What is blood pressure?Blood pressure describes the pressure in the main blood vessel in your arm, which stems fromthe heart.

How is it measured?It is measured both when the heart is actuallybeating (systolic pressure – the first measurement)and between beats (the resting rate, or diastolicpressure – the second measurement). It is given astwo figures, eg 120/80.

A device called asphygmomanometer isused. An inflatable cuff iswrapped around your upperarm. When inflated the cuffstops the blood flow in themain blood vessel in yourarm. The nurse thenwatches a gauge in thesphygmomanometer and listens through a

Top tips fortreating highblood pressure:• Lose weight if

necessary. A low-fatveggie diet is asuccessful aid to weight loss. Try The V-Plan Diet –order fromwww.vvf.org.uk/shopor by calling 0117 970 5190;

• Reduce salt in your diet. Adults should notexceed 6g of salt per day. Use less in cooking,avoid adding it at the table, avoid salty snacks,such as crisps, and canned foods with addedsalt. Try using fresh herbs and spices to flavouryour food instead. It won’t be long before yourtaste buds adapt;

• Choose more vegetarian foods – they protectand strengthen your heart and blood vessels:• Fruits – fresh or frozen, eg bananas,

oranges, apples, pears, grapefruit, mango,strawberries and blueberries;

• Vegetables – fresh or frozen, eg broccoli,kale, spinach, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes,squash and corn;

• Wholegrains – eg brown rice, wholewheatbread or pasta, unsweetened cereal, millet,

peas, chickpeas,soya milk, texturedvegetable proteinand tofu;

• Avoid meat anddairy – bothcontainsaturatedanimal fat andcholesterol;

• Eat ‘good’ fats –essential omega-3from flaxseed, hempseed and theiroils, walnuts and dark green leafyvegetables help protect your blood vessels;

• Exercise regularly – set yourself a daily target of10,000 steps. The VVF pedometer can help youon your way to health and fitness. Order fromwww.vvf.org.uk/shop or call 0117 970 5190;

• Stop smoking – after just one year you’ll havehalved your risk of heart disease;

• Reduce stress as muchas possible – practicehealthy copingtechniques, such asmuscle relaxation anddeep breathing. Gettingplenty of sleep can help, too;

• Reduce your alcoholconsumption to no morethan one or two drinksper day.

DO YOUKNOW YOURNUMBERS?

Vegetarian & Vegan Foundation, Top Suite, 8 York Court, Wilder Street, Bristol BS2 8QHT 0117 970 5190 E info@vvf.org.uk W www.vvf.org.uk

barley, buckwheatand quinoa;

• Pulses (peas, alltypes of beans andlentils) – eg noadded salt kidneybeans, pinto beans,lentils, black-eyed

BLOoDPREsSURE

©B

ran

d X

Pic

ture

s/A

lam

y

©SE

LF/A

lam

y

stethoscope as the air in the cuff is released. Whenthe first sound of the heartbeat is heard, the systolicpressure is recorded. When the sound disappears,the diastolic pressure is recorded. Sometimes acomputerised blood pressure machine is used totake the readings automatically.

Why is bloodpressure important?Blood pressure is anindicator of general health.A rise in blood pressuremeans your heart isoverworking. This can puta strain on your circulatory

system. On the other hand a fall can affect yourorgans (eg kidneys). So it is important your bloodpressure is kept within the normal limits.

What is a healthy blood pressure?A healthy blood pressure is in the range 90/50 to120/80. Blood pressure varies throughout the day,and your levels of physical exertion and stresscause it to change, too. So blood pressure shouldbe checked under resting conditions.

Single measurements aren’t particularly meaningful.A diagnosis of high blood pressure (hypertension)isn’t normally made unless a high reading ismeasured on three separate occasions – usuallyover three months.

What are the dangers of high blood pressure?High blood pressure increases your risk ofdangerous health problems, such as heart attacksand strokes – the higher the pressure the greater

the risk. Around one in three men and women in theUK have high blood pressure.

How can I lower my blood pressure?Blood pressure rises as we get older but somepeople defy this seemingly inevitable development.Regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, alow-fat (especially saturated animal fat) and low-saltdiet, quitting smoking and reducing the amount ofalcohol consumed will all have an effect.

Even allowing for all that,the blood pressure ofvegetarians doesn’tincrease in the same wayas meat eaters – in fact itgoes up little with age. It’snot surprising, then, that avegetarian diet can beused to treat high bloodpressure. It is the totality ofthe vegetarian diet thatworks not any specificingredient.

Vegetarians’ lower risk of high blood pressure isconsiderable and can be anywhere between 33-50

per cent. There is an inescapable link with meatand a Californian study as long ago as 1926showed this. The vegetarians’ blood pressurewas raised by 10 per cent simply by feedingthem meat – and it happened in only two weeks.

Other studies have produced similar results and a whole range of studies have shown vegetarians to have considerably lower bloodpressure than meat eaters. It is also the finding ofthe World Health Organisation and AmericanDietetic Association.

Many studies have found that changing to a low-fat vegetarian diet can significantly lower bloodpressure. The switch can also reduce thedistressing symptoms associated withhypertension, accordingto a Swedish study.At the end of thetrial period mostpatients had beenable to give uptheir medication,50 per cent felt‘much better’, 15per cent felt‘better’ and 30per cent felt‘completelyrecovered’.

Classification Systolic blood Diastolic bloodpressure pressure

Normal Less than 120 and less than 80Pre- 120-139 or 80-89hypertensionStage 1 140-159 or 90-99hypertensionStage 2 More than 160 or more than 100hypertension