Blood Pressure

The best ways are to get rid of excess weight, quit smoking, reduce your sodium intake, be more active, reduce alcohol.

It can be a tall order but is achievable. Good luck.

So I'm doomed.

charleygirl has it exactly. I was told the equation but its something like for one pound of weight lost you reduce the B/P by so many points. Mine always drops nicely when I lose weight sadly never enough to come off the drugs but I have a long term condition.

I am overweight and am diabetic, but am very lucky to have genetically low BP and low cholesterol.

Cinnamon can help too I believe.

Lots and lots of links on the internet if you google something like

foods to lower blood pressure

like this one:

www.joybauer.com/high-blood-pressure/best-foods-for-high-blood-pressure.aspx

Cher53 with my advice you will be heading for a convent!

Seriously reducing your salt intake is high on the list. Also not everybody can go for a brisk walk but chair exercises are the next best thing.

Ive told my chair to take more exercise, but it just stays there and my bp stays the same

I think avoiding the political threads on GN might qualify as a recommended course of action

I have too a recaltcitrant chair

At the end of the day (sorry to those whose blood pressure will rise just seeing this phrase)..

your genes are a massive element in BP- as well as life-style. OH comes from a lonf string of parents/grand-parents and sibblings with high BP- and I come from a long-string of the above who have low BP. For OH, taking medication is just a must despite a very healthy life-style- he has never smoked and never drank to excess and has always been very active- playing squash twice a week until recently, walking, skiing, etc.

Lifestyle and food and abstention from smoking and too much drinking can seriously help- but your genes cannot be denied.

I don't smoke, drink once in a blue moon, have never used salt, practically lived on salads but still I have high BP. I also played badminton until I was 61.

Blueberries are a mild diuretic, so help to lower blood pressure.

Thank you to everyone here. This has come right out of the blue. To my knowledge no one in my family has high blood pressure. I have never smoked, drink moderately and in fact have reduced my alcohol intake greatly for the last few years. I do not add salt to my food.

I am grateful for everyone who replied. Being honest with myself the weight needs to be lost. As for being more active, if the godawful weather would ease up I go for long walks, often with grandchild, at times alone. I take it weight and exercise are the biggest factors. I've been needing to address my weight for a long, long time. Perhaps this is the thing that will make me do it.

I told the nurse I had a few bouts of dizziness and headaches, the trouble is for ages this was all 'menopause'. The only reason the nurse took my blood pressure was when I got the flu jab, she noticed my blood pressure had not been taken for a while. When she took it my blood pressure was up. It 's not up by much - thank goodness. I really want to get it down though. Thank you for your replies, but if I am honest it is probably the weight which is going to be damn difficult as I have under-active thyroid trouble. Do these medical issues never end?

I agree somebody mentioned blueberries they do help reduce blood pressure plus orange juice I am trying my best to not take medication and so far eating more fruit has helped saw a nurse last week and was so happy as my BP is normal plus I walk for half an hour every day which I think helps plus I don't add salt to cooking .....

I agree Alea and I've made avoiding the political thread my main New Years Resolution!!!
Seriously, high blood pressure does run in families. Unfortunately my granny, mother, and one maternal uncle died young as the result of this silent killer, but luckily for me, vigilance from the age of 40 picked up this problem when it first raised its ugly head, so for the past 20 years I've been on medication, and have been ok. Do take it seriously as it can be a killer if neglected. Sorry, don't want to appear bossy, but heart problems and stroke are just horrible.

My family history is not good with regards to heart disease/blood pressure - mother's first heart attack was as age 53, father had one at 69, both grandfathers had them as well as strokes.

As a non-smoker of low to normal weight with healthy eating habits I found my blood pressure creeping up when I was 50. As I have a very sedentary (desk-bound) job I started going for a brisk 30-minute walk every evening, religously, no excuses, and by brisk walk I mean the sort that makes you breathe hard and sweat. My blood pressure is now that of a 20-year-old and interestingly I notice it creeping up again on the rare occasions that I do not get the time to walk.

So I agree, it's lifestyle to a large extent. Use it or lose it, and I really enjoy my walk now. It clears the head at the end of the day.

Apparently beetroot is a miracle cure.....if only I liked it!

I was in a similar situation about 10 years ago. I looked around and found a device called a Resperator [www.resperate.co.uk/]. It uses a headset and a belt with a breathing regulator and a machine that helps you slow down your breathing. You use it for 15 minutes everyday to start with and then 3 or 4 days a week. It worked for me. My highest blood pressure measurement has never since exceeded 130 and is usually lower. I cannot remember the lower measuremnt, but I think it was 80 something.

A few years later I read that it had been approved for use in the NHS
[www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2094659/Resperate-The-7-headset-blood-pressure-low-help-thousands-patients.html].

I am not overweight and am physically active and eat a sensible diet so all the other parameters were in my favour.

Sorry links should have been
1) www.resperate.co.uk/

2) www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2094659/Resperate-The-7-headset-blood-pressure-low-help-thousands-patients.html

MOnica I hate to tell you but you must keep a beady eye on the diastolic or lower number- 80+ would freak me out.

cher53, you don't have to go for further tests if you choose not to.

My blood pressure is borderline high too, or it was last time I was measuring it regularly so as to get an average reading for my GP (about a year ago, I think). GP talked about blood pressure medication and so on.

Then I said: I've never smoked; I've never been overweight; there is no family history of heart disease; I must be low risk. GP agreed.

So, I continued, reducing my already low risk of health complications caused by borderline high blood pressure by a little bit more to make it a very slightly lower low risk, is a bit pointless. Besides, as you know, I'm in pain all the time. Won't that push up my blood pressure?

GP hasn't said another word about it.

I'm not advising you, just telling a story. I think we overtreat risk. I'm all for treating actuall health problems and for vaccinations to prevent diseases, but reducing small risks to slightly smaller risks seems a bit daft to me.

Costly too.

Foods do not reduce blood pressure or cure any medical conditions. There's a major cottage industry that promotes this idea. But it's rubbish.
Lack of certain nutrients can contribute to ill health e.g. vitamin deficiencies. But believing that food is medicine is a bit like believing that putting more oil in the car will repair mechanical parts.
And if your doctor recommends taking pills for blood pressure, take their advice. And don't combine them with grapefruit - particularly the juice - as that can interact harmfully.

People can dabble in beetroot and all sorts of home remedies for hypertension but I really must object to the claim that blueberries 'do help to reduce blood pressure'.

Where is the evidence for this?

They keep moving the goalposts don't they? I read somewhere last week that the ideal is 140/90. If my bottom figure was 90 I would consider this far too high, but apparently it is now OK. I have been on medication for BP for about 15 years and so have my three sisters and my brother. I am a non-smoker and not overweight. When I was put on medication, my BP reading was through the roof (something like 210/108) and I lived to tell the tale. I monitor it at home now and it is usually OK.