Follow Dash Diet and Manage Hypertension

What is DASH Diet?

Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, this diet focuses on reducing your blood pressure levels and encourages healthy eating. The first DASH diet research showed that it could lower blood pressure as well as the first line blood pressure medications, even with a sodium intake of 3300 mg/day! Since then, numerous studies have shown that the DASH diet reduces the risk of many diseases, including some kinds of cancer, stroke, heart disease, heart failure, kidney stones, and diabetes.

The DASH diet is said to be in line with dietary recommendations to prevent osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer.

DASH diet is altered according to the dietary needs of the person and the intensity of hypertension.

Standard DASH diet: One can consume up to 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day
Lower sodium DASH diet: One can consume up to 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day

The DASH Diet Plan

This diet is plant-focused that is rich in vegetables, fruits and nuts along with low-fat and non-fat dairy products, which are great sources of healthy fats. Basically, the diet emphasises lowering sodium intake by eating whole foods over processed foods.

Aim to eat foods like:

Fruits
Vegetables
Whole grains
Low fat dairy products
Nuts and legumes
Non-tropical vegetable oils
Skinless poultry and fish

Limit foods like:

Saturated trans fat
Sodium
Red meat
Sweet and sugar-sweetened beverages

Who Should Follow the DASH Diet?

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend the DASH eating plan as a model for healthy eating for everyone! The whole family can enjoy the DASH diet. And of course, the DASH diet was developed to help people lower their blood pressure. It provides additional heart health benefits, lowering cholesterol and inflammation. New research shows that it is effective in lowering blood pressure in children as well as adults.