An alarming number of Americans actually have high blood pressure, over 50 million, and the scariest part is around 30% do not know they even have it. It is sometimes called "the silent killer," due to the fact that it usually does not give any early warning signs. Hypertension, another word for it, is one of the major risk factors for coronary heart disease and stroke. Also all stages of hypertension are associated with an increased risk of nonfatal and fatal cerebrovascular disease and renal disease. Whether your blood pressure is high, low, or normal depends mainly on several factors: the output from your heart, the resistance to blood flow by your blood vessels, the volume of your blood, and blood distribution to the various organs.

No one should be foolish to think they have never experienced high blood pressure, because everyone experiences hourly and even moment by moment changes. Frustration, anger, strong emotions, and even consuming too much salty food during the day are prime examples of reasons why your blood pressure will temporarily rise. Though these elevations occur everyday it is usually not enough to cause a disease or abnormality. People with hypertension or even people trying to prevent hypertension should try to change their lifestyle and watch what they eat first. If changes in your lifestyle and diet do not succeed, the next step involves medication.

The following list of foods have been proven to lower and prevent high blood pressure:

1. Tomatoes
2. Potatoes
3. Carrots
4. Broccoli
5. Collard Greens
6. Green Beans
7. Artichokes
8. Spinach
9. Whole Wheat Bread
10. Muffin
11. Grits
12. Bananas
13. Oranges
14. Raisins
15. Orange Juice
16. Melons
17. Mangoes
18. Peaches
19. Pineapples
20. Craisins
21. Strawberries
22. Fat-Free or Low Fat Milk
23. Fat-Free or Low Fat Yogurt
24. Lean Meat, Fish, Poultry: Broil, Roast, or Boil, Do Not Fry
25. Almonds

The easiest way to maintain a diet that will help with high blood pressure control is to prepare meals yourself from fresh products rather than eat prepackaged food. Almost all precooked meals are high in sodium, saturated fat and cholesterol, while low in other important nutrients. Home cooking takes more time of course, but there are plenty of healthy and incredibly tasty recopies that take only 15-20 minutes to cook.

A good way to cut down on salt is to stay away from packaged condiments. Would you believe that just one serving of ordinary tomato sauce usually contains about 250 mg of sodium? That will be additional 250 mg, to a meal that already contains salt. The same can be said about most salad dressings. Using a spoon of olive oil instead of bottled salad dressing on your salad will make a great difference.