Lifestyle Changes for High Blood Pressure
What can I do to help control my blood pressure?
You can take important steps to reduce your high blood pressure. If you change your health habits, you can help reduce your need for blood pressure medication.
If you need to take blood pressure medication, a healthy lifestyle may lower the amount of medication you need. Best of all, a healthy lifestyle is great for your overall health and will make you feel better!
What is a healthy lifestyle?
A healthy lifestyle means eating a well-balanced, low-fat, low-cholesterol diet, getting regular exercise, not using tobacco, and drinking alcohol in moderation only.
- Lose weight, if needed.
- Exercise regularly: 30 minutes, 5 days a week.
- Don’t smoke.
- Don’t have more than 2 alcoholic drinks a day.
- Use less salt (less than 1500 mg a day).
- Limit caffeine (less than 2 cups a day).
- Try to get enough potassium, calcium, and magnesium in your diet.
If you are taking over-the-counter medications such as ibuprofen, Advil, or other NSAIDS, talk to your healthcare team to see how it can affect your BP.
Do I need to lose weight?
Doctors use a tool called the body mass index (BMI) to assess your weight and health risk. BMI is based on your height and weight.
For adults, these are the BMI ranges:
- 19–25 is normal.
- 25–29.9 is overweight.
- 30+ is obese.
What does "regular" exercise mean?
Exercise alone can lower your blood pressure. It can also help you lose weight.
Regular exercise means moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity for 30 minutes, 5 days a week. Examples are running, biking, swimming, yoga, and fast walking.
If you are limited in mobility, or if strenuous activity is too difficult due to age, physical health, or other medical conditions, lower intensity physical activity can help lower your blood pressure.
Try to get at least 30-45 total minutes of moderate physical activity almost every day. Talk to your PCP to find the right exercise plan for you.
If you smoke, now is the time to quit!
There are many reasons to quit smoking, but if you have high blood pressure, it is very important to quit now.
Smoking and high blood pressure raises your risk of heart disease and stroke. Your risk for heart disease can be more than doubled if you smoke. When you smoke, your blood pressure will increase, and blood pressure medicine won’t work as well.
How much alcohol is too much?
Excessive alcohol intake can raise your blood pressure and interfere with blood pressure medication.
- Men with high BP: No more than two alcoholic beverage a day.
- Women with high BP: No more than one alcoholic beverage a day.
Talk to your PCP if you are worried about your drinking.
"One alcoholic beverage" is the equivalent of:
- 1 oz shot of hard liquor; or
- 5 oz glass of wine; or
- 12 oz bottle of beer.
Sodium in your diet
Having less sodium (salt) in your diet can help lower blood pressure. Most pre-packaged prepared food is loaded with sodium. Make sure to read nutritional facts labels to monitor your sodium intake.
Doctors recommend people with high blood pressure to lower their sodium to less than 1500 mg a day.
The amount of salt in each food you eat should not exceed 300 mg.
Keep in mind that the amount of sodium you see on a nutritional label is the amount in one serving — this may be less than the actual amount you eat. Multiply the number of servings you plan to eat by the amount of sodium listed on the label to figure out total sodium.
DASH diet and Heart-Healthy diet
Changing your diet is another method to reduce blood pressure levels.
The DASH diet is rich in fruits, fat-free or low-fat milk and dairy products, whole grains, fish, poultry, legumes, seeds, and nuts. It contains less sodium, added sugars, fats, and red meats.
A Heart-Healthy diet is lower in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol. It is rich in nutrients such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, protein, and fiber, which can lower blood pressure.
Download this PDF to read more about the DASH diet.