Nearly half of all U.S. adults have high blood pressure. And 90 percent of us will develop it as we get older, raising our risk of a heart attack or stroke. The good news: Eating well and exercising regularly can lower your pressure. Here’s how...and why it’s worth taking your pressure at home.

If your blood pressure sits at or above 130 systolic (the upper number) or 80 diastolic (the lower number), you have hypertension. (A diagnosis is based on the average of two readings taken on two separate occasions.) Ideally, your pressure should be below 120 over 80.

Of course, that assumes that your blood pressure has been measured properly. There’s a good chance it hasn’t.  At the doctor’s office, for example, measurements may be rushed or your arm may be hanging at your side, which can bump up your readings. What’s more, many people have “white coat hypertension”—that is, their pressure is only elevated at the doctor’s office. Others have the more dangerous “masked hypertension.” Their pressure is normal at the office but elevated elsewhere.

That’s why guidelines recommend that people with elevated blood pressure or with suspected white coat or masked hypertension take their blood pressure at home. 

How to select a blood pressure monitor

• Use an upper-arm cuff. Wrist cuffs and finger monitors aren’t as accurate.
• Buy a validated brand. In a 2020 study, only 16 percent of the top-selling upper-arm monitors on Amazon in the U.S. had been validated for accuracy. To find a reliable monitor, go to validatebp.org.
• Get the right size cuff. In one study, roughly 47 percent of men and 42 percent of women required a different cuff size than a standard adult cuff. And when the wrong cuff size was used, blood pressure readings were off by 4 to 20 points systolic. To find your size, measure the circumference of your arm midway between your shoulder and elbow.
• Check your insurance. Some private insurance and most state Medicaid plans cover some or all of the cost of a monitor. (Medicare typically doesn’t pay, but check your plan to make sure.) 

The guidelines recommend that anyone checking their high blood pressure take it twice in the morning and twice in the evening, with at least one minute between measurements. Once your blood pressure is stable for several months, checking it one to three days a week is likely sufficient.

9 tips to measure blood pressure

How to lower your pressure, according to guidelines

Each section shows average drops in systolic points in people who already have high blood pressure.

Eat a DASH-like diet - 11 points

Load up on fruits and vegetables and cut back on salt, bad fats, and added sugars. Here’s a 2,100-calorie version. (Note: servings are small.) For more details on how to follow this diet, check out our guide.

Limit alcohol - 4 points

If you drink, stop at one drink a day for women or two for men.

Exercise - 4-8 points

Both aerobic exercise and strength training can lower blood pressure. Aim for 90 to 150 minutes each week of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise like:

• Brisk walking (2.5 mph or faster)
• Jogging or running
• Bicycling
• High-intensity interval training
• Water aerobics
• Tennis
• Ballroom dancing
• Active forms of yoga (like vinyasa or power)
• Hiking uphill or with a heavy backpack or stair climbing

AND 90 to 150 minutes each week of strength training:

• Weight lifting
• Resistance band workouts
• Body-weight exercises (lunges, push-ups, crunches, planks, squats, etc.)
• Yoga (like vinyasa or power yoga)
• Pilates
• Stair climbing
• Water aerobics

Lose excess weight - 5 points

Expect about a 1 point drop in pressure for every 2 pounds you lose.

Get more potassium - 4-5 points

Goal: get 3,500 to 5,000 milligrams of potassium a day. You get the most bang for your calorie buck with fruits and vegetables.

Cut salt - 5-6 points

Cut your sodium by 1,000 milligrams, ideally to 1,500 mg a day. Most sodium comes from packaged and restaurant foods that don’t even taste salty.