Essential Hypertension Article

Lifestyle treatments to lower high blood pressure

Lose weight if you are overweight
Losing some excess weight can make a big difference. Blood pressure can fall by up to 2.5/1.5 mmHg for each excess kilogram which is lost. Losing excess weight has other health benefits too.

Exercise regularly
If possible, aim to do some exercise on five or more days of the week, for at least 30 minutes. For example, brisk walking, swimming, cycling, dancing, etc. Regular exercise can lower blood pressure in addition to giving other health benefits. If you previously did little exercise, and change to doing regular exercise five times a week, it can reduce systolic blood pressure by 2-10 mmHg.

Have a low salt intake
The amount of salt that we eat can have an effect on our blood pressure. Government guidelines recommend that we should have no more than 5-6 grams of salt per day. (Most people currently have more than this.) Tips on how to reduce salt include:

Use herbs and spices to flavour food rather than salt.
Limit the amount of salt used in cooking, and do not add salt to food at the table.
Choose foods labelled 'no added salt', and avoid processed foods as much as possible.