More than a billion young individuals suffer from high blood pressure, and this number is growing.
As high blood pressure is associated with an increased risk of disorders including heart disease, kidney failure, and stroke, the number of persons with high blood pressure has doubled in the previous 40 years.
The DASH diet’s primary goal is to lower high blood pressure. A person will minimise their consumption of red meat, fat, sugar, and salt while consuming plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, chicken, fish, nuts, and beans.
What is the Dash Diet?
DASH is for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The Dash diet is a nutritious eating plan designed to help treat or prevent hypertension (hypertension).
This diet includes foods high in potassium, calcium, and magnesium. These nutrients aid in blood pressure regulation. The diet restricts foods high in sodium, saturated fat, and added sugars. Source
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How Can An Dash Diet Help You Lose Weight
DASH reduces sugar intake and suggests consuming no more than three servings of sweets per week. Also, it limits daily sodium intake to a maximum of 2,300 mg. The diet is meant to be a component of a way of life that minimises alcohol use and places emphasis on stress management, physical activity, quitting smoking, and getting enough sleep. It’s not a fad diet, in other words. DASH is designed to be adhered to over the long term.
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Other Health Benefits of The DASH Diet
- Reduces Blood Pressure – The DASH diet has lowered blood pressure in both healthy and hypertensive individuals.
- May encourage weight loss – As many high-fat, sugary items are eliminated from the DASH diet, some people may discover that they automatically eat fewer calories and lose weight.
- Reduces risk of certain cancers – A recent analysis found that persons who followed the DASH diet had a decreased risk of these malignancies
- Reduces diabetes risk – Diet has been linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. According to certain research, it can also reduce insulin resistance.
Foods That You Can Eat In The Dash Diet
- Non-starchy vegetables and fruit
- Fat-free or low-fat dairy products
- Whole grains
- Eggs and egg substitutes, lean meats and poultry, beans, soy foods, legumes, and eggs and egg substitutes
- Fish
- Nuts and seeds
- Olive, canola oil, and avocados are high in heart-healthy fats.
Foods To Avoid In The Dash Diet
- Desserts and beverages with added sugar
- Saturated-fat-rich foods like full-fat dairy, fatty meals, tropical oils, and the majority of packaged snacks.
- Drinking alcohol
A Sample Dash Diet Meal Plan For 1 Week
Monday
- Breakfast 1 Slice of whole-wheat bread, 1 egg, 1 banana
- Lunch 1 Veggie-Hummus Sandwich, fruits
- Dinner Chicken soup, salad
Tuesday
- Breakfast Fruit smoothie with nuts
- Lunch Vegetable brown rice pulao / Vegetable Oats Upama
- Dinner Cauliflower and green peas sabzi with one multigrain roti
Wednesday
- Breakfast Toast with almond butter and any fresh juice
- Lunch Grilled fish/chicken with sprouts salad
- Dinner Egg sandwich/ egg Bhurji with roti
Thursday
- Breakfast One cup of Greek yoghourts with added fruits and dried nuts
- Lunch Mixed vegetable sabzi, with roti/brown rice and salad
- Dinner Paneer with Rotis without ghee
Friday
- Breakfast Peanut butter toast
- Lunch Soya bean chunks sabzi with multigrain roti
- Dinner Grilled chicken with sweet potato
Saturday
- Breakfast Oats with chopped apple and 1 tablespoon honey
- Lunch Mix vegetables with multigrain roti, salad
- Dinner Mixed fruits bowl
Sunday
- Breakfast 2 egg omelette with brown bread
- Lunch Any Daal and brown rice
- Dinner Mixed vegetables, anyone sweet/dark moderate-size chocolate of your choice
Tips And Tricks – The Dash Diet for Beginners
- Include a vegetable serving at lunch and dinner.
- Include fruit in your meals or as a snack. Canned and dried fruits are convenient, but make sure there is no added sugar.
- Drink low-fat or skim dairy products in place of full-fat or cream whenever possible.
- Limit your daily meat consumption to 6 ounces. Make some vegetarian meals.
- Increase your intake of vegetables and dry beans.
- Snack on unsalted pretzels or nuts, raisins, low-fat and fat-free yogurt, frozen yogurt, unsalted plain popcorn with no butter, and raw vegetables instead of chips or sweets.
Disadvantages of The Diet
- Those who follow a typical diet may struggle to adapt to the DASH diet because it’s hard to maintain.
- You won’t be able to have pre-packaged goods delivered to your home if you follow the DASH because it is not a commercial diet.
- You must measure amounts and count servings of foods that fit into various categories if you want to follow the DASH diet correctly.
- The DASH diet focuses on other health outcomes rather than weight loss.
- Patients with persistent heart failure, uncontrolled type II diabetes, lactose intolerance, and celiac disease may require the DASH diet.
Conclusion
The DASH diet has an emphasis on foods low in saturated fat, sugar, and salt and high in protein, fibre, potassium, magnesium, and calcium. The DASH diet significantly lowered blood pressure in almost all subgroups while not promoting weight loss or sodium restriction.
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