10 foods to avoid on Thanksgiving if you have high blood pressure

One out of every three adults has high blood pressure, according to the American Heart Association. Also known as hypertension, high blood pressure is often called a "silent killer" because the symptoms and signs can be quite subtle; it is also a major risk factor for heart disease, which is the primary cause of mortality in the United States. It was for Marion Barry, former Washington, D.C., mayor, who died earlier this week. According to the medical examiner, high blood pressure was one of the chief reasons he died.

No one knows what causes high blood pressure in most cases, but certain foods definitely exacerbate hypertension. In general, those foods include those high in fat, salt and calories.  So herewith, a sampling of the most blood-pressure-unfriendly foods to avoid over the Thanksgiving holiday.

    01.Red Meat: Stick to the turkey — the non-deep-fried turkey, that is — because a big 'ol steak registers high in fat, salt and calories. An 18-ounce Outlaw Ribeye at the Longhorn Steakhouse, for example, comes in at a whopping 1,070 calories, 79 grams of fat and 1,640 mg. of sodium,according to fatsecret.com.

   02. Whole milk — If you must have a glass of the white stuff, go low, as in 2 percent, 1 percent or skim, because whole milk, while high in calcium, is also high in fat, especially saturated fat. Five of the 8 grams of fat in one small cup of whole milk are saturated.

  03.  Alcohol — You knew this was coming, right? Alcohol not only elevates blood pressure, it also actively damages the walls of blood vessels. (Apple cider is definitely the way to go for Thanksgiving: 7 mg. of sodium, one-quarter of one gram of fat and just 117 calories in one cup, according to fatsecret.com.)

  04.  Stick butter- A typical serving of one tablespoon of original stick butter contains 100 calories and 11 grams of fat. For those high-carb dinner rolls, better to go with a whipped butter, which usually has about 50 calories and 6 grams of fat.

   05. Pickles — Yep, even those garnishes are fat traps. Three medium-sized dill or kosher pickles, less than 4 inches long each, can contain as much as 2,355 mg. of sodium. (The recommended amount of sodium for an entire day is 2,300 mg.)

  06.  Ready-to-eat meats — If you're not into cooking, go out to dinner for Thanksgiving. Just don't eat a frozen turkey dinner. Five ounces of a pre-cooked, packaged turkey and gravy dinner can have upwards of 800 mg of sodium.
    07.Canned vegetables or soups — The preservatives, sauces and seasonings harbor hidden amounts of extra sodium. A single cup of cream-style canned corn contains more than 700 mg. of sodium.

   08. Canned tomato sauce — For the pasta portion of Thanksgiving dinner, steer clear of canned tomato sauce. Just one serving of canned meat sauce can hold 1,300 mg. of sodium.

    09.Pumpkin pie — Sorry about this, but the truth of the matter is, an average slice of commercially prepared pumpkin pie contains 13 grams of fat, 323 calories and 450 mg of sodium, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The good news? A slice of pumpkin pie also contains 67 percent of the daily recommended amount of vitamin A ... Your choice.

    10.Salt — Duh. Need we say more?

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