DH has high blood pressure...

[BaconAndAvocado]

....and has just been told he should start taking statins. Ultimately, he doesn’t want to be on any medication so wants to lose weigh to bring his BP down.
What sort of foods should he be concentrating on?

If his doctor thought he should just diet he would have been told that. High blood pressure is a major cause of heart attacks and strokes. He should take the statins (and BP tablets presumably?) and if he needs to diet do that as well.

'Just' statins? Not hypertensive medications like Amlodipine or Losartan?

Losing weight is great, obviously - a healthy diet with less sugar and more plants would be a good start.

Statins are for high cholesterol and if he has high BP, he should be taking other meds for this separately. Losing weight is good and should help with the BP, but it doesn't always help with cholesterol which can be genetic. He needs to take the meds AND lose weight, then check his numbers again in several months to a year.

This is what he aims to do.
He’s just told me it won’t be statins ( I got that wrong) as his cholesterol is fine. He got the results from the BP monitor yesterday. Average is 137/99.
He’ll find out exactly what he needs to take when he meets with the GP.

I'm on low dose beta blockers for blood pressure because I found they helped in controlling chronic headaches that higher than normal BP was giving me. I'm on statins too but that's for high cholesterol and I've made a lot of changes. My level is now not too bad

Depending on his age and other factors he may be offered statins as well as blood pressure drugs. They do a risk score called Qrisk and offer statins in many cases even if cholesterol is not particularly raised.

Good for your DH. Doctors and patients alike are too quick to resort to medication without even attempting simple lifestyle changes.

Probably because a lot of patients won't instigate those changes. They just want the quick fix of a pill rather than change their diet and take more exercise.

He should do regular exercise, cut down on salt, caffeine and alcohol, quit smoking if he smokes, and generally eat healthily.

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

and/or

Eat when you are hungry
Eat what your body asks for
Enjoy every mouthful
Stop when you are full

Exercise will help with blood pressure too of course.

But for some people higher BP just comes with age whatever you do, in which case medication is better than a stroke.

Your DH should take the medication and then work on reducing his weight/addressing lifestyle factors. He may be able to come off the meds or reduce the dose.

my DH did that and he’s on a low maintenance dose.

it would be foolhardy to not take the medication. His BP needs to be under control.

My dh brought his high blood pressure down by buying a dog and walking it twice a day for 40 minutes every single day.

Why are people so spooked about taking meds for hypertension ?
Certainly increase your daily activity, improve your diet, stop smoking, lose weight but often they can't be avoided and they do their job with relatively few side effects. Hypertension is a silent killer, you don't actually feel ill most of the time (unless hypertensive crisis).
Statins are actually good in tat they also stabilise the inside of blood vessels and can stop bits of plaque breaking off.

@Kafkascat I'm on them but I don't think it's quite accurate to say they have no side effects- they give me pins and needles , weak leg muscles and I suddenly have slightly raised liver enzymes.

I guess so but I did say 'relatively' few side effects. Didn't know certain
anti-hypertensives could cause raised LFTs, renal ones yes hence yearly U/Es. I suppose the advantage is that there are plenty to chose from ?

High blood pressure is a silent killer.

You are at much higher risk of stroke, kidney damage, heart attacks and dementia. The problem is you feel fine until you don't and then you realise how compensated your body has become.

Tell him to take the meds, that blood pressure needs to come down ASAP. Diet and exercise will take time and needs to be sustained long term. Definitely look at lifestyle changes- it's very possible that he could come off medications if he makes big changes. Absolutely possible but statistically (unfortunately) most people won't sustain.

I take two types of blood pressure medication for chronic hypertension and a statin which is purely preventative as my cholesterol was okay at 5.2 (average) but it's now 3.4.

Unfortunately not everyone can control blood pressure and cholesterol through diet and exercise alone but it is of course worth making lifestyle changes and having a go. He probably needs to be open minded about it and keep monitoring it.

He’s decided he will take the BP meds whilst aiming to be healthier through diet, less alcohol, more exercise (golf doesn’t really count) and less stress...... not sure how he’ll achieve this one as he’s a worrier.

I had appallingly high blood pressure (999 instructed me to get to hospital high on Boxing Day just gone - my reading was 199/137) but now my readings are normal for healthy people. Granted I still take the meds but they are gradually being reduced and this time next year I should be drug free.

Can I suggest a couple of books?

One is 30 days to natural blood pressure control by a couple of medical doctors.

The other is Fix your High Blood pressure in 90 days or less. This is also by a medical doctor - Dr Joseph Amagada FRCOG, MBSLM. He also runs a Youtube channel, zoom meetings and a forum.

I use both books in tandem. They both say to exercise every single day. About 30 minutes is fine - I use an exercise bike but I don't have high resistance or anything. My GP is fine with it and asks only that I don't go mad with it.

Also, I am on a plant based diet which I know wouldn't suit everyone but it's important to eat the as much natural food as possible - veggies, salads etc - and as little ultra processed food as can be managed.

Reduce salt - this matters hugely - and also saturated fats (use olive oil and as little as possible). For butter try and use Benecol - it's great to help reduce cholesterol.

Sorry for the marathon read but this subject is dear to my heart (literally) because I'm fighting a battle to avoid stroke and heart attack. Your husband should be fighting the same battle.

FlipFlops4Me
thanks for that info. I will look into it.

Golf is excellent exercise! They walk a looooong way!

@BaconAndAvocado Golf is really good- they walk miles!!

They do walk a long way but it’s always cancelled out by copious pints of beer in the clubhouse afterwards.
DH has said he’s going to train for a 10K in June. He needs a concrete goal to work towards and he’s done a couple of 10Ks a few years ago.

I take a mild bp pill every day but don't have any added salt and try to walk as much as possible.
I find that when I go to the doctor, it is because I am worried about something so my bp is raised. Testing at home with my own machine is better for me and I write the results down and hand them in before my annual review.