Blood pressure and diet

Blood pressure is the force of blood against the walls of your blood vessels. It can change for many reasons for example, stress. Your diet can also strongly influence your blood pressure. An unhealthy diet can lead to high blood pressure (hypertension). This is a common condition. On the other hand, you can lower your blood pressure by changing what you eat. Changing your eating habits plays an important role in treating high blood pressure. With a consistent, long-term change in diet, it may be possible to avoid medication or to reduce the dose needed.

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It's important to know that eating too much table salt can raise your blood pressure. So it's advisable to use salt sparingly. In this context, it's also wise to pay attention to the salt content of convenience or ready-made meals. Such dishes often contain a lot of salt without you noticing.

Another link between blood pressure and diet concerns the body mass index (BMI). BMI shows the ratio of body weight to height. There are standard reference values that take age and sex into account. A BMI above these reference values is associated with a higher risk of high blood pressure. People who are overweight often have higher blood pressure. That's why losing excess weight is a central part of treating hypertension. This is achieved, among other things, through enough physical activity and exercise.

Diet is also a decisive factor. If you don't change your eating habits consistently and in the long run, excess weight won't go away. As the text above shows, blood pressure and eating habits are closely linked. Below you'll find more information about "diet and high blood pressure." Among other things, you'll learn more about salt, fructose, and beetroot for high blood pressure.

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This article comes from BloodPressureDB – the leading app since 2011 that helps hundreds of thousands monitor their blood pressure every day. Our content is based on carefully researched, evidence-based data and is continuously updated (as of 03/2024).

Author Sabine Croci is a qualified medical assistant with many years of experience in internal medicine and cardiology practices as well as in outpatient care, and has led BloodPressureDB's specialist editorial team since 2015. Thanks to her extensive additional qualifications as a paramedic, first responder and in various therapy and emergency areas, she provides solid, practical and reliably reviewed information.

Blood pressure and diet

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