According the the CDC approximately 1/3rd of all the adults in the US have high blood pressure. According to the American Hear Association about 69% of people who have a first heart attack, 77% who have a first stroke, and 74% who have congestive heart failure have blood pressure higher than 140/90 mm Hg. Many people are under the misconception that their high blood pressure is just genetic and/or directly associated with salt intake. While these 2 things play a role for some people, for most blood pressure is controllable and salt is not the key player. According to a British Medical Journal article in 2014-
"A reduction in the intake of added sugars, particularly fructose, and specifically in the quantities and context of industrially-manufactured consumables, would help not only curb hypertension rates, but might also help address broader problems related to cardio-metabolic disease."
Sugar intake is also a bigger culprit than fat intake when someone is diagnosed with high cholesterol. Increase in sugar intake causes a spike in Insulin which not only puts you at risk for diabetes, but Insulin also tells the liver to increase Cholesterol production. Add this to the increased inflammation created by elevated sugar intake and chronic infection and we set ourselves up for the perfect storm of Cardiovascular diseases.
When we evaluate patients with Hypertension and Cholesterol issues we look at the whole picture and help to identify food, environmental, stress and genetic factors that lead to Cardiovascular issues and identify the proper nutrition and exercise to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular events.