If your blood pressure runs low, a combination of dietary changes, physical habits, and sometimes medication can bring it up to a healthier range. Low blood pressure is generally defined as a reading below 90/60 mmHg, though some people experience symptoms even with a modest drop, such as going from 110 to 90 systolic. The strategies that work best depend on whether your pressure drops when you stand up, after meals, or stays low throughout the day.
Increase Salt and Fluid Intake
Salt is the single most effective dietary tool for raising blood pressure. It works by helping your body retain water, which increases blood volume and puts more pressure on your artery walls. For people with orthostatic hypotension (the kind where your pressure drops when you stand), the American Society of Hypertension recommends 2,400 to 4,000 mg of sodium per day. The Canadian Cardiovascular Society and several other expert groups set the target at around 4,000 mg daily. For context, the average American already eats about 3,400 mg, so you may only need a modest increase. Practical ways to get there include salting your food more generously, eating broth-based soups, or adding electrolyte drinks to your routine.
Water itself has a surprisingly strong effect on blood pressure. A study published in the journal Circulation found that drinking about 16 ounces (480 mL) of water raised seated blood pressure by 11 mmHg in older adults and by a striking 43 mmHg in patients with autonomic failure. Most clinicians recommend aiming for 2 to 3 liters of fluid per day if you’re managing low blood pressure. Drinking a full glass of water 15 to 30 minutes before standing up can help prevent dizziness.
Adjust How and What You Eat
Large meals, especially carbohydrate-heavy ones, can cause blood pressure to drop sharply as blood flows to your digestive system. This is called postprandial hypotension, and it’s particularly common in older adults. The fix is straightforward: eat six smaller meals throughout the day instead of three large ones, and keep carbohydrates moderate at each sitting. Choosing meals built around protein, healthy fats, and fiber-rich vegetables rather than pasta, bread, or rice can make a noticeable difference in how you feel after eating.
Use Physical Counterpressure Maneuvers
When you feel lightheaded or sense your blood pressure dropping, specific muscle-tensing techniques can raise it within seconds. The American Heart Association recommends several of these:
- Leg crossing with muscle tensing: Cross your legs and squeeze your thigh, buttock, and abdominal muscles simultaneously. This works while standing or lying down.
- Squatting: Lower yourself into a squat, which pushes blood from your legs back toward your heart. Tense your lower body while squatting, then stand slowly once symptoms pass.
- Arm tensing: Grip your hands together, interlocking your fingers, and pull your arms in opposite directions as hard as you can.
- Isometric handgrip: Clench your fist at maximum effort, with or without an object in your hand.
These maneuvers are especially useful in situations where you can’t sit down, like standing in line or riding public transit. They’re a temporary fix, not a long-term solution, but they can prevent fainting episodes.
Caffeine as a Short-Term Boost
A standard 8-ounce cup of coffee, containing roughly 80 to 100 mg of caffeine, can raise blood pressure by up to 10 mmHg. The effect kicks in within about 30 minutes, peaks around an hour, then gradually fades. Some people with chronically low blood pressure find that a cup of coffee before activities that require standing helps prevent symptoms. The catch is that regular caffeine users develop tolerance, so it works best for occasional or strategic use, like drinking a cup before a morning shower or a long walk.
Wear Compression Garments
Compression stockings prevent blood from pooling in your legs when you stand, which is one of the main reasons blood pressure drops in the upright position. For managing low blood pressure, most specialists recommend waist-high stockings rated at 20 to 30 mmHg or 30 to 40 mmHg of pressure. Knee-high stockings are easier to put on but less effective because they don’t compress the large veins in your thighs and abdomen. Abdominal binders are another option, particularly for people who find full-length stockings uncomfortable in warm weather.
The main challenge with compression garments is compliance. They can be hot, difficult to pull on, and uncomfortable. Putting them on before getting out of bed in the morning, while your legs aren’t yet swollen, makes the process easier.
Medications That Raise Blood Pressure
When lifestyle changes aren’t enough, several prescription medications can help. The two most commonly used work through different mechanisms.
The first tightens blood vessels directly. It’s a short-acting medication taken three times per day that constricts arteries and veins, physically raising pressure. Because it acts on blood vessels throughout the body, it needs to be timed carefully. You typically take it before periods of activity and skip it before bed to avoid high blood pressure while lying down.
The second works by helping your kidneys hold onto sodium, which increases blood volume over time. It also makes your blood vessels more responsive to the body’s natural pressure-raising signals. This one is taken once daily and works more gradually than the first. Your doctor will likely monitor your potassium levels while you take it, since retaining sodium can cause potassium to drop.
Other options exist for people who don’t respond to the first-line treatments, including medications originally developed for other conditions like attention disorders or muscle weakness that happen to raise blood pressure as a secondary effect. Your doctor will choose based on your specific type of low blood pressure and other health conditions.
What Counts as Dangerously Low
Most low blood pressure is uncomfortable but not dangerous. It becomes an emergency when it progresses toward shock. Warning signs include confusion (especially in older adults), cold and clammy skin, pale skin color, rapid shallow breathing, and a weak, racing pulse. A systolic reading that drops more than 20 mmHg when you stand, or any reading that falls below 90 systolic, meets the clinical definition of orthostatic hypotension and warrants a conversation with your doctor about the strategies above.
If you or someone around you shows signs of shock, that’s a 911 situation. Shock means organs aren’t getting enough blood flow, and it requires immediate medical intervention that lifestyle measures can’t address.