Use the DASH diet to fight high blood pressure

The DASH Diet is based on the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) study. In it, researchers tried to create a diet that reduced blood pressure without excluding meat. We'll go over the diet and its benefits.

• The DASH Diet isn't a weight-loss diet, since it's based on consuming 2000 calories a day. If you're overweight though, you'll probably still lose weight, with the bonus of your blood pressure dropping as well.
• The DASH Diet helps lower levels of cholesterol and homocysteine, which are major risk factors for heart disease.
• The best part? Results happen fast! You can often start seeing the benefits after just two weeks.
• This is a program your entire family should follow, regardless of their blood pressure. It might help them avoid the rise in blood pressure that often comes with age, and it will certainly reduce their risk of various cancers, heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic health conditions.
• The DASH Diet reduces the overall amount of fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol in the typical diet. It increases fibre intake through the consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole-grain products, and low-fat dairy foods, and reduces the number of sweets and sugary drinks.
• It provides about 27 percent of calories from fat and 18 percent from protein, with the remainder (55 percent) from carbohydrates. Compare that with today's "typical" diet, in which 40 percent of calories come from fat, 43 percent from carbohydrates and 17 percent from protein.
• The low-sodium version reduces the amount of sodium to 1,500 mg a day.

Here are the specific guidelines you should follow when making a switch to the DASH Diet:

• Seven to eight servings a day of whole-grain products. This includes bread, cereal, and pasta. Be sure to select high-fibre, low-sugar cereals. Skip the white bread and go for a loaf which has "whole grain" at the top of the ingredients list.
• Four to five servings of vegetables each day. One 200 g (7 oz) bag of washed lettuce equals a bit more than one serving. Add in a sliced tomato, half a red pepper, and a 50 g  (2 oz) stalk of raw broccoli and you've just eaten four servings. This category is particularly important because vegetables are good sources of potassium and magnesium, which are important when it comes to controlling blood pressure.
• Four to five servings of fruit daily. You can eat them fresh, canned, juiced, or even dried.
• Two to three daily servings of low-fat or fat-free dairy products. We're talking cheese, milk, yogurt. If you're feeling adventurous, you can even go for ice cream! In moderation, of course.
• No more than two servings a day of meat, poultry, or fish. This includes non-meat protein such as eggs and tofu, as well as all types of seafood.
• Four to five servings a week of nuts, seeds, and legumes. An easy way to remember this is to go for a handful of nuts every weekday. Nuts are great sources of magnesium, potassium, protein, and fibre.
• No more than three servings a day of fat. This includes all oils, butter, regular salad dressings, and mayonnaise.
• No more than five servings a week of sweets. Basically anything with added sugar is considered a "sweet." Ditch the candy!

And there you have it! If you're looking to safeguard yourself from high blood pressure and hypertension, the DASH Diet is one of the most effective ways to do so. And the best part? You can still enjoy the foods you love.