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DASH Diet Plan for Managing Blood Pressure
If you have high blood pressure and intend to see a doctor, your prescription might recommend the DASH diet. Doctors and dietitians frequently recommend this diet when looking for nutritional treatment for high blood pressure, heart disease, or diabetes.
Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) is a restricted meal plan with high levels of sodium, added sugar, and saturated fat.
The DASH diet is rich in foods that are high in potassium, calcium, and magnesium to help you control your high blood pressure.
The two main factors that might lead to heart disease and stroke are an increase in LDL cholesterol and blood pressure. The DASH diet has shown excellent effectiveness in lowering blood pressure within two weeks.
Does a DASH Diet Require You To Eliminate Sodium From Your Diet?
You need to consume less salt to follow the DASH diet. 3,400 mg of sodium per day is much greater than the DASH diet's recommended limit, according to a survey, in the average diet.
The DASH diet provides two different low-sodium diets. One diet restricts your sodium consumption to 2,300 mg, roughly equal to the sodium in 1 teaspoon salt. The alternative diet permits 1,500 mg per day.
Foods To Focus During Dash Diet
When following a DASH diet, it is preferable to concentrate on the foods that are included rather than those that are excluded. It will be much simpler to focus on the advantages of this diet.
The DASH diet is nutrient-dense and delivers all of its health benefits to your heart. Lean meat, fruits, vegetables, legumes, low-fat dairy products, poultry, and low salt are all abundant in this diet. It was created primarily to treat high blood pressure. Adding foods high in protein, fibre, potassium, calcium, and magnesium to your diet is effortless.
Where Do I Begin?
Restricting food is necessary for the DASH diet. Where to begin and what to remove can take time to decide.
A few basic steps will help you quickly adjust to the DASH diet. Start by keeping your daily sodium intake to no more than 1 teaspoon and two and a third teaspoon of sodium when your body is accustomed to the diet.
Nutritional Breakdown Of The DASH Diet
Your dietary requirements are analysed daily and weekly as part of the DASH diet plan. Your daily calorie intake determines how many servings you should consume from each food type.
Lay out the DASH diet's categories. It will be simple for you to adhere to the diet with the proper nutrition from each food type.
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Grains (6 to 8 servings daily) - Each serving would include
One slice of bread, 1-ounce dry cereal, 1/2 cup of cooked cereal, rice or pasta.
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Vegetables (4 to 5 servings a day) - Each serving would include
1 cup leached leafy vegetable, 1/2 cup cut-up raw or cooked vegetables, or 1/2 cup vegetable juice
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Fruits (4 to 5 servings a day) - Each serving would include 1 medium fruit, 1/2 cup fresh, frozen, or canned fruit, or 1/2 cup fruit juice.
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Fat-free or low-fat dairy products (2 to 3 servings a day) - Each serving would include 1 cup milk or yoghurt, 1 1/2 ounces cheese .
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Lean meats, poultry, and fish (and six 1-ounce servings or fewer daily) - Each serving would include 1 ounce of cooked lean meat or egg.
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Nuts, seeds and legumes (4 to 5 servings a week ) - Each serving would consist of: 1/3 cup of nuts, two tablespoons of homemade peanut butter(without salt), 2 tablespoons of seeds, or 1/2 cup of cooked legumes (dried beans or peas)
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Fats and oils (2 to 3 servings a day) - Each serving would include 2 tablespoons of olive oil as a salad dressing
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Sweets and added sugars (Five servings or fewer a week) - Each serving would consist of:
1 tablespoon of sugar, 1/2 cup of sorbet, and 1 cup of lemonade .
Tips for Maintaining a DASH Diet
Here, we have listed a few tips to help you maintain a dash diet. Have a look!
1. Monitor your salt intake to ensure you stay within the limit.
2. Add vegetables to your lunch and dinner to make them colourful.
3. Include fresh fruit in your diet regularly.
4. Reduce the amount of butter, margarine, or salad dressing you consume daily and switch to low-fat or fat-free condiments instead.
5. Make the switch to low-fat or skim-dairy products from full-fat or cream.
6. Limit each meal to 6 ounces and make an effort to eat vegetarian food.
7. Increase the number of veggies and dry beans in your diet.
8. Replace your unhealthy snacking with healthier options like nuts, raisins, low-fat and fat-free yoghurt, frozen yoghurt, unsalted, plain popcorn without butter, and raw veggies.
9. Pick packaged foods with minimal salt levels.
The Bottom Line
Dash diet can do miracles! This diet has no harmful side effects. However, as your body needs time to get used to a diet low in sodium, you may initially suffer mood swings, frequent hunger, cravings for salt and sugar, and bloating.
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