High Blood Pressure Diet.com

Can your diet lower high blood pressure?

The simple answer to the above question is yes. Many scientific and clinical studies have repeatedly shown that what you eat and how much you eat have a very large effect upon your long term blood pressure. The general diet of modern western or 'civilized society' has been shown to be a large contributing factor in the increasing number of people with high blood pressure problems.

Long term high blood pressure (or Hypertension) is a very serious health problem. If left unchecked it can and often does lead to many very serious long term problems. If you think you would know if you had high blood pressure, then you are WRONG. Most people with high blood pressure have no symptoms, so you can't assume that your blood pressure is normal if you haven't had it tested.

In the UK a third of people (31.7% of men and 29.5% of women) have high blood pressure and in the USA these figures are even higher.

The two main parts to a better high blood pressure diet are lower salt (sodium) intake and an increase of potassium rich foods in your daily diet. Most government food and health agencies around the world are encouraging a reduction in dietary salt / sodium levels.

To make a high blood pressure diet more effective it's essential that you start to take regular exercise. This doesn't necessarily mean going to the gym, it fact that's often not the best form of exercise.

Try to find a form of exercise that you like doing - walking the dog, cycling, swimming, yoga, pilates etc etc - the important thing is to find something that you can do and 'will' do several times a week.

Lowering Sodium Intake is an important part of a high blood pressure diet

Salt is also called sodium chloride, and it's the sodium in salt that can be bad for your health.

Research shows that lowering the consumption of sodium as part of a high blood pressure diet will help to lower blood pressure. This doesn't just mean sprinkling less salt on your food from the salt shaker. A reduction in sodium helps lower blood pressure in all people with hypertension.

The average intake in the United States is between 4,000 and 5,000 mg of sodium per day (similar for the UK). The current recommendation is to consume less than 2,400 mg (USA) of sodium per day (1600mg UK). The exact figure varies between 'agencies' and countries, research has shown that people with diets of 1,500 mg or less of sodium had better blood pressure lowering benefits. These lower sodium diets also can keep blood pressure from rising and help blood pressure medicines work better.

Most sodium (75%) in western diet comes from the processed foods that we eat everyday, salt is often added to these foods to make them taste 'better'. You will need to start checking the label for sodium content and start to choose foods labeled low sodium, very low sodium, or salt-free.

Fast foods, take aways and many ready meals (microwave meals) often contain very high salt levels. Many companies are working to lower salt in their fast foods, but always try to check for sodium levels if you can.

You'll also need to look out for any ingredient with the word sodium in it, like - disodium, monosodium, sodium hydroxide, sodium nitrite, sodium sulfate, plus many others - these all mean that it's likely that the food has a high sodium content.


More info about Low Sodium Diets is on the salt and blood pressure page

Further Info

Potassium and blood pressure
Adding more foods rich in potassium can also help lower high blood pressure.

Body Weight and Obesity
Having a healthy body weight is a major factor in maintaining normal blood pressure.

Life Extension Blood Testing

Lifestyle factors like coffee consumption, alcohol intake, lack of exercise and smoking are all things that are very significant causes of long term high blood pressure. Limit consumption of alcohol.

For many people, drinking excessive alcohol raises blood pressure. It is recommended that people with high blood pressure limit alcohol consumption to no more than one ounce per day.

Water - Dehydration can cause high blood pressure.

Hypertension or high blood pressure is often caused by chronic dehydration. When your body is low on water, it attempts to hold on to the water it has got by resorting to vascular constriction throughout the body. This constriction of the arteries causes higher blood pressure because the arteries must get smaller to avoid air pockets from being formed. Smaller tubes require a higher blood pressure to push the supply of blood needed by the body.

To avoid this automatic body response to dehydration, just drink plenty of water. This will hydrate your body and lower blood pressure. Whether you have high blood pressure or not, drinking plenty of water is always a good healthy idea.