How Does Sugar Intake Affect Blood Pressure? (2024)

Sugar can raise your blood pressure, along with increasing the risk of obesity and diabetes. Though sodium (salt) is known to lead to high blood pressure, or hypertension, sugar also can do so by acting on nitric oxide (NO) production in blood vessels.

NO deficiency can lead to vasoconstriction (narrowing of the blood vessels) and hypertension. With high blood pressure, you may be at greater risk for other conditions that affect how your body processes blood sugar, such as changes in how insulin sensitive you may become.

This article will help you to learn about the role sugar plays in hypertension and discover ways to keep sugar intake—and, in turn, your blood pressure—at healthy levels.

How Added Sugar Affects Your Blood Pressure

Typically, people think of salt as bad for blood pressure. However, sugar is also responsible for high blood pressure and a leading cause of it.

Fructose, a type of simple sugar, raises the levels of uric acid in the blood. This inhibits the production of nitric oxide needed to help your blood vessels maintain flexibility, so when levels of NO are lowered, you can experience a rise in blood pressure.

Sugars in processed foods are considered a main driver of hypertension, especially "added sugars" rather than those that occur naturally in fruit or milk.

Furthermore, research suggests that sugar intake can actually increase salt sensitivity, leading to the enhanced negative effects of sodium on blood pressure. A 2017 research study, in fact, discovered an association between sugar intake and high blood pressure in older women.

Sugar consumption, therefore, leads to specific impacts that can contribute to hypertension.

Causes Insulin Resistance

Insulin resistance is associated with high blood pressure. With insulin resistance, your body struggles to use glucose for energy because it doesn't respond to insulin as it should. This leads to the overproduction of insulin by the pancreas.

Insulin resistance is closely linked to hypertension, and together they lead to an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Hyperinsulinemia occurs when the level of insulin in your blood is higher than normal. Insulin is a hormone that pulls glucose from the food you eat into cells, where it is used for energy.

It is one of the diagnostic criteria for type 2 diabetes, a condition that develops when the body becomes less sensitive to insulin and cannot use it effectively to turn sugar into energy. If left untreated, hyperinsulinemia can lead to high blood pressure as well.

Studies have shown that roughly half of those with hypertension have either hyperinsulinemia or glucose intolerance.

Leads to Obesity

Sugar raises blood pressure when its consumption leads to other health conditions, including obesity. Too much added sugar in your diet is a risk factor for the development of obesity.

Added sugars include sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup in processed foods. They also can contribute to metabolic disorders like non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (now called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, or MASLD). High blood pressure is often seen in people with metabolic disorders or syndromes.

Obesity is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure. The risk is even greater for Black people diagnosed with obesity.

Damages Your Blood Vessels

Nitric oxide, produced by the inner layer of cells of blood vessels, relaxes the inner muscles of your blood vessels and opens them up. NO helps boost blood flow and controls blood pressure.

With less nitric oxide, blood vessels become less flexible, contributing to hypertension, inflammation in blood vessels, and atherosclerosis (plaque buildup on the inner walls of cells), which is a known risk factor of heart disease.

Dietary Changes to Help Lower Your Blood Pressure

Tips like starting the day with a nutrient-rich smoothie, enjoying fresh fruits, and ensuring adequate water intake can help control cravings and might keep you from eating processed sugar.

Choose a diet that's rich in the following:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Whole grains
• Low-fatdairy products
• Skinless poultry and fish
• Nuts and legumes
• Nontropical vegetable oils

Be sure to limit your intake of saturated and trans fats, sodium, red meat (choose the leanest cuts available if you are eating red meat), and sweets and sugar-sweetened beverages.

There is some evidence to suggest that supplementing your diet with L-glutamine may be beneficial. One study demonstrated that, in overweight people and those with obesity, the effect of L-glutamine supplementation on gut microbiota was similar to that of weight loss programs.

Summary

Sugar consumption can affect blood pressure, just as salt does. The effects of sugar can lead to hypertension through several different pathways.

When sugar consumption (especially added sugars) affects nitric oxide levels, it changes how well your blood vessels work. The resulting vasoconstriction can cause high blood pressure. Sugars also can contribute to insulin resistance and obesity, which are linked to diabetes and other illnesses in which high blood pressure also is common.

If you are looking to reduce your risk for hypertension and associated conditions, eating less sugar, especially processed sugar, is a great first step. High blood pressure over time can damage the coronary arteries and lead to other health consequences. Speak with your healthcare provider about next steps and how to make adjustments to your diet.