Articles
Choosing blood pressure medications
High blood pressure and other health problems
Content
Lifestyle changes
Medication options
Other medications sometimes used to treat high blood pressure
High blood pressure drugs can target other health problems
Keep trying to reach your blood pressure goal
Lifestyle changes
If you're beginning to develop high blood pressure (prehypertension) or if you already have it, lifestyle changes can help you reduce or eliminate your need for medication.
Try these lifestyle changes to help lower and control your blood pressure.
- Eat a healthy diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables and reduce the amount of sodium in your diet.
- Maintain a healthy weight.
- Exercise. Get 30 minutes of moderate activity on most days of the week. It's OK to break up your activity into three 10-minute sessions a day.
- Limit the amount of alcohol you drink. For healthy adults, that means up to one drink a day for women of all ages and men older than 65, and up to two drinks a day for men 65 and younger.
- Don't smoke.
- Manage stress.
