Blood pressure

Blood pressure is the pressure of blood in the arteries, governed in general by cardiac output and arterial tone. It cycles from a minimum at diastole — the heart filling — to a maximum at systole, at peak contraction. It can be affected by a range of dietary components: excess sodium raises it, while potassium, and dietary patterns rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy tend to lower it. As a key nutrition and public-health indicator, blood pressure links diet to cardiovascular risk, and food labelling of sodium content plus reformulation toward lower-salt products are major population-level strategies for its control.