Everyone – regardless of race, age, sex, or heredity – can help lower their chances of developing high blood pressure. Here’s how:

1. Maintain a healthy weight, lose weight if you are overweight,
2. Be more physically active,
3. Choose foods lower in salt and sodium, and
4. If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation.

These rules are also recommended for treating high blood pressure, although medicine is often added as part of the treatment. It is far better to keep your blood pressure from getting high in the first place.

Another important measure for you health is to not smoke: While cigarette smoking is not directly related to high blood pressure, it increases you risk of heart attack and stroke.

Let’s look more closely at the four rules to prevent high blood pressure and for keeping a healthy heart:

1) Maintain a healthy weight, lose weight if you are overweight

As your body weight increases, your blood pressure rises. In fact, being overweight can make you two to six times more likely to develop high blood pressure than if you are at your desirable weight. Keeping your weight in the desirable range is not only important to prevent high blood pressure but also for your overall health and well being

It’s not just how much you weigh that’s important: It also matters where your body stores extra fat. Your shape is inherited from your parents just like the color of your eyes or hair. Some people tend to gain weight around their belly; others, around the hips and thighs. "Apple-shaped" people who have a potbelly (that is, extra fat at the waist) appear to have higher health risks than "pear-shaped" people with heavy hips and thighs.

No matter where the extra weight is, you can reduce your risk of high blood pressure by losing weight. Even small amounts of weight loss can make a big difference in helping to prevent high blood pressure. Losing weight, if you are overweight and already have high blood pressure, can also help lower your pressure.

To lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories than you burn. But don’t go on a crash diet to see how quickly you can lose those pounds. The healthiest and longest-lasting weight loss happens when you do it slowly, losing ½ to 1 pound a week. By cutting back by 500 calories a day by eating less and being more physically active you can lose about 1 pound (which equals 3,500 calories) in a week.

Losing weight and keeping it off involves a new way of eating and increasing physical activity for life. Here’s how to eat and get on your way to a lower weight:

· Choose foods low in calories and fat. Naturally, choosing low-calorie foods cuts calories. But did you know that choosing foods low in fat also cuts calories? Fat is concentrated source of calories, so eating fewer fatty foods will reduce calorie intake. Some examples of fatty foods to cut down on are: butter, margarine, regular salad dressings, fatty meats, skin of poultry, whole-milk dairy foods like cheese, fried foods, and many cookies, cakes, pastries and snacks. See the box to the left for low fat foods that you can enjoy instead.

· Choose foods high in starch and fiber. Foods high in starch and fiber, like those shown in the circle, are excellent substitutes for foods high in fat. They are lower in calories than foods high in fat. These foods are also good sources of vitamins and minerals.

· Limit serving sizes. To lose weight, it’s not just the type of foods you eat that’s important, but also the amount. To take in fewer calories, you need to limit your portion sizes. Try especially to take smaller helpings of high calorie foods like high fat meats and cheeses. And try not to go back for seconds.

Here’s a good tip to help you control or change your eating habits: Keep track of what you eat, when you eat, and why, by writing it down. Note whether you snack on high fat foods in front of the television, or if you skip breakfast and then eat a large lunch. Once you see your habits, you can set goals for yourself: Cut back on TV snacks and, when you do snack, have fresh fruit, unsalted air-popped popcorn, or unsalted pretzels. If there’s no time for breakfast at home, take a low fat muffin, bagel (skip the cream cheese), or cereal with you to eat at work. Changing your behavior will help you change your weight for the better.

· Increase physical activity. There’s more to weight loss than just eating less. Another important ingredient is increasing physical activity, which burn calories. Cutting down on fat and calories combined with regular physical activity can help you lose more weight and keep it off longer than either way by itself. Check the box above to see how many calories you can burn during different activities.