Diet and exercise are key, but there’s more you can do to prevent high blood pressure.
No matter how good your health is, it is important to prevent any rise in blood pressure. The main reason is that blood pressure can cause damage to your body when it goes above 110/70 mm Hg— long before high blood pressure is diagnosed. Also, if you keep your blood pressure at a normal level, you won’t need to take blood pressure medication, which has potential side effects and can be costly. Lastly, people with high blood pressure who bring their blood pressure down to normal levels with medication still have a higher risk of high blood pressure complications than individuals who do not require drugs to keep their blood pressure within the normal range. So you have at least three good reasons to prevent high blood pressure in the first place.
What steps can you take to prevent high blood pressure? The most important ones are losing weight (if necessary), eating a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in salt (the DASH eating plan is ideal, see below), engaging in regular physical activity, and drinking only moderate amounts of alcohol.
Lifestyle measures can have a considerable impact on your blood pressure readings. In a recent study, a weight loss of just 10 lbs. decreased the risk of high blood pressure by 50% in individuals with a systolic blood pressure between 130 and 139 mm Hg or a diastolic blood pressure between 85 and 89 mm Hg. In another study, the more preventive strategies individuals incorporated into their lifestyle, the greater the overall impact on their blood pressure reading.
What’s the DASH diet and how can it help you control your blood pressure?
The DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) is an eating plan that can have a significant and positive effect on your blood pressure readings. The diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products and low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and total fat. It also includes whole-grain products, fish, poultry, and nuts. Red meat, sweets, and sugar-containing beverages are kept to a minimum.
Two major clinical trials have evaluated the DASH diet:
- In the first trial, individuals who followed the DASH diet for eight weeks reduced their blood pressure by an average of 5.5/3 mm Hg, compared with people who ate a typical American diet (low in fruits and vegetables and high in fat). The benefits of the DASH diet were greatest in people with high blood pressure. In these individuals, the DASH diet lowered systolic blood pressure by 11 mm Hg, which is similar to the level of blood pressure reduction typically achieved with a single blood pressure drug.
- In the second trial, people who combined the DASH diet with a low sodium intake (1,500 mg a day) for 4 weeks had an average blood pressure reduction of 9/5 mm Hg, compared with people who followed a typical American diet with a high sodium intake (3,300 mg a day). As in the first trial, the benefits were greater in people with high blood pressure—their systolic blood pressure dropped by an average of 12 mm Hg.
For more information about the DASH diet, go to the website: www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash
