DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. As the name implies, the DASH diet has been shown to lower blood pressure in patients with hypertension. It is typically followed for three months, at which point patients can begin seeing results, but there’s no problem keeping it for a more extended period.
In this article, we’ll take a look at everything you need to know about the DASH diet. Keep reading to learn more!
When was the DASH Diet Invented?
The DASH diet was designed to prevent heart disease and reduce the signs and symptoms in symptomatic patients. It started to be developed in 1992 when the National Institute of Health began funding many studies to see how the diet was involved in changing the symptoms of hypertension.
Based on these studies, another big group of researchers came up with this diet. This group was formed by registered dietitians and nutrition researchers, including Dr. George Bray and Dr. Donna Ryan. After that, they published an article in 1997 showing how the DASH diet works.
The DASH and Mediterranean diets are regarded as the diets with the best long-term effects on the body. The DASH diet focuses on lowering blood pressure and cholesterol while ensuring you are provided with a healthy serving of vegetables. The Mediterranean diet focuses on improving the sensation of satiety, limiting sodium, and finding healthy fats.
An Overview of the DASH Diet
Here’s how the DASH diet works: The DASH diet is low sodium, high fiber diet. This means you limit your sodium intake and consume more fiber, whole grains, vegetables, and fruit.
The DASH diet recommends a daily intake of fewer than 2,300 milligrams of sodium and a minimum of 25 grams of fiber. Besides these basic notions, the DASH diet also recommends the following:
- Limit your intake of saturated fat and cholesterol: Saturated fat should be limited to less than 7% of your daily calorie intake. This fat is found in items such as butter, beef, poultry, whole milk, cheese, cream, and fried foods. Cholesterol should be limited to less than 200 milligrams per day. This fat can be found in chicken, beef, and eggs.
- Limit your added sugar intake: Added sugar should be limited to between 5% and 10% of your daily calorie intake. This sugar is added to items such as cookies, candy, soda, cakes, muffins, and ice cream.
- Limit your intake of empty calories: Empty calories are calories that do not provide much nutrition. These calories should be limited as much as possible, and they come from processed foods, especially if they are sweetened or contain plenty of saturated or trans fats.