I'm not saying this is right for everyone or even that everyone is capable of doing it, but I am 28 and my MD told me that since weight likely wasn't contributory to my hypertension (normally running 156/94), that I should restrict my salt. I did, but my blood pressure only dropped to 149/90 (not too significant in my book). I heard from a few other MDs that the sodium restriction only works in about 20% of patients.
I was about to give up on the whole thing and just say that I it must be hereditary since my entire maternal side had it and I was running 2.7 miles 3-4 times/week and weight training on the off days along with dietary restriction. I would have to take medicine.
Well 3 weeks ago in a last ditch effort, I started to run 5 miles 3-4 times/week instead of my previous 2.7 and see what happened. I didn't expect much.
For the past week, my blood pressure has been averaging 123/78 and I am SO happy. It just took some extra exercise and forcing myself a little bit to go a little farther than usual
I think I'm going to keep this up!