How to lower blood pressure, improve heart health and reduce dementia risk | Prof. Tim Spector

What if your blood pressure — even just a little too high — is quietly damaging your brain? What if it’s increasing your risk of a heart attack or stroke, without you ever feeling a thing?

In this episode, Professor Tim Spector reveals why blood pressure is one of the most overlooked – and most dangerous – health issues today. He explains why “normal for your age” might not be safe at all, why medication alone isn’t the full answer, and how small, daily changes could dramatically reduce your risk of serious disease.

Can your gut microbes raise your blood pressure? Can a banana be as powerful as a pill? Is beetroot juice really three times more effective than cutting salt?

You’ll also learn why 80% of the salt we eat isn’t from the shaker, how stress and sleep secretly push your pressure up, and what most doctors still miss when treating hypertension.

If you’ve ever been told your blood pressure’s “fine” — or never measured it at all — this episode might change the way you think about your future health.

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Timecodes

00:00 Introduction

03:29 What actually is high blood pressure?

05:57 Why everyone should own a blood pressure monitor

07:01 What your blood pressure reading really means

09:59 Stress and high blood pressure

11:28 The $20 gadget that can save your life

13:17 When to see a doctor

14:35 What causes high blood pressure

16:57 Salt and blood pressure

18:28 Why reducing salt didn’t work for Tim

20:09 Blood pressure medications

22:04 Why high blood pressure is so dangerous

24:20 How blood pressure quietly damages your brain

27:18 Is it too late to lower your blood pressure?

31:31 How your gut microbes affect blood pressure

34:14 Why potassium matters more than salt

36:29 How sleep, stress & saunas impact your blood pressure

38:58 The real source of excess salt in your diet

41:37 Should you switch to potassium salt?

49:30 Beetroot juice: better than salt restriction?

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Food For Life Cookbook

Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

Free resources from ZOE

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks

Studies referenced in today's episode:

Nonpharmacologic Interventions for Reducing Blood Pressure in Adults With Prehigh blood pressure to Established high blood pressure, Journal of the American Heart Association (2020)

Long-Term Effect of Intensive vs Standard Blood Pressure Control on Mild Cognitive Impairment and Probable Dementia in SPRINT, Neurology (2025)

Blood pressure reduction and all-cause dementia in people with uncontrolled high blood pressure: an open-label, blinded-endpoint, cluster-randomized trial, Nature Medicine (2025)

high blood pressure Associated With Hearing Loss and Tinnitus Among Hypertensive Adults at a Tertiary Hospital in South Africa, Frontiers in Neurology (2022)

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Episode transcripts are available here.