High Blood Pressure

Your blood pressure is literally how much pressure is inside your blood vessels. A number of factors can affect your blood pressure. For many people, one of those factors is the amount of sodium (from salt) in the foods they eat. Sodium comes not only from using table salt on food, but is also found in many types of processed and prepackaged foods. Checking food labels can show how much sodium is in the food you eat.

Blood pressure can be measured by someone using a blood pressure cuff. Some pharmacies and grocery stores also have automatic blood pressure measurement devices available for anyone to use. Blood pressure is measured in units called mm Hg (millimeters of mercury, referring to the mercury in the meter attached to the cuff). Measurements are given as systolic/diastolic—for example, 120/80 mm Hg. If your blood pressure remains high most of the time, you may have the condition known as hypertension.

The chart below shows normal and high blood pressure levels.