Lower Your Blood Pressure and Improve Your Health with the DASH Diet
If you have high blood pressure, you should consider getting on the DASH diet, especially if you want to lower it without drugs. DASH, or Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, was designed to lower and even prevent high blood pressure by the National Institute of Health. It also improves overall health and encourages weight loss.
What to Eat on the DASH Diet
The DASH diet doesn’t require you to give up any of your favorite foods, even if they are sugary, fatty, or salty. Instead, it simply incorporates normal foods in proportions that maximize your health, making it easy to stick with the diet.
If you eat an average 2,000 calories a day, you can make any meals you like according to the following guidelines.
Have between 6 and 8 servings of grain each day. 1 serving is 1/2 cup of pasta or rice, 1 ounce of cereal, or 1 piece of bread. Whole grain bread, brown rice, and whole wheat pasta should be preferred. Try to avoid butter as a topping.
Eat 4 or 5 servings of vegetables each day. 1 serving is 1/2 cup of chopped vegetables or 1 cup of leafy vegetables. Use fresh or frozen instead of canned.
You should also eat 4 or 5 servings of fruit a day. 1 serving is about a single medium sized piece of fruit, or 1/2 cup of chopped fruit.
You can have 2 or 3 servings of dairy each day. 1 serving is 1 cup of milk or yogurt or 1 1/2 ounces of cheese.
You can have up to 6 servings of meat each day. 1 serving is 1 ounce. Poultry, lean red meat, and fish should be preferred.
Eat no more than 2 or 3 servings of fats or oils each day.
You can also have 4 or 5 servings or nuts and legumes per week. 1 serving is 1/3 cup of nuts, 2 tablespoons of nut butter, or 1/2 cup of legumes. Nuts should be preferred, as they contain heart-healthy fats.
Finally, you can have up to 5 servings of sweets each week. 1 serving is 1 tablespoon of sugar, jelly, or candy.
DASH Diet Limits
No matter what you eat, no more than 30 percent of your calories in a day should come from fat. If you are following the diet to prevent heart problems or improve your overall health, you can limit yourself to 2,300 mg of sodium a day, which is about 1 teaspoon of salt. If you are trying to lower high blood pressure, you should limit yourself to 1,500 mg, which is about 2/3 teaspoon of salt.
Weight Loss and the DASH Diet
The DASH diet is not primarily intended for weight loss. However, it is far healthier than the average American diet, and as such can be effective at helping you lose weight.
Tips
Instead of flavoring your food with salt, use sodium-free spices. Buy food with “no salt added” or “sodium free” labels. If you are used to a high sodium diet, don’t try cutting down to the recommended levels all at once. Instead, start cutting back a little at a time, giving your palate the ability to adjust to the new tastes. You can sometimes go out to restaurants, but you should limit your use of condiments, order salad instead of soup, and request low salt dishes.
The Takeaway
Unlike a lot of other diets, the DASH diet won’t leave you feeling hungry, and it won’t leave you pining for your lost favorite foods. It is a diet you can stick with for the long haul, improving your health, lowering your blood pressure, and increasing your fitness. Future you will thank you for it.