Lower Blood Pressure:
- Reduce Sodium intake
- Increase Potassium intake
- Exercise daily (cardio)
- Reduce Caffeine and Alcohol intake
- Get rest/sleep daily
- Lose weight (if needed)
- Increase Water Intake
- Reduce Fast Food Intake
- Cook your own foods when possible
Out of all of these reducing the Sodium and Exercising will have the greatest impact.
Even if your labs show that your sodium levels are "Normal", a reduction of sodium will help drastically to improve blood pressure.
Target 1,500 mg - 2,000 mg of sodium MAX per-day.
Most people in the modern world are eating upwards of 4K mg of sodium per day, and not enough potassium to "over-ride" it.
There is a lot of "Hidden" sodium in the foods we eat daily, even in foods that aren't "salty":
- Breads (some are 500+ mg of sodium per slice) (sources: baking soda, baking power, and regular table salt)
- Cheeses (some are 300+ mg of sodium per serving)
- Processed meats/cold-cuts (some are 500+ mg of sodium per serving)
- Sauces/condiments (hot sauce, ketchup, mustard, mayo etc...) (some are 300+ mg of sodium per serving)
Read the labels of the foods you buy, check for sodium (i do it EVERY TIME).
Once/IF you start a low sodium diet your taste buds will adjust, and most foods you used to eat will be "too salty".
For bland/reduced-sodium foods you can "brighten" them up with:
- Vinegar
- Lemon Juice
- Spices
- Citric Acid (Powder)
There are also many "Salt Substitutes" that use Potassium Chloride, instead of Sodium Chloride(Table Salt), or a combo of both (I use the combo version).
I'm a "slim" dude, but had high blood pressure for years. All my labs said my Sodium levels were "Normal", but I still had hypertension.
I put myself on a Low-Sodium Diet, after the meds the doctors prescribed didn't completely work.
After the sodium reduction my blood pressure went back to normal levels.
I went for 160+/90+ to 116/76 (On Average).
I hope this helps some folks.