6 Ways To Lower Your Blood Pressure

High blood pressure raises your risk of heart attack and stroke – as well as Covid-19 – but many of us don’t realise we even have it. Here’s how to keep yours as low as possible.

1 Get moving

Regular physical activity is crucial to help lower your blood pressure, as well as to maintain a healthy weight and lower cholesterol. Exercise strengthens your heart so it pumps more blood with less effort. This puts less pressure on your arteries, so your blood pressure stays at a healthy level.

Aim for 30 minutes of moderate exercise (which leaves you slightly breathless) at least five times a week. It could be housework or walking the dog – anything which raises your heart rate.

TRY… to move regularly in the day – at least every hour. Avoid spending long periods sitting down – watching TV or at a computer screen, for example.

2 Cut back on salt

Too much sodium in your bloodstream pulls water into your blood vessels, increasing the total amount of blood inside them and raising your blood pressure. The World Health Organisation recommends we eat less than 5g of salt a day (about 1tsp) but most of us have more. Much of the salt we eat is hidden in processed foods, like ready meals, crisps, biscuits and processed meats, so limit those. These foods are also high in saturated fat which increases your cholesterol, blocking arteries, restricting blood flow and raising blood pressure.