Hi rnadal
QUOTE(rnadal @ Dec 22 2009, 10:03 PM)

if you have high blood pressure, so don't worry healthy changes will help to bring it down.
I think the safest course of action is not to assume you know the cause of the elevation in blood pressure by having the correct checks done by a physician (GP). You could easily have kidney disease which will elevate the blood pressure or hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis), and if the protein (angiotensin) is present in abnormal quantity it will have to be treated in order to achieve a good result. If the problem has been brought on by poor diet and lifestyle or stress related you are quite right in everything you said.
Stress has gone undiagnosed as a major cause of essential hypertension for way to long, people like Martin E.P. Seligman have been laying the blame at it's door for many years, but it wasn't until 2006/7 that the medical association finally agreed that panic attacks, from anxiety, are a major cause of essential hypertension, and don't forget that 95% of high blood pressure is labeled essential meaning no cause found.
Panic attacks over a long period of time are disastrous for health outcomes, my father died prematurely 58 years from a combination of this and cigarette smoking.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18307749Everyone should take notice of what rnadal says and make whatever changes you can towards a healthier lifestyle and diet to reap the rewards in healthy blood pressure, but see your doctor as the first step in diagnosing the cause.
Cheers