Taking steps to prevent high blood pressure will reduce your risk of heart attack, stroke, and other serious illnesses.
High blood pressure (or hypertension) increases your risk of developing many serious health problems. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), high blood pressure can lead to heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease, among other health risks.
Age, family history of hypertension, and ethnicity are among the risk factors for uncontrolled hypertension. When it comes to preventing hypertension, the focus will be on risk factors that you can change.
Accordingly, healthy living habits that you can implement every day, can help prevent high blood pressure and reduce your risk of future high blood pressure-related health problems.
High blood pressure can lead to heart disease, stroke and kidney disease…
Dr. There’s nothing we can do regarding our age, but we can make lifestyle changes and make healthy lifestyle choices, says Olugbenga Ogedegbe, of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City.
1. Maintaining a healthy weight is important for people with high blood pressure
Dr. When it comes to preventing high blood pressure, your weight is important, says Ogedegbe. People who are overweight should try to lose weight, and people of normal weight should avoid gaining any extra pounds.
If you’re overweight — or have a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or higher, losing at least 4.5 pounds can help prevent high blood pressure, according to the American Heart Association.
2. Follow a balanced diet
Eating healthy foods can help control blood pressure. Accordingly, you should eat more fruits and vegetables, and limit your intake of saturated fat, trans fat, and sugar. According to the AHA, consider following the DASH (dietary approach to stopping high blood pressure) diet. This is a diet that has been shown to help control blood pressure. The eating plan maximizes fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in the diet and limits red meat, sodium, and sweets.
3. Cut down on salt
For many people, a low-sodium diet can help keep blood pressure normal. Dr. The higher the sodium intake, the higher the blood pressure, says Ogedegbe. You can cut your total salt intake by avoiding packaged and processed foods that are high in sodium and not adding salt to your meals.
A study published in 2017 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology of more than 400 adults with prehypertension, found that a combination of reducing sodium intake and diet DASH significantly reduced systolic blood pressure.
4. Exercise regularly
Be active to prevent high blood pressure. Physical activity is very important. The more you exercise, the better, but even a little can help control blood pressure, Dr. Ogedegbe emphasizes.
The AHA recommends, 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week. This should also be supplemented with muscle-strengthening activity, such as freestyle weight training or resistance training, two days per week.
5. Limit alcohol
Drinking too much alcohol can lead to high blood pressure. For women, no more than one drink per day, and for men, no more than two, according to the AHA.
6. Stress Management
Although the link between stress and blood pressure is still being studied, stress is known to contribute to other important risk factors for high blood pressure, including unhealthy eating and drinking, AHA notes.
According to the AHA, meditation can help you manage both stress and high blood pressure.
7. Blood pressure monitoring
The new blood pressure reading tells you if your blood pressure is rising.
Make sure you have your blood pressure measured regularly, either in the clinic or at home. High blood pressure often occurs without symptoms, so a new blood pressure reading tells you if your blood pressure is rising.
If your blood pressure is below 120/80 mmHg, the AHA recommends having your blood pressure checked at least every two years, starting at age 20. If your blood pressure is higher, you may have to have it checked more often.