Top Lifestyle Tips to Reduce Your Risk of High Blood Pressure

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Jeff Fischer

If you suffer from hypertension, it’s important to work with your doctor towards a suitable treatment option to control your blood pressure. Meanwhile, here are top lifestyle steps to take to reduce your risk and control your BP:

1. Adopt a Healthy Eating Pattern

To help lower your blood pressure, try the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) eating plan. The DASH diet is a guide to the frequency of weekly consumption of various food groups. It is based on a low sodium eating plan rich in fruits and vegetables, and low-fat or non-fat dairy, with whole grains. It is a high fibre, low to moderate fat diet, rich in potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Proper adoption of the dash diet is proven to reduce hypertension and can also help lower weight, reduce cancer and diabetes risk.

2. Reduce Salt and Sodium in Your Diet

There is a direct correlation between your salt consumption and your blood pressure i.e. the more salt you consume, the higher your BP. Hence even a small reduction in the sodium in your diet can reduce blood pressure by 2 to 8 mm Hg. Limit your sodium intake to no more than 2,300 milligrams (mg) a day. To decrease sodium in your diet, consider these tips:

*Read food labels.

*If possible, choose low-sodium alternatives of the foods and beverages you normally buy.

*Eat fewer processed foods. Potato chips, noodles, frozen dinners, bacon and processed lunch meats are high in sodium.

*Don’t add salt to cooked food. Just 1 level teaspoon of salt contains 2,300 mg of sodium. Use herbs or spices, rather than salt, to add more flavour to your foods.

3. Maintain a Healthy Weight

A larger body requires more blood, which puts more pressure on the heart and blood vessels. Always maintain a healthy weight for your height by targeting a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 20 – 25.

4. Be Physically Active and Avoid Stress

Exercising for 30 minutes three to five times a week can lower your blood pressure by 5–7 mmHg. On the other hand, stress can make blood pressure shoot up for a short while, and it has been thought to contribute to high blood pressure. But the long-term effects of stress are as yet unclear. Nevertheless aim to reduce your BP by maintaining an active stress free lifestyle.

5. Control Your Alcohol Intake

Alcohol can be both good and bad for your blood pressure. In small amounts, it can potentially lower your blood pressure by 2 to 4 mm Hg. However, that protective effect is lost if you drink too much alcohol. Note that if you suffer from high BP, you should avoid alcohol as it can reduce the effectiveness of blood pressure medications.

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6. Increase potassium, calcium and magnesium intake

Potassium helps to regulate the beating of the heart. To help reduce your BP, increase your potassium intake from sources such as yoghurts, fruits raisins, bananas, kiwis, oranges and various vegetables such as sweet potatoes, tomatoes.

Good sources of calcium are dairy foods such as milk, yogurt, and cheese. Be sure to choose skim or low fat varieties. Low fat and non-fat dairy products have more calcium than the high fat versions. You should get enough magnesium if you follow a healthy diet. Magnesium is found in whole grains, green leafy vegetables, nuts, and dry peas and beans.

7. Trim the fat

Cut out all saturated and trans fats from your diet. These unhealthy fats and cholesterol in foods raise blood cholesterol, which increases the risk for heart disease. Foods high in fats also are high in calories, which must be reduced if you need to lose weight.

8. Cut back on caffeine

While there is no evidence to show caffeine keeps the blood pressure high with prolonged consumption, experts recommend you drink no more than 200 milligrams of caffeine a day. Hence cut down on consumption of caffeinated energy drinks. Also, unless you are drinking decaf, cut down your consumption of regular coffee and tea, especially green tea.