It is Know Your Numbers Week. Here is why your weight and your blood pressure are linked.
Reviewer: Danny Chu (Envigore Prescriber)
This week is Know Your Numbers Week, the UK’s big push to get people checking their blood pressure. This year it asks a simple question: you know your age, but do you know your numbers? High blood pressure is often called the silent killer, because it usually causes no symptoms at all, yet it quietly raises your risk of heart attack, stroke and kidney damage. The encouraging part is that it is also one of the most treatable things there is, and one of the most powerful levers is something we work on every day: your weight. Here are the numbers worth knowing, and how losing weight moves them.
Know your numbers
Blood pressure is written as two numbers, systolic over diastolic, measured in millimetres of mercury. In the UK, high blood pressure means a reading of 140 over 90 or above at a clinic, or 135 over 85 or above when measured at home. Around 120 over 80 is a healthy target for most adults. One high reading does not mean you have high blood pressure, since several are taken over time before a diagnosis. If you have not had yours checked lately, this is the week to do it, free at many pharmacies or at your GP.
Why weight and blood pressure travel together
Carrying excess weight makes your heart work harder. It increases the volume of blood your body has to move, raises the activity of your stress nervous system, and drives insulin resistance. All of these push the pressure in your arteries up. It is why weight and blood pressure so often rise together, and why the two are worth thinking about side by side rather than separately.
The good news: losing weight brings it down
Losing weight is a first-line treatment for high blood pressure in the UK, recommended before medication in many cases. As a rough guide, every kilogram you lose lowers the top number by around 1 point. Losing 5 kilograms can bring it down 4 to 5 points, and a 5 to 10 percent loss makes a meaningful difference, often showing within a couple of months. To put that in context, a 10-point fall in the top number cuts stroke risk by around 40 percent and heart attack by around 20 percent. You do not need to reach an ideal weight to benefit, the direction is what counts.
The other levers
Weight is not the only thing that moves your blood pressure. Cutting your salt helps a great deal, since most of us eat well over the recommended limit. So does moving on most days, keeping alcohol within 14 units a week with drink-free days, and stopping smoking. None of these is dramatic on its own, but together they add up, and they support your weight at the same time.
On the food side, omega-3 (EPA and DHA) contributes to the normal function of the heart, so if you rarely eat oily fish, our Omega-3 is worth considering.
Where we can help
Losing weight is one of the most effective ways to bring blood pressure down. Helping you do that safely, through our clinician-led medical weight management programme, is the heart of what we do. We do not treat blood pressure itself, so please get yours checked at a pharmacy or your GP this week. If high blood pressure is confirmed, that is looked after by your GP. But if excess weight is part of the picture, that is exactly where we can help.
Ready when you are.
- Get your blood pressure checked this week, free at many pharmacies or your GP.
- If excess weight is part of the picture, our weight loss clinic can help. Book a consultation.
Frequently asked questions
These questions reflect the guidance above and are reviewed by our clinical team before publication.
In the UK, a reading of 140 over 90 or above at a clinic, or 135 over 85 or above at home, is considered high. Around 120 over 80 is a healthy target for most adults. One high reading is not a diagnosis, since several are needed over time before anyone is told they have high blood pressure.
Yes, and it is one of the most effective lifestyle changes there is. As a rough guide, every kilogram lost lowers the top number by around 1 point, so a 5 kilogram loss can bring it down 4 to 5 points. Weight management is recommended in the UK as a first-line step before medication in many cases.
Less than people expect. A loss of 5 to 10 percent of your body weight brings a meaningful drop, and improvements often show within a couple of months. You do not need to reach an ideal weight, because the direction of travel is what protects your heart and blood vessels.
During Know Your Numbers Week, many pharmacies offer free checks, and your GP can test it any time. Home monitors are widely available too. Whichever you use, more than one reading over time gives a truer picture than a single measurement.
Never stop or change blood pressure medication on your own. Losing weight can lower your readings, and your GP may then be able to reduce or review your medication. But that is a decision for them, based on your readings over time, not something to do by yourself.
+ Sources
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2019, updated) Hypertension in adults: diagnosis and management. NICE guideline NG136.
- Neter, J.E., et al. (2003) Influence of weight reduction on blood pressure: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Hypertension, 42(5), pp. 878-884.
- Blood Pressure UK. Know Your Numbers Week and guidance on measuring and understanding blood pressure.
- NHS and Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition guidance on salt, physical activity, alcohol and blood pressure.
About Your Clinical Team
This content was medically reviewed and approved by Danny Gian Hou Chu, a HCPC-Registered Advance Paramedic Prescriber (PA38670), who oversees all prescribing decisions at Envigore.
All prescriptions are dispensed by Right Medicine Pharmacy, a GPhC-Registered Pharmacy (No. 9012382).
Nutritional guidance and lifestyle support is provided by Veronica Giudice, a HCPC-Registered Dietitian (DT26570) and British Dietetic Association member.
Last medically reviewed: September 2026