It’s thought that around 30% of people in England have high blood pressure, and many don’t even know it.
Though more than half of them are over 60, a large number are younger. Could you be one of them? High blood pressure is common and often has no symptoms.
Check your blood pressure
The only way to know if you have high blood pressure is to have your blood pressure checked. Health professionals such as nurses, pharmacists and GPs can check your blood pressure with a simple test. High blood pressure increases your risk of having a heart attack or stroke, but there are things you can do to lower your blood pressure.
A normal resting blood pressure is usually considered to be below 120/80mmHg.
Keeping blood pressure healthy
There are lots of different ways you can have a significant impact on your blood pressure; Reducing your blood pressure can make a massive difference to your health.
Benefits
- Less strain on the heart, significantly reducing the chance of cardiovascular issues like heart attack or strokes
- Preserved kidney function
- Better brain health – chronic hypertension is linked to cognitive decline
A healthier lifestyle
The following steps towards a healthier lifestyle will help lower your blood pressure and keep it at a healthy level.
Exercise
Do at least 30 minutes of exercise five times a week, such as walking, dancing, cycling, or swimming. If you’re not used to exercising, don’t start too quickly. Talk to your doctor about how much exercise will suit you, and build up slowly. Find out more about how to start:
- walking
- cycling
- swimming
- running
You can find out more about health and fitness, including 10-minute home workouts below
Healthy Eating
A healthy, balanced diet will help reduce your blood pressure. A healthy diet includes eating:
- less salt
- less saturated fat
- five portions of fruit and vegetables a day
Aim to eat no more than 6g of salt a day. Don’t add salt to food. Read food labels when you’re shopping to help you buy healthier foods. Many foods, including breakfast cereals, bread, and soup contain added salt.
Saturated fat is found in butter, ghee, lard, meat pies, fatty meat, sausages, cakes, biscuits, and food containing coconut oil or palm oil.
“Many people know to avoid butter because it’s high in saturated fat, but if you have three biscuits with your morning coffee, you’re still getting saturated fat,” says Dr Mead.
Fruit and vegetables are good for health, whether they’re fresh, tinned, frozen, dried or in juice.
Lose weight
Exercising and eating healthily will help you lose weight. Obesity increases your risk of high blood pressure, so it’s important to be a healthy weight.
To find out if you’re a healthy weight and to get advice on losing weight, use a BMI calculator.
Disclaimer: BMI is not a diagnostic measure of health and does not account for different body compositions, but can be a helpful guide for weightless
Limit your alcohol intake
The recommended healthy limits for alcohol:
- No more than three to four units a day for men
- No more than two to three units a day for women
One unit of alcohol is roughly half a pint of regular-strength lager or a 125ml glass of wine.
Regularly drinking more than the recommended daily limits puts you at risk of a number of health problems, including high blood pressure. Find out more about the risks of alcohol and how you can cut down.
Helpful Resources
You can track your alcohol intake using the NHS Drink Free Days app.
You can also use the Drinkaware unit calculator to find out how many units there are in different measures and brands of alcoholic drinks.
Stop smoking
Although smoking doesn’t cause high blood pressure, it raises the risk of heart disease. Stopping smoking reduces this risk, and is especially important if you have high blood pressure.
Medication
Some people with high blood pressure need to take medication to lower it, as well as making the healthy lifestyle changes above.