Can drinking water lower blood pressure?
Drinking water does not meaningfully lower blood pressure. Staying hydrated keeps blood pressure stable, but extra water does not treat high blood pressure, and dehydration can actually make some readings swing higher or lower.
What reliably moves the number: less salt from packets and restaurants, more potassium from fruit and beans, regular walking, less alcohol, better sleep, and weight loss if weight is up. Each is worth real millimeters of mercury.
If your readings run 140/90 or above across a week, that is a doctor conversation, not a hydration project.
Source: NHS, high blood pressure
See a doctor promptly if
- A reading of 180/120 mmHg or higher with chest pain, breathlessness, weakness on one side, slurred speech, confusion or sudden visual change. This is an emergency
- Blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or higher in pregnancy, especially with headache, upper abdominal pain, visual disturbance or sudden swelling
- A repeated reading of 180/120 mmHg or higher even without symptoms. This needs same-day medical assessment
- New severe headache, nosebleeds that will not stop, or breathlessness lying flat alongside high readings
- Blood in the urine, or a sharp fall in how much urine you pass, together with high readings
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Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS · How we review
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