If you have to get your blood pressure taken, chill out for 5 minutes beforehand.

Relaxing for 5 minutes before your blood pressure is taken guarantees you won’t have an artificially high reading. Because if your reading is too high, you may be prescribed unnecessary medication. For example, rushing into your doctor’s office after a traffic-jammed drive can raise your systolic pressure by as many as 20 points!

So sit quietly, flip through a book, check Facebook and calm down in the waiting room. It’s also a good idea to skip that Dunkin’ Donuts run on the way to the doctor. Caffeine can cause a temporary blood pressure spike – and give you a false reading.