16-07-2025
What Really Happens to Your Blood Pressure After You Eat a High-Salt Meal
What Really Happens to Your Blood Pressure After You Eat a High-Salt Meal originally appeared on Parade.
If you have high blood pressure—or it runs in your family—you likely already know that you need to minimize the amount of salt in your diet. 'Sodium can cause vascular damage primarily through raising blood pressure,' says Dr. Michael Fattouh, MD, a cardiologist at Montefiore Fattouh explains that salt promotes fluid retention. 'You can think of this as having too much water in the pipes. This increases the pressure in your arteries, causing stress and damage to the vessels, while also causing your heart to work harder,' he says. 'High sodium causes you to retain fluid, which your kidneys need to dilute the sodium content. This increases your circulating blood volume, causing an increase in blood pressure, and we know high blood pressure over time is not good for you, adds Dr. Richard Kettelkamp, DO, a cardiologist at UnityPoint Health, St. Luke's Hospital. The detrimental impact too much sodium has on heart health is why the American Heart Association recommends capping sodium intake at 2,300 milligrams a day, or ideally 1,500 milligrams a you're wondering if one high-salt meal can really cause that much damage. Is enjoying a burger and fries every once in a while all that bad? To answer that question, it helps to know exactly what happens to blood pressure after eating a high-salt meal.
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How Eating a High-Salt Meal Impacts Blood Pressure Immediately Afterward
What is considered a 'high salt' meal? Dr. Fattouh says that, generally, a high sodium meal contains 700 milligrams or more of sodium, but he says that even less than that can be high for certain people, such as those with high blood pressure.'High sodium meals are unfortunately not hard to come by. A cheeseburger and fries may have more than 1,000 milligrams of sodium,' he explains. Other examples of high-sodium foods include canned soup, frozen pizza, a sandwich with cold cuts and beef
Dr. Kettelkamp adds that there is more sodium in many foods than people realize. 'It's not just table salt, it's what you cook with. Margarine and butter have quite a bit of sodium. There's a huge amount of sodium in soda. Canned vegetables and canned soups also have a lot of sodium and it's in a lot of prepared and processed foods too,' he says.
So what happens immediately after eating a high-salt meal? According to Dr. Kettelkamp, within an hour, there is a rise in blood pressure, which is related to the regulation of sodium in the blood. 'Excessive sodium intake can lead to high blood pressure within a couple hours and in people who are more sensitive, some effects on your vessels are seen in as little as 30 minutes,' adds Dr. Dr. Michael Barry, MD, a cardiologist and partner with Clearwater Cardiovascular Consultants, says that after eating a high-sodium meal, fluid retention often occurs in the kidneys. This, he says, can eventually lead to increased blood pressure readings. Related:
The Long-Term Impact of Eating High-Sodium Meals
Dr. Kettelkamp says that while the average person isn't going to have a heart attack or stroke immediately after eating a high-sodium meal, regularly consuming excessive sodium does increase the likelihood of experiencing these detrimental cardiovascular events. 'Consistent high sodium intake can cause hypertensive urgency, or spikes in blood pressure, potentially leading to heart attacks and strokes. Usually, these patients already have high blood pressure, which is worsened by a high-sodium meal,' Dr. Barry adds. Related:
Scientific research shows that regularly eating high-sodium foods is linked to kidney disease, strokes and heart disease. People who consume more than 4,000 milligrams of sodium a day increase their stroke risk between two and five times compared to those who keep sodium intake under 1,500 milligrams a day.
If this is a sobering wake-up call, remember that there are many other delicious ways to flavor your food besides reaching for the salt shaker. Flavoring your food with spices and herbs is actually beneficial for heart health because they are full of antioxidants, which help lower blood pressure. And when it comes to store-bought foods, don't forget to do your label reading to see how much sodium is in each serving; it is often more than you think.
By being mindful of your sodium intake, you will not only be keeping your blood pressure in check, you'll be supporting your entire cardiovascular system. It's advice worth taking to, well, heart.
Up Next:Sources:
Dr. Richard Kettelkamp, DO, cardiologist at UnityPoint Health, St. Luke's Hospital
Dr. Michael Fattouh, MD, cardiologist at Montefiore Einstein
Dr. Michael Barry, MD, cardiologist and partner with Clearwater Cardiovascular Consultants
What Really Happens to Your Blood Pressure After You Eat a High-Salt Meal first appeared on Parade on Jul 16, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 16, 2025, where it first appeared.
