High blood pressure is often called the silent killer because even extremely high levels of blood pressure often have no symptoms in many people.

Having high blood pressure is like running a machine at too high a pressure: you risk wearing out the pump, the heart, or blowing a hole in one of the pipes, the blood vessels, which can lead to a stroke.

High blood pressure causes a wide range of complications beyond increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. Higher rates of dementia are seen and damage to the kidneys can occur over time as well.

Heart failure is more common, and can occur either after a heart attack damages the heart muscle and leaves it unable to pump, or just as an aftereffect of the heart wearing out from trying to pump against an increased pressure load.

Several key nutrients can help to prevent high blood pressure, but some you need more of and some you need less. The main nutrient to reduce is sodium. A main beneficial nutrient is potassium.

If your kidney function is normal, it’s safe to increase the potassium in your diet, and the best way to do so is to eat more fruits and vegetables. Calcium and magnesium are also helpful in reducing high blood pressure.

I prefer to get calcium from dietary sources like dairy or fortified almond milk. Spinach and other dark green leafy vegetables as well as almonds and black beans are good sources of magnesium.

Another compound naturally found in the body that is helpful for cardiovascular health is Coenzyme Q10. Sardines, mackeral, broccoli and cauliflower are all good CoQ10 sources.