Meal planning can make lower-sodium, higher-fiber, heart-healthy eating more realistic during busy weeks.
Nutrition focus
A heart-healthy pattern emphasizes vegetables, fruit, beans, whole grains, lower-sodium choices, and fewer highly processed foods.
What patients can do
- Measure blood pressure with good technique and bring the record to visits
- Ask your clinician what blood pressure goal is appropriate for your age and health conditions
- Build sustainable routines for lower-sodium eating, physical activity, sleep, stress management, and medication use
- Review all medicines, supplements, alcohol use, tobacco use, and symptoms with your healthcare team
When to seek medical advice
Contact your healthcare team if home readings are repeatedly above your recommended range, if you feel dizzy or faint after treatment, if you miss medicines often, if you are pregnant, or if you have kidney disease, diabetes, heart disease, or sleep apnea.
Seek urgent care for very high blood pressure with chest pain, shortness of breath, weakness or numbness on one side, confusion, severe headache, vision changes, fainting, or symptoms of stroke or heart attack.
Sources consulted
- CDC High Blood Pressure: https://www.cdc.gov/high-blood-pressure/about/index.html
- CDC Managing High Blood Pressure: https://www.cdc.gov/high-blood-pressure/managing/index.html
- NHLBI High Blood Pressure: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/high-blood-pressure
- American Heart Association High Blood Pressure: https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure
- WHO Hypertension Fact Sheet: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hypertension
Educational use only. This page does not replace individualized medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Blood pressure medication choices and dose changes should be made with a licensed clinician.