My top diet tricks to lower your blood pressure WITHOUT taking pills - from the ... trends now

Anyone who thinks they have no need to worry about high blood pressure should think again — it can affect people of all ages, and millions are unaware they have it.

This is a worry, as the condition is highly treatable, often simply with diet and ­lifestyle changes — but left untreated, the risks are serious.

By dietary changes I don’t just mean ­cutting back on salt. In research I was involved with at King’s College London in 2020, we identified more than 15 nutrients that are related to lower blood pressure.

In fact, diet tweaks can be so helpful that if you’re on blood pressure drugs it’s worth talking to your doctor before making major changes to your diet. Otherwise you could find your blood pressure dropping too low.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is incredibly common. A third of the ­population has it, while some 4.2 million people live with it undiagnosed, according to the Office for National Statistics.

That’s because often there are no ­symptoms until it’s too late, hence it’s known as a ‘silent killer’.

What is dangerous is that not only does it put added strain on the heart but, over time, high blood pressure — defined as ­having persistent readings of 140/90 mmHg or more — can damage blood vessel walls, making the build-up of plaque more likely, which can narrow them.

This can restrict blood flow to the heart and other organs such as the brain. Hypertension is responsible for half of the heart attacks and strokes in the UK.

But what do your numbers actually mean? 

The first number, your systolic blood ­pressure, is a measure of the force in your blood vessels when your body pumps blood out of the heart. The second number, your diastolic blood pressure, measures the ­pressure when your heart is resting between beats.

Both are important, but elevated systolic blood pressure brings a greater risk of heart problems. Medication such as ACE ­inhibitors can lower high blood pressure by relaxing muscles in blood vessel walls.

But taking up exercise and managing stress, as well as ­altering what you eat, can help bring down blood pressure within weeks — so much so that some patients don’t then need medication.

It’s worth trying, as even small reductions can improve your risk of cardiovascular disease. A review published in The Lancet in 2021 showed this. Here are the diet changes that can add up to make a big difference.

The latest thinking is that when it comes to blood pressure ­control, the nutrient potassium matters just as much as your sodium (a major component of salt, which draws fluid into the bloodstream, pushing up blood pressure).

Potassium helps in two ways: by removing sodium from your blood, which reduces the amount of fluid; and by relaxing your blood vessels so they can widen, easing the pressure.

A 2013 review of studies in the BMJ found that eating a diet high in potassium-rich foods for at least four weeks can lower systolic blood pressure by 3.5mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by nearly 2mmHg, linked to a 24 per cent lower risk of stroke.

Potassium is found in a range of foods, especially fruit, such as bananas, and vegetables — avocado, Swiss chard and sweet potatoes are rich sources. So try to make up half your plate from ­veggies (or fruit), and the chances are you’ll get plenty of potassium.

Not only are beans — chickpeas in particular — high in potassium, but they’re also a fantastic source of fibre, the plant roughage that sweeps your gut of built-up waste so you find it easier to ‘go’.

You might not think that’s ­relevant to blood pressure, but a 2023 study published in Nature Hypertension Research highlighted a link between ­constipation and blood pressure spikes.

People who are constipated often strain to ‘go’, and this can temporarily raise your blood ­pressure. When you hold your breath and push,

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