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DASH Diet: Healthy Eating to Control Your Blood Pressure
DASH Diet is Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension
Wellness starts with a healthy diet. In fact, eating healthier foods improves many health problems. This includes high blood pressure (hypertension). The right foods can lower your blood pressure. Your doctor may recommend the DASH diet to lower your blood pressure and your LDL (bad cholesterol).
The DASH diet promotes a balanced diet and portion control. It encourages introducing more fruits and vegetables, whole-grain foods, fish, poultry, nuts, and fat-free or low-fat milk products into your daily diet.
It recommends reducing foods high in saturated fat, cholesterol, trans fats, sweets, sugary drinks, sodium (salt), and red meats.
Some people have high blood pressure because of a family history. For others, poor diet, lack of exercise, or another medical condition may be to blame. People who have high blood pressure often take medicine. However, diet and exercise can help lower high blood pressure, even if it’s part of your family history.
Path to improved well being
Following the DASH diet is simple. It doesn’t require any special or prepackaged meals. It relies on many standard foods you already have in your home. When following the DASH diet, you eat about 2,000 calories each day. These calories will come from a variety of foods.
The DASH diet recommendation includes:
- Whole grains (6 to 8 servings a day).
- Vegetables (4 to 5 servings a day).
- Fruits (4 to 5 servings a day).
- Low-fat or fat-free milk and milk products (2 to 3 servings a day).
- Lean meat, poultry, and fish (6 or fewer servings a day).
- Nuts, seeds, and beans (4 to 5 servings a week).
- Healthy fats and oils (2 to 3 servings a day).
- Sweets, preferably low-fat or fat-free (5 or fewer a week).
- Sodium (no more than 2,300 mg a day).
- If you drink alcohol, limit yourself to 2 drinks or less per day for men and 1 drink or less per day for women.
- To reduce your blood pressure even more, replace some DASH diet carbohydrates with low-fat protein and unsaturated fats.
- For weight loss, reduce your daily calories to 1,600 per day.
- Lower your sodium to no more than 1,500 mg per day if you are age 40 or older, are African American, or if you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure.
Adapt the DASH diet to meet your needs. For example, eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can provide some protection against cancer, osteoporosis, stroke, and diabetes.
Immediate results are possible with the DASH diet. Blood pressure could go down a few points in as little as 2 weeks. However, continue to take your blood pressure medicine and see your doctor.
Things to consider
Don’t be discouraged if following the DASH diet is difficult at first. Start with small, achievable goals. The following ideas can help you make healthy changes.
- It’s easier to track your food if you keep a journal of what you eat each day. Write down the sodium content, when possible.
- Don’t throw in the towel if the DASH diet seems overwhelming at first. Try making one or two changes at a time until you can do it all.
- Learn to read labels. By knowing serving size, you know how much sodium you are getting per serving.
- Slow down when you eat.
- Exercise.
- Use spices and herbs to flavor your food instead of salt.
- Choose fewer processed foods (frozen meals, canned soups, packaged mixes, etc.). These contain more sodium.
- Look for foods that say, “no salt added,” “sodium-free,” and “low sodium.”
- Avoid fried foods. Grill, steam, roast, or poach your food instead.
- Apply your new knowledge to restaurant food, as well. Avoid ordering food with ketchup, mustard, pickles, or sauces. Don’t add salt. And if you have time, ask your server how the food is prepared.
- Reduce your alcohol intake to DASH-acceptable servings.
Most popular foods are full of salt. Here’s how many milligrams (mg) of salt you’re getting with:
| Food Serving | Sodium Content |
| ¼ teaspoon table salt | 575 mg |
| ½ teaspoon table salt | 1,150 mg |
| 1 teaspoon table salt | 2,300 mg |
| 1 hot dog | 460 mg |
| 1 regular fast-food hamburger | 600 mg |
| 2 ounces processed cheese | 600 mg |
| 1 tablespoon soy sauce | 900 mg |
| 1 serving frozen pizza with meat and vegetables | 982 mg |
| 8 ounces regular potato chips | 1,192 mg |
What are tips for following this plan?
General guidelines
- Avoid eating more than 2,300 mg (milligrams) of salt (sodium) a day. If you have hypertension, you may need to reduce your sodium intake to 1,500 mg a day.
- Limit alcohol intake to no more than 1 drink a day for nonpregnant women and 2 drinks a day for men. One drink equals 12 oz of beer, 5 oz of wine, or 1½ oz of hard liquor.
- Work with your health care provider to maintain a healthy body weight or to lose weight. Ask what an ideal weight is for you.
- Get at least 30 minutes of exercise that causes your heart to beat faster (aerobic exercise) most days of the week. Activities may include walking, swimming, or biking.
- Work with your health care provider or diet and nutrition specialist (dietitian) to adjust your eating plan to your individual calorie needs.
Reading food labels
- Check food labels for the amount of sodium per serving. Choose foods with less than 5 percent of the Daily Value of sodium. Generally, foods with less than 300 mg of sodium per serving fit into this eating plan.
To find whole grains, look for the word “whole” as the first word in the ingredient list.
Shopping
- Buy products labeled as “low-sodium” or “no salt added.”
- Buy fresh foods. Avoid canned foods and premade or frozen meals.
Cooking
- Avoid adding salt when cooking. Use salt-free seasonings or herbs instead of table salt or sea salt. Check with your health care provider or pharmacist before using salt substitutes.
- Do notfry foods. Cook foods using healthy methods such as baking, boiling, grilling, and broiling instead.
- Cook with heart-healthy oils, such as olive, canola, soybean, or sunflower oil.
Meal planning
- Eat a balanced diet that includes:
- 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day. At each meal, try to fill half of your plate with fruits and vegetables.
- Up to 6–8 servings of whole grains each day.
- Less than 6 oz of lean meat, poultry, or fish each day. A 3-oz serving of meat is about the same size as a deck of cards. One egg equals 1 oz.
- 2 servings of low-fat dairy each day.
- A serving of nuts, seeds, or beans 5 times each week.
- Heart-healthy fats. Healthy fats called Omega-3 fatty acids are found in foods such as flaxseeds and coldwater fish, like sardines, salmon, and mackerel.
- Limit how much you eat of the following:
- Canned or prepackaged foods.
- Food that is high in trans fat, such as fried foods.
- Food that is high in saturated fat, such as fatty meat.
- Sweets, desserts, sugary drinks, and other foods with added sugar.
- Full-fat dairy products.
- Do not take salt foods before eating.
- Try to eat at least 2 vegetarian meals each week.
- Eat more home-cooked food and less restaurant, buffet, and fast food.
- When eating at a restaurant, ask that your food be prepared with less salt or no salt, if possible.
What foods are recommended?
The items listed may not be a complete list. Talk with your dietitian about what dietary choices are best for you.
Grains
Whole-grain or whole-wheat bread. Whole-grain or whole-wheat pasta. Brown rice. Oatmeal. Quinoa. Bulgur. Whole-grain and low-sodium cereals. Pita bread. Low-fat, low-sodium crackers. Whole-wheat flour tortillas.
Vegetables
Fresh or frozen vegetables (raw, steamed, roasted, or grilled). Low-sodium or reduced-sodium tomato and vegetable juice. Low-sodium or reduced-sodium tomato sauce and tomato paste. Low-sodium or reduced-sodium canned vegetables.
Fruits
All fresh, dried, or frozen fruit. Canned fruit in natural juice (without added sugar).
Meat and other protein foods
Skinless chicken or turkey. Ground chicken or turkey. Pork with fat trimmed off. Fish and seafood. Egg whites. Dried beans, peas, or lentils. Unsalted nuts, nut butters, and seeds. Unsalted canned beans. Lean cuts of beef with fat trimmed off. Low-sodium, lean deli meat.
Dairy
Low-fat (1%) or fat-free (skim) milk. Fat-free, low-fat, or reduced-fat cheeses. Nonfat, low-sodium ricotta or cottage cheese. Low-fat or nonfat yogurt. Low-fat, low-sodium cheese.
Fats and oils
Soft margarine without transfats. Vegetable oil. Low-fat, reduced-fat, or light mayonnaise and salad dressings (reduced-sodium). Canola, safflower, olive, soybean, and sunflower oils. Avocado.
Seasoning and other foods
Herbs. Spices. Seasoning mixes without salt. Unsalted popcorn and pretzels. Fat-free sweets.
What foods are not recommended?
The items listed may not be a complete list. Talk with your dietitian about what dietary choices are best for you.
Grains
Baked goods made with fat, such as croissants, muffins, or some breads. Dry pasta or rice meal packs.
Vegetables
Creamed or fried vegetables. Vegetables in a cheese sauce. Regular canned vegetables (not low-sodium or reduced-sodium). Regular canned tomato sauce and paste (not low-sodium or reduced-sodium). Regular tomato and vegetable juice (not low-sodium or reduced-sodium). Pickles. Olives.
Fruits
Canned fruit in a light or heavy syrup. Fried fruit. Fruit in cream or butter sauce.
Meat and other protein foods
Fatty cuts of meat. Ribs. Fried meat. Bacon. Sausage. Bologna and other processed lunch meats. Salami. Fatback. Hotdogs. Bratwurst. Salted nuts and seeds. Canned beans with added salt. Canned or smoked fish. Whole eggs or egg yolks. Chicken or turkey with skin.
Dairy
Whole or 2% milk, cream, and half-and-half. Whole or full-fat cream cheese. Whole-fat or sweetened yogurt. Full-fat cheese. Nondairy creamers. Whipped toppings. Processed cheese and cheese spreads.
Fats and oils
Butter. Stick margarine. Lard. Shortening. Ghee. Bacon fat. Tropical oils, such as coconut, palm kernel, or palm oil.
Seasoning and other foods
Salted popcorn and pretzels. Onion salt, garlic salt, seasoned salt, table salt, and sea salt. Worcestershire sauce. Tartar sauce. Barbecue sauce. Teriyaki sauce. Soy sauce, including reduced-sodium. Steak sauce. Canned and packaged gravies.
Fish sauce. Oyster sauce. Cocktail sauce. Horseradish that you find on the shelf. Ketchup. Mustard. Meat flavorings and tenderizers. Bouillon cubes. Hot sauce and Tabasco sauce. Premade or packaged marinades. Premade or packaged taco seasonings. Relishes. Regular salad dressings.
Questions to ask your doctor
- Can caffeine increase your blood pressure?
- Can stress increase your blood pressure?
- What are the side effects to most blood pressure medicines?
- Are certain frozen foods, such as unsweetened fruit, acceptable?
Sources
- National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Description of the DASH Eating Plan
- U.S. National Library of Medicine, MedlinePlus, DASH Diet to Lower High Blood Pressure
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: www.nhlbi.nih.gov
- American Heart Association: www.heart.org
