For me, my introduction to hypertension and possible problems with my blood pressure all started when I had a few dizzy turns just before New Years Eve 2025. I had a couple of dizzy spells getting up from a chair in our kitchen and turning to walk across the kitchen. Also walking down the road to the local shops, I felt dizzy when I turned my head before crossing a side road to see whether there was any traffic about to turn into the road I was about to cross.

Back at home, I got out our blood pressure monitor and saw that my results were way above the 120/80 UK official standard. The fact that it was at the weekend before New Years Eve meant that I had zero chance of being seen my usual GP practice any time soon so I contacted the ‘out of hours’ GP practice at York District Hospital.

A doctor at York District Hospital saw me and said that I could have some blood tests and an ECG done straightaway in a unit upstairs called SDEC. In the event they kept me in overnight on a drip, presumably thinking I might be dehydrated. In the morning they did an ECG and took some more blood pressure readings before discharging me with instructions to monitor and keep records of my blood pressure at home and then to see my own G.P.

I asked the discharge doctor what was the normal blood pressure reading I needed to be at for a man of my age (72) and he said 130/90.

I saw my local G.P. mid-January by which time I had 2 weeks worth of blood pressure readings with an average of Systolic 129.23 and Diastolic 89.84 (i.e. just below what I had been told in hospital).

At this point I had already started:

• Eliminating additional salt in meals
• Drinking beetroot smoothies every day
• Eliminating nearly all caffeine. I started drinking decaf tea and coffee.
• I had started adding a scoop of Zoe 30+ seeds and berries to my morning granola.

When I told my G.P. what the discharging doctor had said about a normal B.P. reading for my age I was disappointed by his answer. He said 130/85 was what I should be aiming for and that the diastolic reading (the heart at rest reading) was just as important as the systolic reading.

I told him what I was doing to try and manage my blood pressure with lifestyle changes. He agreed that beetroot was very good for doing this and he seemed keen to support my idea of trying to stay off medication, although he did at one point suggest that I might benefit from taking statins. I declined this offer as I had already heard from various sources about the possible side effects of statins.

So he suggested that I continue to take readings at home twice daily in groups of three, waiting a while between each reading. Then use the lowest set for my graphs and continue to record the average over time. He said I should come back after 3 months and we would review - which is exactly what I have been doing since then, whilst also investigating other dietary changes and supplements that might help.

I've watched a few videos since then. Below are two of the videos that really shaped the way I've been thinking about my blood pressure: