the monitor’s cuff on the upper arm.

Take two or three readings at 1-minute intervals

The blood pressure monitoring machine displays two numbers, systolic (the top number) and diastolic (the bottom number). The systolic number represents the pressure when the heart is contracting while the diastolic reading depicts the pressure of the blood when the heart muscles relax. The blood pressure is measured in millimetres of mercury (mm Hg). As per the American Heart Association, there are five blood pressure categories.

Normal: Less than 120/80 mm Hg

Elevated: Systolic from 120 to 129 mm Hg and diastolic less than 80 mm Hg diastolic.

Hypertension Stage 1: Systolic ranging from 130 to 139 mm Hg or diastolic 80 to 89 mm Hg.

Hypertension Stage 2: Constantly at 140 mm Hg systolic or 90 mm Hg diastolic or higher.

Hypertensive Crisis: If the reading is higher than 180/120 mm Hg.

A hypertensive crisis is a medical emergency and requires immediate medical attention. In this condition, the blood vessel becomes inflamed and may leak fluid or blood. This makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood effectively, which leads to heart stroke or heart attack.