12 Surprising Things That Can Raise Your Blood Pressure

5. Black licorice overdose

Eating too much black licorice — we’re talking the real deal, not just licorice-flavored candy — can be a health hazard, and not just because of the sugar content. The candy contains the compound glycyrrhizin, derived from the licorice root, which can cause your body to hold on to lots of salt and water, thereby driving your blood pressure up. Eating black licorice can also lead to low potassium levels and abnormal heart rhythms. And if you already have some preexisting conditions, like low potassium or hypertension, you could be even more sensitive to glycyrrhizin.

So be careful how much black licorice you eat. A 2024 Swedish study concluded that eating 100 milligrams of black licorice every day for two weeks was enough to raise systolic blood pressure by about 3 mm Hg on average, with some individuals experiencing larger increases. Eating black licorice may also interfere with blood pressure medications.

6. Drinking alcohol

You’ve probably heard that drinking red wine in moderation can be good for your heart. But the American Heart Association says that evidence of this benefit is based on observational studies, which can’t show that one thing directly causes another. The AHA does not recommend drinking wine or any other type of alcohol for health benefits. And the potential cardiovascular benefits from the flavonoids in red wine are also in healthier sources like grapes and blueberries.

Research does show that drinking alcohol, even just one drink a day, is linked to high blood pressure. Heavy drinkers (eight or more drinks per week for women and 15 or more for men) who cut back to one drink a day for women, two for men, may be able to lower their systolic pressure reading by about 5.5 mm Hg and their diastolic (bottom) number by about 4 mm Hg.

7. Not enough potassium

Too much sodium is a long-established cause of elevated blood pressure. But a diet rich in potassium can lower your numbers.

Salt increases blood pressure, while potassium decreases blood pressure by causing our bodies to release sodium, says Dr. Seamus Whelton, an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins Medicine Division of Cardiology.

“About 75 percent of the sodium most people consume is already in food when they buy it,” Whelton says. So swapping out processed foods and eating more fresh fruits and vegetables is key to increasing your potassium and reducing your sodium.

Men need 3,400 mg of potassium per day and women about 2,600 mg, though people with high blood pressure may benefit from higher dietary intake, within safe limits.The American Heart Association recommends getting between 3,500 and 5,000 mg if you’re trying to lower your blood pressure.

Foods rich in potassium include potatoes, spinach, jackfruit, bananas, grapefruit and beans. Many foods included in the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet are good sources of potassium.

Whelton also advocates eating the American Heart Association’s recommended four to five servings of fruit and four to five servings of vegetables per day. There’s no need to take potassium supplements unless your doctor recommends it.

Newer studies show that potassium-based salt substitutes may help some people lower blood pressure. However, they are not safe for everyone, including people with kidney disease and people who take medications that make it harder for kidneys to eliminate extra potassium. That includes a series of blood pressure and heart medications called RAAS inhibitors.

8. Loneliness

“As a species, we’re not meant to be without other people,” says Annalijn Conklin, an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia. “If you are socially isolated, it raises your cortisol levels to put you in a fight-or-flight response.”

A study Conklin conducted of 28,238 adults ages 45 to 85 found that for women, being single, having limited social activity or being part of a smaller social network was linked to higher than average blood pressure.

Interestingly, Conklin’s study found that men who lived alone or had small social networks were less likely to have high blood pressure than those who lived with others or had large networks (greater than 220 people). It’s unclear whether the difference was due to biological reasons or simply because there’s less stigma around the idea of men going it alone.

That said, feeling isolated is not good for your arteries. Another, smaller study of adults ages 50 to 68 found that those with the highest scores on a loneliness survey had a systolic blood pressure that was 10 to 30 points higher than that of their less lonely counterparts.

More recent research frames social isolation as a chronic stressor that causes the body to stay in a high-alert, fight-or-flight mode, which may help explain its long-term impact on blood pressure. 

9. Medications and supplements

Headache? Joint pain? Be mindful of what you reach for when you head to the medicine cabinet.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen (Advil) and naproxen (Aleve) can raise blood pressure, particularly when used regularly or at a higher dose. And so can regular use of acetaminophen (Tylenol), according to a study published in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association.

“Any time people are using those types of medications for pain control, if they’re using them continuously, they need to get with their doctor,” Lloyd-Jones says.

Other over-the-counter medications to be aware of: decongestants, which relieve stuffiness by narrowing blood vessels to reduce swelling in the nose. This can also raise blood pressure. “So you don’t want to use them consistently or routinely,” Lloyd-Jones says.

Even supplements like ginseng and ephedra are associated with increased blood pressure.

10. Added sugar

When we eat sugar, our bodies release insulin to help clear the sugar from our blood and get it into the cells, where it can be used for energy.

“But insulin itself tends to drive up blood pressure in many people,” Lloyd-Jones says. “So if you’re eating a lot of added sugar or simple starches, you’re having these more intense and longer bursts of insulin, which will raise blood pressure.”

Added sugar, like corn syrup, is common in cakes, cookies, yogurt, breakfast cereals and soda. In fact, drinking one 12-ounce drink with added sugar every day could raise your chances of having high blood pressure by at least 6 percent.

11. Smoking

Yet another reason to quit smoking: It’s a proven risk factor for heart attack and stroke and can increase the risk of plaque buildup in your arteries.

Nicotine is to blame, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians. Smoking causes the blood vessels to narrow and the heart to beat faster, leading to a sudden spike in blood pressure every time you light up.

“If you look at the monitoring, it’s clear that the blood pressure [of smokers] over a 24-hour period is higher than [that of] nonsmokers,” says Dr. J. Brian Byrd, a hypertension specialist at University of Michigan Health.

Vaping and using other nicotine-based products can also affect blood pressure, although long-term data is still needed. The American Heart Association has warned against the risks of vaping, especially for youth, calling it an emergency situation.

12. Other health conditions

Other health conditions can affect your blood pressure, including the overproduction of the hormone aldosterone, which helps keep your levels of sodium and potassium balanced.

Byrd says people who haven’t had any luck lowering their high blood pressure with multiple medications should talk to their doctor because “there’s a reasonably good chance that they have a condition called primary aldosteronism.” The condition is often missed, Byrd says, but medications can treat it.

Your blood pressure could also be elevated due to issues with your kidneys or thyroid gland.

As your age increases, so does your risk of a thyroid disorder. Both overactive and underactive thyroids can raise blood pressure. A severely overactive thyroid can boost your risk of cardiovascular issues, says Dr. Nicole Ronda Bloom, an accredited endocrinologist based in New Hyde Park, New York.

Bloom encourages her patients to get their levels checked annually during physicals, or every six months if they have a strong family history of thyroid disease or symptoms. And if you are on thyroid medication, make sure you’re taking it as prescribed.

“Skipping medicine for low thyroid doesn’t often cause high blood pressure, but missing medicine for high thyroid can be problematic,” she adds.

Don’t forget about the usual suspects

It’s important not to overlook the biggest drivers of high blood pressure in the U.S., chief of which is weight. If you’re overweight, losing even a few pounds can have a big impact on blood pressure — you can reduce your numbers by 1 mm Hg for every 2.2 pounds you lose, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Stay on top of your numbers by taking your blood pressure often and “understand where you are on the spectrum,” Lloyd-Jones says. You can do this at home with a cuff-style bicep monitor.

If you notice your blood pressure is starting to increase or if it’s already elevated (a systolic, or top, number that’s less than 120 and a diastolic, or bottom, number that’s less than 80 are considered normal), it’s important to know the foods and habits that can make it worse, Lloyd-Jones notes.

It’s also important to work with a doctor to find the best way to control it, be it with medications, lifestyle changes or both.

“Home blood pressure monitoring is a really important and empowering way for patients to take control of this,” Lloyd-Jones says.