Did you know that when it comes to blood pressure, most people are actually focused on the wrong number — and it could be putting their life at serious risk? In this video I’m going to break down exactly which number is truly dangerous, what the difference is between systolic and diastolic, and what your reading actually means for your health — even if you’ve never really understood any of this before and your doctor has never properly sat down and explained it to you.
Hey, I’m Henry. A few years ago my doctor told me my blood pressure was dangerously high and that I needed to go on medication straight away. And honestly? I was confused, I was scared, and I had absolutely no idea what any of those numbers actually meant. I tried looking it up online but the information was just… overwhelming. And contradictory. Then I discovered that understanding just a few key things about blood pressure completely changed how I managed my health — and at my last checkup my doctor was genuinely impressed with where my numbers were. That’s really why I created this video — to cut through all the noise and give you the simple, clear facts that actually make a difference.
So let’s get into it. By the end of this video you’re going to understand exactly what each number means, which one is dangerous for YOUR age, and what you can actually do about it. We’re going to break this down into 4 sections. Let’s go.
Section 1: Why Are There Two Numbers in the First Place?
So — why does blood pressure even have two numbers? Nobody ever really explains this to you, right? So let me break it down in a way that actually makes sense.
I want you to forget about medicine for a second and just think about plumbing. Imagine your circulatory system is basically a garden hose connected to a tap. When the tap opens suddenly, a powerful jet of water shoots out. That burst of pressure against the walls of the hose — that’s exactly what happens when your heart contracts and pumps blood out. That force, that peak pressure — that is your systolic number. The top number. It tells you how hard your heart is working as a pump.
But here’s where it gets interesting. Between beats, the heart relaxes. The tap closes for just a fraction of a second. Now — does the hose go completely empty in that moment? No. There’s always some water left inside, pressing against the walls. That residual pressure keeping the hose inflated while the heart rests? That is your diastolic number. The bottom number.
So in simple terms — the top number measures the force of your heart. The bottom number measures the resistance your blood runs into when your heart is at rest. Two completely different things. And understanding that difference is honestly everything — because a problem with one is not treated the same way as a problem with the other.
Section 2: If You’re Under 50 — You’re Probably Watching the Wrong Number
Now here’s something that genuinely surprises a lot of people. If you’re under 50, the number you really need to be paying attention to is actually the bottom one — the diastolic. Not the top one.
You might be wondering — how can someone have a perfectly normal top number and still have a blood pressure problem? This comes up all the time for people between 30 and 50. Classic scenario: you’re a bit stressed at work, maybe you’ve put on a few kilos, but you feel absolutely fine. You check your blood pressure and the top number looks great — 120, 130 — but the bottom number just won’t drop below 95. So what’s actually going on there?
Let’s go back to the hose. If you’re young, your arteries are still flexible — like fresh rubber, basically. So the issue isn’t a stiff pipe. Something is squeezing the hose from the outside. And in medicine, that squeeze usually comes down to two things.
The first is your sympathetic nervous system — your stress system. If you’re living in a constant state of alert, your body tells the small arteries to contract. You’re essentially walking around squeezed 24 hours a day without even realizing it. The second is visceral fat — that abdominal fat, the kind that sits around your organs. And here’s something most people genuinely don’t know — that fat isn’t just sitting there doing nothing. It’s metabolically active. It releases inflammatory signals that keep your nervous system on edge and stop your arteries from ever fully relaxing.
Let’s be honest — raise your hand if you’ve never had a stressful period or put on a few extra kilos. Yeah. Most of us have been there.
Here’s a real example that I think perfectly illustrates this. A 42-year-old guy always got normal readings at home, but every single time he measured at the clinic it came out high. Why? Because he was always measuring right after rushing through work. His nervous system hadn’t come down from alert mode yet. When he started sitting quietly for 5 minutes before measuring — just breathing calmly — his diastolic dropped from 94 all the way down to 80. It wasn’t hypertension at all. It was sustained, chronic stress. His arteries were literally living under constant pressure.
Now you might be thinking — okay, but is a high diastolic actually dangerous? Here’s the truth. In the short term, your body can handle it. But if you keep those arteries squeezed year after year, that constant pressure slowly damages the inner lining of the arteries. And once that lining is damaged, it starts accumulating cholesterol and inflammation — which is basically the perfect breeding ground for arterial plaques. And those plaques, over time, can narrow the arteries leading to your heart or your brain.
But — and this is important — there is good news here. Because you’re young and your arteries are still elastic, this is largely reversible. If you take the foot off the hose — by losing some weight, managing stress, sleeping better — the pressure drops and tends to correct itself much more easily than it does at an older age. You still have a lot of room to work with.
Section 3: If You’re Over 60 — The Villain Has a Different Face
Now — if you’re over 60, I need you to basically forget what I just said. Because at this stage of life, your problem is completely different. It’s not that someone is stepping on the hose anymore. The problem is that the hose itself has changed material.
With age, our arteries gradually lose that elastic, rubbery quality and become more rigid. Think of your aorta — the main artery coming out of your heart — like the shock absorber of a car. When you were young, every heartbeat caused the aorta to stretch slightly, cushioning the impact and keeping that top number under control. But when the pipe becomes rigid over time? It no longer cushions anything. The wave of blood shoots out of the heart and just travels unchecked, straight to your brain and kidneys.
That’s why, from around age 50 onwards, we typically see the top number — the systolic — start to climb and climb, while the bottom number stays normal or even drops a little.
And this is where something called pulse pressure becomes really important. Pulse pressure is simply the gap between your two numbers. Now you might have heard people say — “oh how worrying, your two numbers are too close together, be careful.” But in most older people, the real danger is actually the exact opposite. It’s when the numbers drift too far apart.
For example — a reading of 150 on top and 60 on the bottom. That’s a gap of 90 points. And that gap is basically screaming that the arteries are very rigid. The heart pumps hard — 150 — and then the pressure just collapses to 60 — because the artery doesn’t rebound. It has no elasticity left to cushion the blow. Studies show that for every 20-point increase in pulse pressure, the risk of stroke multiplies by 1.6 in older people. That is a really significant number.
There’s also a specific pattern worth knowing about called isolated systolic hypertension — where the top number is above 140 but the bottom number is perfectly normal. This is actually the most common type of hypertension in people over 60, and the one most closely linked to strokes.
So if you’re older — stop obsessing over the bottom number. Start paying close attention to how high that top number is, and how wide the gap between the two has become.
Section 4: Two People, Same Diagnosis, Completely Different Solutions
To bring all of this together, I want to walk you through two real patterns — and show you why the same diagnosis on paper can actually need completely opposite solutions.
Meet David. He’s 38, works in a high-pressure office, stressed out, and — let’s be honest — not exactly eating well. His reading is 130 over 96. The top number is borderline, but acceptable. That bottom number of 96 though? That’s in the red zone. David says — “I don’t get it, the top one is fine, so why do I have a problem?” And the answer is — David, your engine is fine. The problem is you’re stepping on the accelerator all day without even realizing it. Chronic stress and abdominal fat are keeping his small arteries contracted around the clock. That’s his issue.
Now meet Mary. She’s 72, walks every day, really takes care of herself. Her reading is 150 over 65. Her bottom number is excellent — genuinely enviable. But her top number is through the roof, and that gap of 85 points? That’s a major red flag. Mary says — “Why won’t my top number come down if I don’t even eat salt?” And the answer is — Mary, it’s not about the salt. Your arteries have simply lost their elasticity over the years. They’ve gone from rubber to cement, basically.
Here’s the mistake so many people make — they assume David and Mary have the same problem and need the same fix. They really don’t. David urgently needs to lose weight, move his body, and get his stress under control. A lot of the time, just doing those things will bring his blood pressure back to normal without any medication at all.
Mary, on the other hand, can’t rejuvenate her arteries through lifestyle changes alone. Arterial stiffness at her age is a structural process. She’ll almost certainly need specific medication to protect her brain from those high systolic pressure waves, and she needs to be really strict about sodium — because her rigid arteries simply don’t tolerate excess salt well.
And this is exactly why self-medicating with your neighbor’s blood pressure pills is basically Russian roulette. What works for a rigid pipe can be completely wrong for a squeezed pipe. These are genuinely two different conditions.
So — what can you actually DO about all of this?
If you’re on Team David — high diastolic, under 50 — your three priorities are: first, lose abdominal fat. Every kilo of visceral fat you lose reduces the inflammatory signals keeping your arteries contracted. This isn’t about aesthetics — it’s purely physiological. Second, get around 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week. When you run, swim, or cycle, your arteries are literally forced to dilate — you are training them to relax. Third, take sleep seriously. Sleeping less than 6 hours keeps cortisol elevated and stops your arteries from recovering overnight. Sleep is not a luxury — it is non-negotiable.
If you’re on Team Mary — high systolic, over 60 — the priorities shift. First, cut sodium hard — aim for less than 2 grams a day. A rigid artery cannot handle the excess fluid that salt causes your body to retain, and this is honestly the change with the most immediate impact. Second, increase your potassium. Avocado, banana, spinach, beans — these are your best friends. Potassium helps flush excess sodium through the kidneys and promotes relaxation in the blood vessel walls. Third, gentle but consistent aerobic exercise — just 30 minutes a day. Even aging arteries respond to regular movement, and studies show it can bring systolic pressure down by 5 to 10 points — which is actually comparable to some medications. A daily walk is genuinely medicine.
So do you see the difference? David needs to sweat out his stress and shed the fat. Mary needs to cut the salt and load up on potassium. Knowing which team you’re on — that is the difference between taking pills blindly and actually taking intelligent control of your own health.
So there you have it. Blood pressure isn’t just a number — it’s really a story of two characters whose importance shifts as you age. Three things I want you to take away from this video.
If you’re under 50 — watch your diastolic, the bottom number. Elevated peripheral resistance is your most likely enemy, and the good news is it’s largely reversible with the right lifestyle changes. If you’re over 60 — watch your systolic, the top number, and pay attention to that gap between the two. Arterial stiffness is your battle, sodium is your main enemy, and potassium and movement are your most powerful tools. And above all — one single reading does not define you. What matters is the trend across multiple readings, taken at rest, when you’re calm.
Now you know exactly which number to watch, why it matters, and what to do about it based on your age and your profile.