DASH (hypertension) diet

The Healthy Foodie

DASH (hypertension) diet

The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is promoted by the National Institutes of Health based on great studies showing that diet can affect blood pressure.

Our kidneys evolved over millenia for a low sodium high potassium diet. Industrialization and fast food has changed the way food is produced and how much sodium and potassium we consume. The consequences for our kidneys are that we cannot get rid of all that sodium very well and lose a lot of potassium with the sodium we excrete. These effects cause our total body fluids to increase and blood pressures to go up!

Components of the DASH diet

Limit sodium to no more than 2000mg a day
Increase fruit and vegetable intake (which has a benefit on blood pressure also!)
Increase low fat dairy products
There is some preliminary evidence that we should watch how much chloride we consume, also

For health professionals interested in reading a great review of the importance of sodium in reducing hypertension, read the New England Journal of Medicine, May 10, 2007.

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