Eat Well and Lower Blood Pressure

To some the single most important thing to help lower high blood pressure is to look closely at the food they eat. The dark cold miserable weather tends to make people reach for "comfort foods"

As Christmas approaches we once again warn to go easy on the white stuff and check food labels carefully to be certain about the amount of salt in your diet as the amount of salt in food has a strong effect on health - especially blood pressure.

So obvious things to cut are crisps and nuts with drinks, "party food" which again is highly salted to accompany drinks - sausage rolls, mini quiche tartlets, the ever popular bite sized pasty and cheese on a stick. If you want to do yourself a favour munch celery sticks, fresh fruit and unsalted nuts.

Common presents at Christmas are food hampers which are packed with unusual foods and snacks that tend to be long shelf life items.

If you want to give a hamper as a present to someone who has high blood pressure you can save money and show you care by assembling your own low salt food hamper. And why not include the latest Omron M10 blood pressure monitor with a note explaining that the recipient can monitor the change in BP whislt sticking to a low salt diet.