Practice Consideration
Expected Blood Pressure Outcomes for Nutrition Interventions
Blood pressure is affected by many dietary and lifestyle factors. The impact of each factor alone is modest, but their combined effect can be significant. The following lifestyle-management interventions will, on average, produce these results:(1)
1. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Reference card from the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 7). National Institutes of Health; 2003. Accessed 20 July 2017. Available at: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/guidelines/phycard.pdf.
- Losing weight if overweight (5 to 20 mmHg/10 kg lost until reaching normal weight)
- DASH dietary pattern (8 to 14 mmHg)
- Reducing dietary sodium to 2.4 mg (105 mmol) sodium per day (2 to 8 mmHg)
- Increasing aerobic activity to 30 minutes per day on most days (4 to 9 mmHg)
- Reducing alcohol to national guidelines (2 to 4 mmHg)
1. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Reference card from the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 7). National Institutes of Health; 2003. Accessed 20 July 2017. Available at: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/guidelines/phycard.pdf.
Updated September 14, 2017