There are several ways of preventing high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, as the problem is linked to your diet, hereditary and health. The best advice for preventing high blood pressure is by living a healthy lifestyle and getting regular exercise, though what you eat is also very important.

There is a specific eating plan that you can follow to lower your heart pressure that is called the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension, or DASH. It is possible to reduce hypertension by eating specific foods such as vegetables, fruits, low fat dairy foods and foods that are low in fat and cholesterol. You also want to eat nuts, poultry, whole grains and fish.

There is a DASH-sodium diet also, as salt is directly linked to hypertension. There have been many studies that show that reducing sodium can assist in treating hypertension. Individuals who managed to lower their pressure the most were eating a diet that had 1,500 milligrams of sodium a day.

It is also known that being overweight will increase your risk of hypertension. Losing as much as ten pounds is an effective way of preventing hypertension. Being overweight also increases your risk of heart disease and developing cholesterol and diabetes. So it is in your best interests to lose even as little as ten pounds.

Besides losing weight, you also want to get regular exercise, as the more you exercise the lower your resting heart rate will be when you are not exercising. You don't have to go all out; just start moderately. Simply walking 30 minutes a day is enough to help lower your blood pressure though it is recommended that you do different things to keep it interesting. Exercise also helps you when looking to lose weight.

By drinking a lot of alcohol you increase the pressure in your blood. You want to keep your alcohol consumption to a moderate amount, such as one drink a day for women and two for men. One drink is 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1 ounce of whiskey or other liquor. Alcohol can also make it difficult to lose weight so you will want to limit your consumption for more than one reason.

Another factor that is effective for preventing high blood pressure is smoking. If you are a smoker and have hypertension then you should look into quitting as soon as possible. If you don't smoke then you shouldn't start smoking ether. Your chances of getting a heart attack due to smoking will be lower after just one year.