Understanding DASH Diet

DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. It is a healthy eating plan that is made to prevent or treat high blood pressure, also called hypertension.It might also lower cholesterol associated with heart disease , called low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

The two huge risk factors for heart stroke and disease include high LDL cholesterol levels and High blood pressure.

The DASH diet is high in minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and potassium. It mainly consists of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. It also includes fish, fat-free or low-fat dairy products, poultry, nuts, and beans.

The diet restricts foods that are high in salt content, also referred to as sodium. It also limits added sugar intake and saturated fats like full-fat dairy products and fatty meals.

Individuals with high blood pressure could majorly benefit from this diet as it alleviates salt intake. The usual DASH diet encourages no more than one teaspoon (2300 mg) of sodium per day.

Potential Benefits

The DASH diet offers potential benefits beyond reducing blood pressure, including reduced cancer risk and weight loss. Hence, you shouldn’t expect DASH to help you shed weight on its own. As it is majorly designed to lower blood pressure, the diet impacts your health in numerous ways.

Lowers Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is a measure of the force on your blood vessels and organs when your blood passes through them. It’s counted in two numbers:

Systolic pressure: The pressure when your heart beats in your blood vessels

Diastolic pressure: The pressure when your heart is at rest in your blood vessels between heartbeats.

Normal blood pressure for adults is diastolic pressure below 80 mmHg and systolic pressure below 120 mmHg. This is usually written with the systolic blood pressure above the diastolic pressure, like 120/80.

Individuals with high blood pressure have a reading of 140/90. Interestingly, the DASH diet exhibits lowered blood pressure in both those with high blood pressure and healthy individuals.

In studies, people on the DASH diet would have still experienced lower blood pressure even if they hadn’t lost weight or restrict intake of salt.

However, when intake of sodium was restricted, the DASH diet alleivated the blood pressure even further. In fact, individuals who consumed reduced amount of salt saw a great reduction of blood pressure.

It is essential to remember that a decrease in blood pressure doesn’t always translate to a decreased risk of heart disease.

It may aid in weight loss

You might experience reduced blood pressure on the DASH diet whether it aids in weight loss or not. However, if you already have high blood pressure, you could have been asked to lose some pounds.

As the more you weigh the higher your blood pressure could be .Also, shedding some pounds has been shown to help people lose weight. Individuals also suggest that you could lose weight from DASH diet.

However, individuals who have lost weight on the DASH diet have shown to have been in a controlled calorie deficitas they were told to consume fewer calories than they were expending.

As the DASH diet cuts out a lot of sugary fats, high-fat, individuals might find that they could automatically lower their calorie intake and lose weight. Others might have to consciously restrict their intake .

However, you’ll have to go on a calorie-reduced diet if you are looking to reduce some weight.

Other Potential Health Benefits

DASH diet might affect other areas of health. 

Lower metabolic syndrome risks

Recent studies have noted that the DASH diet alleviates your risk of metabolic syndrome by up to 81%.

Lowers diabetes risk: The diet has been associated to an alleviated risk of type 2 diabetes. Some studies demonstrate that it could improve insulin resistance as well .

Decreases heart disease risk: According to the review, following a DASH diet was associated with a 20% alleviated risk of heart disease and a 29% lower risk of stroke.

Many of these protective effects are attributed to the diet’s high vegetable and fruit content. In general, eating more vegetables and fruits can aid in reducing the risk of disease.

Does It Work for Everyone?

While research on the DASH diet determined that blood pressure alleviation occurred in those with a reduced intake of salt, the benefits of salt restriction are still unclear.

Reducing salt intake could significantly affect blood pressure for individuals with high blood pressure. However, the effects of reduced salt intake are much smaller for individuals with normal blood pressure.

How to Make Your Diet More DASH-Like

As there are no set foods on the DASH diet, you can try adapting your current diet to the DASH guidelines by including the following:

• Swap refined grains for whole grains.
• Try cooking with vegetable oils.
• Eat more fruits and vegetables.
• Choose low-fat dairy products or fat-free.
• Choose lean protein sources like beans, poultry or fish.
• Limit your intake of foods which are high in added sugars, like candy and soda.
• Limit your intake of foods which are high in saturated fats like full-fat dairy, fatty meats, and oils like palm oil and coconut oil.
• In addition to measured fresh fruit juice portions, this diet recommends sticking to low-calorie drinks like teas, water, and coffee.

Meal plan

To help you enjoy healthy and delicious meals ideal for blood pressure troubles, we’ve mapped out an Indian diet plan for high blood pressure and specific foods that are suitable for high BP patients.

Day 1 

• Breakfast: Oats idly with tomato chutney
• Mid-morning: Apple/ banana/pear/watermelon – 1 bowel/papaya- 1 bowel
• Lunch: Multigrain roti -1, 1 bowl of Vegetable dalia, curd, quarter plate salad
• Evening snack: Cucumber mint water/beetroot juice
• Dinner: Vegetable soup, multigrain roti, quarter plate salad

Day 2 

• Breakfast : Ragi cheela (Besan and ragi)
• Mid-morning: Apple/ banana/pear/watermelon – 1 bowel/papaya- 1 bowel
• Lunch: Multigrain roti – 1, 1 bowl of any seasonal vegetable (avoid spinach, potato, methi), curd, quarter plate salad
• Evening snack: Cucumber mint water/beetroot juice
• Dinner: Brown rice, oats pulao, quarter plate salad

Day 3

• Breakfast: Paneer salad ( add vegetables)
• Mid-morning: Apple/ banana/pear/watermelon – 1 bowel/papaya – 1 bowel
• Lunch: Multigrain roti – 1,arhar dal boiled, curd, quarter plate salad
• Evening snack: Cucumber mint water/beetroot juice
• Dinner: Bean and barley soup, soybean subji, Multigrain roti – 1, quarter plate salad
• Post Dinner: Drink chia seeds water ( soak 1 cup of chia seeds in water before drinking for at least an hour)

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