4 Steps to Take If Your Blood Pressure Is Too High

Any discussion about your cardiovascular health comes with some eye-opening and concerning statistics. For example, high blood pressure, which affects nearly half of adults (48.1%) in the United States, is one of the primary risk factors for heart disease, which is the leading cause of death in the US.

While these numbers certainly grab your attention, we want to focus on a more encouraging statistic — up to 80% of cardiovascular diseases are preventable. And one of the most effective preventive strategies is to get your blood pressure numbers within healthy ranges.

At LaSante Health Center, we offer internal medicine and cardiology services, both of which put your cardiovascular health front and center. And here’s what we recommend to patients who have high blood pressure.

Keep track of your blood pressure

One of the most important steps you can take is to work with a team that specializes in cardiovascular health. With patients who have high blood pressure, or hypertension, we design treatment plans to lower the numbers as quickly as possible.

To do this, we typically turn to medications and lifestyle changes, both of which are equally important in getting your blood pressure to normal ranges, which means below 130/80. 

This measurement includes your systolic pressure (the top number), which is the pressure inside your blood vessels during a heartbeat, as well as your diastolic number (the lower number), which is the pressure in between heartbeats.

The reason we’re concerned when these numbers are high is that over time, this pressure can damage your blood vessels, leaving you more vulnerable to heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.

Through our vigilant oversight, we can track your numbers and tweak your treatment plan accordingly.

Exercise more to lower your blood pressure

While our intervention is critical, the steps that you take to lower your blood pressure are as important. One of the key steps is exactly that — more steps. 

While it may seem counterintuitive, the most effective way to lower your blood pressure is to get your heart pumping through exercise. Not only can exercise strengthen your heart, it helps keep your blood flowing more freely and prevents plaque buildup inside your blood vessels.So, we recommend that you move for at least 30 minutes a day to get your heart rate up and your blood moving.

Improve nutrition, improve your blood pressure

To keep your blood flowing, we urge you to steer clear of unhealthy foods that can lead to plaque buildup in your arteries. These foods include:

• Fried foods
• Red meats
• White carbohydrates
• Processed foods
• Sugary foods
• High-sodium foods

One of the best ways to prevent heart disease and lower your blood pressure is to stick to fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins.

Get rid of excess weight

When you carry excess pounds, your heart and blood vessels have to work harder, so losing weight is a key to lowering your blood pressure. Following our tips above about exercising more and eating healthier foods will go a long way toward helping you to shed pounds.

We understand that changing your diet, exercising more, and losing weight are a lot easier said than done, which brings us back to our first point — get the right team in your corner. 

We’re with you every step of the way and we’re happy to provide you with nutritional counseling, exercise recommendations, and other proven strategies that can lower your blood pressure.

To get on the road to lower blood pressure, please book an appointment online or call us at our Brooklyn, New York, office at 718-246-5700 to schedule a visit.

We serve the Flatbush and East Flatbush, Crown Heights, Park Slope, Little Haiti, Little Caribbean, and Prospect Lefferts Gardens communities.