High blood pressure increase the chances of life-threatening complications at any age. This is because the higher your blood pressure, the harder your heart has to work to pump blood round your body.
Hypertension puts strain on blood vessels and can enlarge your heart, making blood vessels clog, burst or leak, and can cause damage to your major organs.
These can put you at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, gout, vascular dementia, and problems with your vision.
But high blood pressure can often be prevented or reduced by eating healthily.
If you want to eat a blood pressure lowering diet, you need to have blood pressure friendly foods to hand.
“One of the hardest parts about eating healthily is making sure that you have the right foods to hand when you want to eat,” according to Blood Pressure UK.
“The best way to give yourself a headstart is to make sure your kitchen is stocked with the right ingredients.”
It lists six foods every fridge needs.
Fresh vegetables
It says: “Fresh vegetables (along with fruit) provide a powerful punch of vitamins, antioxidants and minerals, including potassium which can help lower your blood pressure.
“As with fruit, eating a range of vegetables will give you different health benefits.”
Dairy products
These can be a good source of calcium (which keeps bones strong), but they can also be high in saturated fat, and some cheeses can be very high in salt.
The research charity adds: “The best choices are skimmed and semi-skimmed milk, low-fat yoghurt, goats’ milk and goats’ cheese or low-fat cheeses such as soft or cottage cheese.”
Fruit juice and smoothies
A 150ml glass fruit juice counts as one portion, according to the research charity.
It says: “Smoothies can increase your intake of fruit even further since they contain the whole of the fruit.
“Avoid ‘juice drinks’ as these may only contain a small amount of fruit and may be high in added sugar.”
Fresh or cooked meats
Choosing oily fish (such as salmon, tuna or mackerel), chicken and lean meats (those with all the fat cut off) will make sure that your body is not taking in too much saturated fat.
The research charity adds: “The healthy oils in fish will also help to make sure that there is a good balance of cholesterol in your blood. Avoid fatty cuts of meat, or prepared foods like scotch eggs or sausages, as these can be high in salt and saturated fat.”
Eggs
Eggs can be a useful source of protein and minerals when eaten in moderation.
Salad dressings
Salads should be an important part of your diet, but if you are buying salad dressings, always check the label to see how much salt, sugar and fat they contain. (If they contain too much salt, they may undo all the blood pressure lowering work of the salad.)
“Better still, you can make your own simple salad dressings with olive oil and vinegar or lemon juice,” the research charity adds.
So what is considered a normal blood pressure reading? NHS Choices advises that blood pressure is recorded with two numbers. The systolic pressure (the higher number) is the force at which your heart pumps blood around your body.