If you have hypertension or are concerned about preventing blood pressure problems, lifestyle changes can be an important part of your treatment or prevention plan. Researchers have looked at certain lifestyle changes and determined exactly how healthier habits can lower blood pressure readings.
How Lifestyle Changes Affects Blood Pressure
If you have prehypertension — between 120/80 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and 139/89 mm Hg — or high blood pressure — 140/80 mm Hg or higher — your doctor may suggest you try to get it under control with lifestyle changes before trying blood pressure medications. And even if you are on hig medications, lifestyle changes can help in the effort to lower blood pressure, keep you healthy, and possibly reduce the amount of medication you need.
The following lifestyle changes can help reduce the pressure in your arteries:
- Maintain a healthy weight. Carrying around extra body weight has been associated with high blood pressure. If you are overweight, studies show that losing weight can have a dramatic effect on your blood pressure. In fact, studies show that for every 22 pounds (10 kilograms) of body weight you lose, you can expect your systolic blood pressure — the top number measured at the peak pressure in your arteries when your heart is squeezing out blood — to fall between 5 and 20 mm Hg.
- Reduce your sodium intake. Consuming a diet that is high in sodium can lead to high blood pressure. If you reduce your sodium intake to less than 2,400 milligrams per day, your blood pressure will be reduced by an average of 2 to 8 mm Hg.
- Limit alcohol intake. For some people, drinking too much alcohol can cause increases in blood pressure. Limiting consumption to no more than one drink a day for women or two drinks per day for men is a lifestyle change that can reduce blood pressure. People who keep their alcohol intake within these limits can achieve an average systolic blood pressure reduction of 2 to 4 mm Hg.
- Exercise regularly. In addition to helping you lose weight, engaging in regular physical activity can also help lower blood pressure. In fact, making the lifestyle change to exercise moderately, like walking briskly, for at least 30 minutes on most days of the week can reduce your systolic blood pressure by an average of 4 to 9 mm Hg.
- Eat a healthy diet. Studies have shown that eating a healthy diet is an effective way to lower blood pressure. People who follow the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan experience average reductions in systolic blood pressure of 8 to 14 mm Hg. The DASH plan is rich in fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, potassium, and calcium, and low in sodium, dietary cholesterol, total fat, and saturated fat.
- If you smoke, quit. There is evidence that smoking is associated with stiff arteries and high blood pressure, so quitting is another way to reduce your risk of heart disease. Quitting smoking can result in improvements in the health of your arteries, but it may take 10 years or more to achieve arteries as healthy as someone who never smoked.
Making any single lifestyle change listed above can help manage or prevent high blood pressure, and implementing more than one of these changes can result in even more blood pressure improvement. Talk with your doctor about lifestyle changes you can make to lower your blood pressure and improve your overall health.
Last Updated: 7/8/2010