1. Walk Every Day

Every morning, take a brisk 15-minute walk. Amazingly, you don't need a lot of exercise to make a difference in your blood pressure. When Japanese researchers asked 168 inactive volunteers with high blood pressure to exercise at a health club for different amounts of time each week for eight weeks, blood pressure dropped almost as much in those who exercised 30-90 minutes a week as in those who exercised more than 90 minutes a week.

2. Take Your Pills

Write "take medication" on your calendar every day. Twenty-five percent of the time, when your blood pressure hasn't dropped after you've started medication, the reason is that you forgot to take your pills.

3. Monitor Your Blood Pressure

Buy a home blood pressure kit. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that home blood pressure testing provides a better overall picture of blood pressure than measurement in a doctor's office. In the study, office measurement failed to identify 13 percent of patients who had high blood pressure only in the office but not at home (called "white-coat hypertension"). It also failed to identify 9 percent of people who had high blood pressure at home but not in the doctor's office. Another study, this one presented at the 2004 European Society of Hypertension meeting, found that people who monitored their blood pressure at home had lower overall blood pressure than those who only had their pressure taken at the doctor's office. A good home blood pressure kit costs under $100, a small price to pay for peace of mind.

4. Eat More Fibre

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons flaxseed over your yogurt in the morning and mix 2 tablespoons into your ice cream, spaghetti sauce, or other food later in the day. One small study found that adding 4 tablespoons of the crunchy stuff significantly lowered systolic blood pressure (a strong predictor of heart disease) in postmenopausal women with a history of heart disease. Flaxseed is rich in many nutrients and in fibre. Its effects on blood pressure are likely due to its high content of omega-3 fatty acids.

5. Lay Off the Caffeine

Substitute tea for your morning (and afternoon and evening) coffee. An Australian study found that every one-cup increase in daily tea consumption decreased systolic blood pressure (the top number) two points and diastolic pressure one point. The benefits ended after four cups, however.

6. Eat Avocados

Dip your chips into guacamole. Why? Avocados have more blood-pressure-lowering potassium than any other fruit or vegetable, including bananas. We should get about 4.7 grams a day of potassium, but most Americans get just half this amount.

7. Indulge in Chocolate

Turn to dark chocolate when your sweet tooth asserts itself. Unlike milk chocolate, dark chocolate is rich in flavonoids that keep your arteries flexible, preventing the increases in pressure that come with stiffer blood vessels. That's thought to be one reason for the normal blood pressure of a tribe of Panamanian Indians who eat a high-salt diet but also consume massive amounts of cocoa. In addition, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that three ounces of dark chocolate a day helped to lower blood pressure in older people with isolated systolic hypertension (a type of high blood pressure in which only the upper number of a pressure reading is high). Other good sources of flavonoids include tea and wine, as well as many fruits and vegetables.