There are tons of eating method to meet your requirements for staying fitness or medical purpose. Among many of them, the DASH method is used for ones who have high blood pressure or hypertension. This stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, which can reduce your blood pressure and therefore prevent cancer, heart disease like a heart attack. Our facts below will help you to eat the DASH diet for hypertension treatment in an effective way.
How does the DASH diet work?
In overall, this eating method is a life long approach to a healthy eating style. The DASH diet was developed to lower blood pressure without using the medication in research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. This method focuses on 4 mains food group: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean meats. Studies found that hypertension is less common in people who follow a vegetarian diet. That is the reason why the DASH diet focuses on fruits, vegetables and low in red meats, salt and added sugar.
One of the factors to notice for those who want to eat the DAH diet for hypertension treatment is that to salt intake or the sodium level is reduced and restricted.
By controlling the sodium intake and other food levels, you can considerably improve your blood pressure and health conditions.
What to eat in the DASH diet?
The DASH diet for hypertension includes a lot of whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products. Besides, the diet also includes some fish, poultry and a small number of nuts and seeds.
Grains: 6 to 8 servings a day.
It consists of bread, cereal, rice and pasta. This means you can eat 1 slice whole-wheat bread, 1-ounce dry cereal, or 1/2 cup cooked cereal, rice or pasta.
Vegetables: 4 to 5 servings a day. These include tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, sweet potatoes, greens and other vegetables which are full of fibre, vitamins. One serving can be 1 cup raw leafy green vegetables or 1/2 cup cut-up raw or cooked vegetables.
Fruits: 4 to 5 servings a day.
1/2 cup fresh, frozen or canned fruit, or 4 ounces of juice you like is enough for a day. If you use canned fruit or juice, make sure that it’s sugar-free.
Dairy: 2 to 3 servings a day.
Milk, yogurt, cheese, and other dairy products are full of calcium, vitamin D, protein and be a key ingredient in the DASH diet for hypertension. But you should make sure that choosing the one that is low-fat or fat-free like Greek yogurt.
Lean meat and fish: 2 or fewer servings a day.
Choose lean meats with few fats such as 1 ounce of cooked meat. You should eat heart-healthy fish, such as salmon, mackerel or tuna.
Nuts and seeds: 5 to 6 servings a week.
You can take 1/3 cup nuts, 2 tablespoons seeds, and 1/2 cup cooked beans. Although nuts contain fat but are a healthy type which good for your health in moderation.
Tips to eat in a DASH diet
Change your diet gradually
Don’t suddenly change all your daily diet because your body can have a nutrient shock. Instead of switching to all whole grains, you can start by making one or two of your grain servings whole grains. To eat the DASH diet for hypertension, in every meal, increasing fruits, vegetables gradually can also help prevent bloating or diarrhea which may occur if you aren’t used to eating lots of vegetables.
