Maintaining a healthy balanced diet is a great way to keep your body in check, but if you're looking to lower your blood pressure some specific tips might be helpful.

High blood pressure increases the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and kidney disease so it's important to keep it at a healthy level.

Making sure you complete regular physical activity is one way to combat it, but optimising your diet will be a big benefit too.

James Vickers, a registered nutritionist at Vitality Health Insurance, has commented on some of the best things to eat and drink to lower blood pressure.

Explaining some general advice, he shared: "Foods that are high in salt, fat and sugar can cause an increase in blood pressure.

"Try to reduce salt in your diet to no more than 6g per day, and keep an eye out on food labels such as premade sauces, condiments and processed foods which can contain added salt, as well as takeaways and ready meals."

What are the best food and drinks to help lower blood pressure?

Vickers recommends consuming nitrate-rich foods to help lower blood pressure, which includes the likes of beetroot, spinach, kale, celery, bananas and strawberries.

He adds: "Other foods can support a healthier diet to maintain a healthy weight such as wholegrains with more fibre than sugary carbohydrates, and fibre which can help with weight loss and maintenance.

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"Lean protein and low-fat dairy can also support with lowering blood pressure and supporting a healthy weight.

"The nutrients in a healthy balanced diet can contribute to a healthy weight and therefore help to lower blood pressure."

Meanwhile, in terms of drinks he suggests limiting the amount of caffeine and alcohol you consume.

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He adds: "Instead, reach for water or juices such as apple, tomato or pomegranate juice which can all help to lower your blood pressure."

Finally, as avoiding salt is quite key to making progress on lowering blood pressure Vickers recommends switching it with herbs and spices to help flavour a meal.

He concludes: "Although sugary and fatty foods don’t directly cause an increase in blood pressure, they can contain less nutrients per calorie, which can therefore lead to weight gain, which in turn can increase blood pressure."