Lifestyle changes can help you prevent high blood pressure. These changes are especially important for people who have risk factors for high blood pressure that cannot be changed, including family history, race, or age.

Lifestyle changes include:¹²

• Maintaining a normal weight, with a body mass index (BMI) of 18.5 to 24.9.
• Reducing sodium in your diet to about 2.3 g a day, which is about 1 teaspoon of salt.
• Exercising-such as brisk walking-that raises your heart rate for at least 30 minutes a day on most, preferably all, days of the week.
• Limiting alcoholic drinks to 2 drinks a day for men, and 1 drink a day for women.
• Getting 3,500 mg of potassium in your diet every day.
• Following the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan, a diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products, with reduced amounts of saturated and total fats. For more information, see:

Tips for following the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet.