Taking Charge of High Blood Pressure: Smart Nutrition Tips for Older Adults

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States with hypertension, or high blood pressure, as the leading cause of heart disease. For people living with blood pressure, managing this condition is a major step in reducing your risk of developing heart disease. Diet plays a significant role in blood pressure levels. Managing your blood pressure often starts in an unexpected place: the grocery store. Let’s take a closer look at how nutrition plays a key role.

Grocery Shopping for High Blood Pressure

While grocery shopping, you can also look for labels that say “low sodium” or “reduced sodium.” By law, these statements must be true and follow certain criteria for the claim. If a food item says low sodium, it must be 140 mg or less per serving. If the label says reduced sodium, at least 25% has been removed from the original product.

Understanding The Label Lingo

Some of the biggest high-sodium offenders are processed foods like deli meats, bacon, sausage, and canned vegetables or frozen meals. The supermarket is full of foods labeled reduced sodium or light in sodium. But don't assume that means they're low in sodium. It just means the products have less sodium than do the regular versions.

Here's what common sodium claims in the United States really mean:

• Sodium-free or salt-free. Each serving in this product has less than 5 mg of sodium.
• Very low sodium. Each serving has 35 mg of sodium or less.
• Low sodium. Each serving contains 140 mg of sodium or less.
• Reduced or less sodium. The product contains at least 25% less sodium than does the regular version.
• Lite or light in sodium. The sodium content has been reduced by at least 50% from the regular version. But some foods with these labels may still be high in sodium.
• Unsalted or no salt added. No salt is added during processing of a food that usually contains salt. But some foods with these labels might not be sodium-free. That's because some of the ingredients still may contain sodium.

Another label to look for is the heart-check mark from the American Heart Association. This may be found on heart heathy foods in the grocery store. This shows foods that meet certain requirements for sodium, beneficial nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, protein, or dietary fiber, and are limited in saturated or trans fats. An example of this checkmark can be found on a box of Cheerios because of the fiber content per serving.

When choosing foods to reduce sodium, fresh is best. But that does not mean frozen, boxed, or canned is completely off limits. Frozen vegetables, fruit, and meats are still low in sodium unless they come with a sauce or gravy or as a prepared meal, like a frozen dinner; canned vegetables can still be enjoyed. These can be low sodium or reduced sodium. But if those options are not available, rinsing the vegetables and heating them in plain water will help reduce the sodium.

Using low sodium broths, stocks, and gravies can also reduce the sodium content of a meal. When it comes to snack foods, look for items like “lightly salted” or “unsalted” with nuts, crackers, or chips. You can pair it with fresh fruit or low sodium dip for a well-balanced snack.

Lowering your blood pressure with DASH and Mediterranean Diet

A couple of diets that have been created to help lower sodium intake to improve blood pressure. The first is called the DASH diet (dietary approaches to stop hypertension). This diet not only focuses on reducing sodium but also increasing nutrients that are also heart-protective, like potassium, calcium, magnesium, fiber, and protein. This diet was named the “Best Diet for High Blood Pressure” in 2025 by the US News and World Report. The DASH diet focuses more on whole foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins. It provides guidelines for how often certain foods should be eaten per day or week, such as:

• Four to five servings of fruit per day (1/2 cup per serving)
• Four to five servings of vegetables per day (1/2 cup per serving)
• Six to eight servings of whole grains per day (1/2 cup grains, 1/3 cup rice or pasta, or one slice of bread per serving)
• Two or three servings of low-fat/fat-free dairy per day (1 cup milk or yogurt per serving)
• Six or fewer ounces per day of meat, chicken, or fish
• Two or three servings per day of heart-healthy fats and oils (1 teaspoon per serving)

Another popular diet is the Mediterranean Diet. This is named the best diet of 2025 by the US News and World Report. This diet also focuses on whole foods

• Vegetables (3-4 servings per day)
• Fruits (2-3 servings per day)
• Whole grains (at least three servings per day)
• Fish (2-3 servings per week)
• Poultry and eggs (less than three servings per week)
• Beans, legumes (at least three servings per week)

The Mediterranean diet limits processed or high-fat meats, refined grains, sweets, and dairy. While these diets are similar, there are differences that may sway one to prefer one diet over the next.

Tips on making diet changes stick

Small changes work best when making changes to your overall diet. If you are someone who relies heavily on prepackaged or convenience meals, it may take time to adjust to a lower sodium meal pattern. There are ways to make changes slowly, which will give your taste buds time to adjust to these changes.

1. Hide your saltshaker- or salt at the end of cooking if needed. You may not need as much seasoning as you think.
2. Experiment with seasonings- garlic powder, onion powder, ginger, hot sauce, or vinegar can add a lot of flavor to your dish.
3. Start swapping out for reduced sodium options. If you find a low sodium stock to be bland, you can liven it up with some of those seasonings! You can find low sodium varieties of deli meat, chips, soups, etc.
4. Eat at home more often. You have control over seasonings at home, but you are at the mercy of the one preparing your food at a restaurant.

Once your taste buds adjust to a lower sodium diet, these changes will be much easier to stick to. When going to restaurants, look for meals with less processed foods (think sausage, bacon, ham). Substitute French fries for a vegetable or side salad, choose baked or grilled proteins over fried or battered, and avoid gravies when you can. If you are eating at a friend’s or family member’s house, let them know about your dietary preferences, or focus more on vegetables and have smaller portions of higher sodium foods. If you attend a potluck type of party, bring something like a vegetable tray or a lower sodium recipe so that there will be something that will fit into a low sodium meal.

Regularly monitoring your blood pressure at home and during checkups is the best way to track changes and understand their effects on your health. If needed, discuss additional support with your healthcare provider.

The article provides information designed to complement your personal health management. It does not provide medical advice and not meant to replace professional medical advice. Linking to other websites does not imply any endorsement of the material on such websites.