You have made the right decision to educate yourself on high blood pressure. Chances are, you are most likely reading this because you suffer from hypertension (high blood pressure), a loved one suffers from this devastating disease or high blood pressure runs in your family history. I encourage you to keep reading…

The Frightening Facts

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), about 65 million Americans over the age of 20 have high blood pressure. That's about one in three adults in the United States. Only about 63 percent of those with high blood pressure are even aware that they have it.

The reason so many people don't know they have high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is that there aren't really any clear symptoms of hypertension. In fact, according to the AHA, the cause of 90 to 95 percent of the cases of high blood pressure in America isn't known.

So why should a person worry if he or she has high blood pressure? Hypertension raises your risk for other health problems including heart attacks and strokes. In 2003, more than 52,000 Americans died because of complications related to high blood pressure. The rate of death from high blood pressure increased nearly 30 percent between 1993 and 2004.

Lower Your Risk Today… Top 10 Tips to Lower Your Blood Pressure!

1. Lower your salt intake now. Try to lower your intake to less than 2,400 milligrams per day. If possible, go as low as 1,500 milligrams per day!

2. Get enough potassium. Eat foods rich in potassium including bananas, vegetable juice, potatoes, citrus fruits and fish.

3. Take those Calcium Pills and eat that low-fat dairy. This mineral is proven to help the cause.

4. Take a multivitamin that includes magnesium, zinc, copper and selenium, as well as all the standard vitamins and minerals.

5. Pack in the fiber! Any fiber is going to be helpful for clearing out the excess gunk in your body and keeping the blood pressure normal. Switch to whole grain foods whenever possible.

6. Exercise! Exercise! Exercise! After three weeks, you will begin to enjoy it! At least half an hour for four to five times a week will do wonders for your blood pressure. Your significant other will also thank you!

7. Seek out ways to relieve stress and participate in things that relax you.

8. If you smoke quit! Find an accountability partner who will encourage and ask you ‘how are you doing?'

9. Always choose water and tea over soft drinks and alcohol.

10. Breathe! Take a minute out of your day and practice deep and slow breaths. You would be surprised how much this works!

Finally, don't stop here! This is just the tip of the iceberg of getting your life back to normal.