Contents
The DASH (dietary approaches to stop hypertension) diet was developed by the National Institute of Heart, Lung, and Hematopoietic Diseases in the United States for the prevention and treatment of high blood pressure. However, anyone can benefit from this diet model.
Nutritional modifications towards the DASH diet are particularly recommended in people at risk of cardiovascular diseases, i.e. people who are overweight, obese, with increased levels of total and LDL cholesterol, diabetes, or people with low physical activity or smoking.
What is hypertension?
Hypertension is a disease entity characterized by a periodically or permanently elevated blood pressure. The disease develops as a result of unfavorable environmental or genetic factors, or as a consequence of another disease (e.g. kidney diseases). Arterial hypertension is diagnosed when systolic blood pressure is equal to or greater than 140 mm Hg and / or diastolic blood pressure is equal to or greater than 90 mm Hg. (at least two blood pressure measurements are made at the time of the doctor’s visit).
The environmental factors that influence the development of arterial hypertension include:
- incorrect diet,
- excess body weight,
- low level of physical activity,
- smoking tobacco,
- excessive alcohol consumption.
What diet is conducive to the development of hypertension?
- Rich in table salt,
- high-energy (leading to excess body weight),
- low in vegetables and fruit,
- rich in highly processed products,
- high in saturated fatty acids,
- low in natural sources of potassium and calcium.
What is the DASH diet
The DASH nutritional plan is rich in vegetables and fruits, which are a rich source of dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. In people suffering from hypertension – increasing the amount of dietary fiber consumed leads to a decrease in blood pressure.
It is also worth mentioning that vegetables and fruits are a natural source of potassium, which also affects blood pressure values. It is recommended that potassium be supplied with natural sources of this element (vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, etc.), and not by supplementation.
The sodium intake should be limited. This effect can be obtained by adding a lot of aromatic herbs and spices to the dishes instead of salt. Do not add salt when cooking rice, pasta and vegetables. It is worth remembering that products such as cheese and cold cuts usually already contain large amounts of salt.
Low-fat dairy products are recommended, the consumption of which reduces the risk of developing hypertension. This relationship is probably due to the fact that dairy products contain calcium and vitamin D. Adequate calcium intake may reduce the negative effects of sodium.
It is also important to eat whole grains (whole grain bread, brown rice, whole grain pasta, coarse grains, oatmeal, bran), legumes (lentils, chickpeas, peas, beans), nuts and seeds.
It is recommended to eat lean meat such as turkey, chicken, rabbit, and the presence of fish in the diet is also important. You should also limit sweets and sources of saturated fat such as coconut oil, palm oil, butter, full-fat dairy products, eggs, and cream. It is recommended to use avocado, olive oil, linseed oil, rice oil, fish oil.
Recommended daily portions of each product group in a 2000 kcal diet
| group of products | Number of servings |
|---|---|
| Grain products | 7-8 |
| Vegetables | 4-5 |
| Fruits | 4-5 |
| Low-fat dairy products | 2-3 |
| Lean meat, fish | 2 or less |
| Legumes, nuts, seeds | 4-5 a week |
| Fats | 2-3 |
| Sweets | Limited quantities |
| Sodium | Less than 2300 mg |
DASH has been shown to lower systolic blood pressure on average by 6 mm Hg, and diastolic pressure by an average of 3 mm Hg, and these effects are present after just 2 weeks of using the diet.
It is worth noting that in addition to a proper diet, other elements of a healthy lifestyle are also important, such as physical activity, losing excess body weight or maintaining a proper body weight, adequate sleep duration and hygiene, coping with stress, quitting smoking and reducing alcohol consumption.
Bibliography:
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/dash-eating-plan https://dashdiet.org/what-is-the-dash-diet.html https://ncez.pl/abc-zywienia-/zasady-zdrowego-zywienia/dieta-dash——gwiazda-wsrod-diet https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482514/ Grzymisławski M (ed.) Clinical dietetics. Warsaw: PZWL; 2019.