Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)

Full-Body Wellness & Prevention Care
Written By Jennifer Tang

Overview

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, occurs when the pressure of blood against the walls of the arteries remains higher than is healthy over time. Persistent high blood pressure can damage blood vessels and place additional strain on the heart, increasing the long-term risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and other complications.¹˒²

At Tangible Health, we take an individualized approach to hypertension by looking at blood pressure patterns alongside nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress, medications, kidney and metabolic health, family history, and other cardiovascular risk factors. Care focuses on sustainable lifestyle changes while supporting appropriate medical monitoring and medication when needed.

What Is Hypertension?

Blood pressure measures the force of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries and is recorded using two numbers:

  • Systolic blood pressure, the top number, measures pressure when the heart contracts.

  • Diastolic blood pressure, the bottom number, measures pressure when the heart relaxes between beats.¹˒²

In adults, hypertension is defined as blood pressure of 130/80 mm Hg or higher when measured correctly using a validated device under appropriate conditions.³ A single high reading does not necessarily mean you have hypertension because blood pressure naturally changes throughout the day and can be affected by activity, stress, caffeine, pain, medications, and the way the measurement is taken.

Measurements taken outside the clinic can help confirm whether blood pressure is consistently elevated. This can also identify:

  • White-coat hypertension, where blood pressure is higher in a medical setting but lower outside the clinic

  • Masked hypertension, where clinic readings appear normal, but blood pressure is elevated at home or during daily life³

The higher blood pressure remains over time, the greater the potential strain on the cardiovascular system.

Signs & Detection of Hypertension

Most people with hypertension have no noticeable symptoms, even when blood pressure has been elevated for years. This is why regular blood pressure measurement is much more reliable than waiting for symptoms to appear.¹˒² When blood pressure becomes very high, or complications develop, symptoms may include:

  • Headache

  • Dizziness

  • Blurred or changing vision

  • Shortness of breath

  • Chest discomfort

These symptoms are not specific to hypertension and should not be used to determine whether your blood pressure is high. Accurate measurement matters. Blood pressure should be measured with an appropriately sized cuff and a validated device after sitting quietly, with the back supported, feet on the floor, and the arm supported at heart level. Multiple readings provide a more reliable picture than a single measurement.³˒⁴

Causes & Contributing Factors

Hypertension often develops through a combination of genetic, age-related, environmental, metabolic, and lifestyle factors.

Genetics & Age
Blood pressure tends to increase with age, and having close relatives with hypertension can increase your likelihood of developing it. These factors cannot be changed, but they help determine how closely blood pressure should be monitored.¹˒²

Nutrition & Sodium
Higher sodium intake can raise blood pressure in susceptible individuals. A large proportion of dietary sodium comes from packaged, restaurant, and highly processed foods rather than salt added at the table. Increasing foods naturally rich in potassium may also support healthy blood pressure when kidney function and medications make additional potassium safe.⁵˒⁶

Physical Activity & Body Weight
Regular physical activity can lower blood pressure and improve cardiovascular health. For people with overweight or obesity, sustainable weight loss may also improve blood pressure, although hypertension can occur at any body size.⁵

Alcohol & Smoking
Higher alcohol intake can contribute to elevated blood pressure. Smoking may have a smaller direct effect on resting blood pressure, but it substantially increases overall cardiovascular risk and remains an important factor to address.⁵

Sleep & Stress
Poor sleep and conditions such as obstructive sleep apnea can contribute to difficult-to-control blood pressure in some people. Stress can temporarily raise blood pressure and may contribute to ongoing elevation when it influences sleep, activity, alcohol use, eating patterns, or other health behaviours.⁵˒⁷

Medications & Other Health Conditions
Kidney disease, endocrine conditions such as primary aldosteronism, and some medications or substances can cause or worsen hypertension. NSAIDs, corticosteroids, some decongestants, certain hormonal medications, stimulants, excessive alcohol, and even concentrated licorice products can affect blood pressure in some people.⁷˒⁸

Our Approach to Hypertension

At Tangible Health, we focus on understanding your blood pressure pattern and overall cardiovascular risk, rather than treating one reading in isolation.

Your Blood Pressure & Cardiovascular Health
We review clinic and home blood pressure readings alongside cholesterol, blood sugar, kidney health, medications, family history, smoking, and other factors that influence cardiovascular risk.

Home monitoring can be particularly useful for understanding your usual blood pressure and identifying white-coat or masked hypertension.

Your Nutrition & Lifestyle
We look at dietary patterns, sodium intake, potassium-rich foods when appropriate, physical activity, sleep, stress, alcohol, smoking, and sustainable weight management when relevant. Eating patterns such as DASH-style or Mediterranean-style diets can support blood pressure and overall cardiovascular health without requiring an overly restrictive “hypertension diet.”⁵˒⁶

Your Goals
Your priorities may include improving home blood pressure readings, reducing cardiovascular risk, becoming more active, making nutrition changes that feel sustainable, understanding how stress or sleep affects your readings, or supporting blood pressure control alongside medication. Your care plan is developed around your blood pressure pattern, health history, treatment plan, and goals.

Treatments That May Be Included

Your individualized hypertension care plan may include:

  • Clinical Nutrition to support a heart-healthy eating pattern, reduce excess sodium, increase fibre and nutrient-rich foods, and optimize dietary potassium when appropriate

  • Lifestyle Medicine to support regular physical activity, sleep, alcohol reduction, smoking cessation when relevant, and sustainable weight management

  • Naturopathic Counselling to support behaviour change, stress management, motivation, and sustainable cardiovascular-health routines

  • Nutraceuticals & Supplements when there is a specific nutritional or clinical indication and the product is compatible with your medications and kidney function

  • Medication & Supplement Review to identify medications, supplements, or substances that may raise blood pressure or interact with treatment

  • Collaborative Care with your family doctor, pharmacist, cardiologist, nephrologist, or other healthcare professionals when appropriate

Lifestyle strategies are an important part of hypertension management, but medication may also be needed depending on blood pressure levels and overall cardiovascular risk. Supplements should not replace prescribed blood-pressure medication when treatment is indicated.³˒⁵

What to Expect

Initial Assessment
We begin with a detailed review of your blood pressure history, home and clinic readings, family history, cardiovascular risk factors, medications and supplements, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress, alcohol, smoking, and relevant medical conditions.

Blood Pressure & Cardiovascular Assessment
Accurate blood pressure measurement is essential. When hypertension is suspected, repeated measurements and home or ambulatory monitoring can help confirm whether blood pressure is consistently elevated.³ Depending on your history, assessment may also include blood sugar, cholesterol, kidney function, electrolytes, urine testing, and other investigations used to evaluate cardiovascular risk or identify possible contributors to hypertension.⁸

Personalized Plan
Your care plan is developed around your blood pressure readings, cardiovascular risk, medications, nutrition, activity, sleep, medical history, and goals. Lifestyle recommendations are coordinated with any existing blood pressure treatment.

Ongoing Support
Follow-up allows us to review your home readings, lifestyle changes, medication response or side effects, and other cardiovascular risk factors. If blood pressure remains difficult to control despite appropriate treatment, further assessment for secondary causes or specialist referral may be appropriate.⁵˒⁷

When to Seek Support for Hypertension

Consider speaking with a healthcare provider if you:

  • Consistently record blood pressure around 130/80 mm Hg or higher

  • Have been diagnosed with hypertension

  • Have diabetes, kidney disease, high cholesterol, or other cardiovascular risk factors

  • Have a strong family history of hypertension, heart disease, or stroke

  • Notice that your home and clinic readings are very different

  • Are experiencing side effects from blood pressure medication

  • Have blood pressure that remains above target despite treatment³˒⁴

If you obtain one unusually high reading, rest quietly and repeat the measurement using proper technique. One isolated measurement does not establish a diagnosis.

Seek emergency medical care if very high blood pressure occurs with symptoms such as:

  • Chest pain or pressure

  • Severe shortness of breath

  • Sudden weakness, numbness, or difficulty speaking

  • New confusion

  • Loss of consciousness

  • Severe or sudden vision changes

  • Severe headache with neurological symptoms

Seek prompt medical care if blood pressure is extremely elevated, such as around 180/120 mm Hg or higher, particularly if it remains high repeatedly.⁹ Very high blood pressure accompanied by acute heart, brain, kidney, or vascular symptoms can represent a hypertensive emergency and requires immediate assessment.⁹˒¹⁰

Book An Appointment

Frequently Asked Questions

  • In adults, blood pressure that is consistently 130/80 mm Hg or higher is considered hypertension when measured correctly with a validated device. A diagnosis should not normally be based on one isolated reading.³

  • Yes. Most people with hypertension have no noticeable symptoms, which is why regular measurement is important.¹˒²

  • This may be white-coat hypertension, where blood pressure rises in a clinical setting but is lower during everyday life. The opposite pattern, normal clinic readings but elevated readings outside the clinic, is called masked hypertension. Home or ambulatory monitoring can help identify both.³

  • Use a validated upper-arm monitor with the correct cuff size. Sit quietly before measuring, keep your back supported and feet flat on the floor, support your arm at heart level, and take multiple readings. When evaluating possible hypertension, measurements are often collected twice daily over approximately one week.³˒⁴

  • Yes. Reducing excess sodium, eating more vegetables, fruit, legumes, whole grains, and other minimally processed foods, and following a DASH-style eating pattern can help reduce blood pressure. Dietary potassium may also be helpful when kidney function and medications make it safe.⁵˒⁶

  • Stress can temporarily increase blood pressure and may contribute indirectly through sleep, diet, activity, alcohol use, and other behaviours. It is one possible contributor, but persistent hypertension should not automatically be attributed to stress without assessing other risk factors and medical causes.

  • Lifestyle changes can meaningfully lower blood pressure, and some people with lower-risk hypertension may initially manage their condition through lifestyle care. Medication is still recommended when blood pressure or cardiovascular risk reaches certain thresholds, and many people require both approaches.³˒⁵

  • Not necessarily in every situation, but hypertension often requires long-term management. Medication needs can change as blood pressure, health conditions, weight, lifestyle, and age change. Any reduction or discontinuation should be supervised by the prescribing healthcare provider.

  • Naturopathic care can support nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress management, smoking cessation, alcohol reduction, and other cardiovascular risk factors while working alongside home monitoring and prescribed blood pressure medication when needed.

 

Related Care

Hypertension may overlap with several areas of health. You may also benefit from:

Jennifer Tang
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