Along with drugs, weight loss for the overweight, exercise, and salt restriction are among the most important ways to treat high blood pressure. Because there is usually no cure for most high blood pressure, there's no such thing as a quick treatment that solves the problem once and for all. For each person, it usually takes a few weeks or months for the doctor to work out the best way to control blood pressure. Treatment may change as the years go by, but treatment of one kind or another to control high blood pressure usually lasts for a lifetime, and blood pressure must be checked regularly. How much we weigh and the amount of sodium we eat may have a lot to do with high blood pressure.
Lower weight means lower blood pressure for most people.
For some people eating less salt and less high sodium foods means lower blood pressure. Health professionals can help patients make changes in food habits when they are prescribed to help control high blood pressure. Better food habits usually help medicine work better. Sometimes a diet change is the only treatment needed to control high blood pressure. For some, losing weight controls high blood pressure so well that no medicine is needed, especially if blood pressure is not too high.