DASH Diet

By Anna Lynn Sibal

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a real problem that all of us need to be concerned with. This ailment can result from the lifestyle choices that we make, such as in our diet, in the physical activities we engage in or the lack of them, in our decision to smoke and drink alcohol, and others. It can be compounded by the stress that we have to deal with on a daily basis, since it is a very stressful world that we live in.

What makes high blood pressure so much of a problem? When a person has hypertension, his or her heart is forced to work much harder than usual. The extreme pressure can also cause damage on the other organs in our body, including our kidneys, brain and eyes. Physical conditions that can stem from hypertension are heart disease, kidney disease, blindness and stroke.

In order to prevent hypertension, or to manage it if we already have it, we need to make some serious lifestyle changes. These changes include paying attention to what we eat and maintaining a diet plan that can help alleviate symptoms of hypertension. One such diet that doctors recommend is the DASH diet.

What is the DASH diet?

DASH is an acronym for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. It is a diet plan that deliberately adds more vegetables, fruits and whole grain servings into the meals of a person with hypertension, as well as significantly cutting down fat and salt from his or her food intake. This is often done gradually to help the body adjust to this new diet plan.

There are existing studies which claim that DASH is very effective in bringing down the blood pressure of patients tested for these studies. The condition is improved in as early as two weeks following the DASH diet plan. The diet plan is customizable in that the focus could be in either reducing the salt intake or the fat intake in the diet. The diet plan also depends on the caloric requirements of the patient.

Implementing the DASH Diet

It is not that hard at all to implement the DASH diet for people who have hypertension. For the most part, they only need to put an additional serving of vegetables and fruits into their meals, particularly lunch and dinner. Rice, pasta and beans are also a vital part of the DASH diet; they should be eaten on a regular basis.

Another aspect of carrying out the DASH diet is by cutting down on the usage of butter, salad dressing and margarine. Total consumption should be halved or substituted with other condiments that are low-fat or fat-free.

Yet another thing that should be cut down in following the DASH diet is meat intake. Meat in meals should be no more than six ounces in a day. If possible, it should be replaced with meat substitutes that vegetarians eat.

Eating salty and fatty snacks should be avoided as well. Instead of chips, low-fat and low-sodium crackers, yogurt, raisins, fruits and raw vegetables should be eaten during snack time.

Some habits also need to be shed off in doing the DASH diet. Drinking alcohol should be limited and smoking should be discontinued completely. Regular exercise is also important.

Following the DASH diet strictly can save the life of a person with hypertension. If you are one of them, you should try doing the DASH diet. If you know someone with high blood pressure, you should try to get them into it.