How to lower your blood pressure

Blood pressure is one of those things that we just take for granted. We know it's there, but we don't pay any attention to it. Usually we can't even feel if our blood pressure is too low or too high, and don't notice anything is wrong until our doctor gives us a warning. According to the National Institutes of Health, 1 in 3 adults has high blood pressure - do you want to be one of those folks?

High blood pressure can lead to kidney failure, heart disease, and stroke, so it makes sense to keep it within healthy levels. 120/80 is the number to shoot for. Less is good, higher means you're at risk.

There are five food-related steps you can take to lower blood pressure:

• Lose weight. Less body fat means your heart doesn't have to work as hard to pump blood.
• Follow the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet guidelines:

1. Aim for at least four servings of vegetables each day - and up to 9 servings is preferred. That means eating veggies, and often two different types of veggies, with each meal. Choose fresh veggies or frozen veggies without sauce or seasonings to keep added salt low.

2. Use three servings (each serving is a cup) of non-fat milk or yogurt each day. The potassium in dairy products helps lower blood pressure.

3. Keep salt intake to a minimum. Most of the salt we get comes from processed foods, such as canned soup, vegetable juice, boxed food mixes, and fast foods.