The DASH Diet

First and foremost, you may be asking yourself "What does "DASH" stand for?" Well, it stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. If you are unfamiliar with the term "hypertension", it's medical jargon for high blood pressure (one of the leading causes of heart failure).

Despite the name, the DASH diet does not only help with high blood pressure. It can also aid with pre-diabetes, high cholesterol, gut health, inflammation, arthritis, mental health, menopause, and brain health. So, what exactly does this broad-healing diet consist of? And how easy is it to follow? Lets break it down!

The diet builds nutrient-dense meals around vegetables, fruits and whole grains, and can include fish, poultry, beans, nuts, and healthy oils. Without altering your sodium (salt) intake, lower blood pressure can be seen within weeks. If you choose to lower your sodium intake to 2,300 mg or less per day even greater reductions can be seen. Although for the DASH diet, no foods are off limit. Meals revolve around foods naturally rich in potassium, calcium, magnesium, fiber, and protein, and low in sodium, sugar, and unhealthy (saturated) fats. Even small, gradual changes can lead to significant benefits!

Moving to a new diet may seem difficult, so here are some tips:

• If you do not eat fruit now or your intake is slim, add a serving to your meals or substitute fruit for a snack
• Choose fat-free or low-fat dairy products to reduce your intake of saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories. This also increases your calcium!
• Choose lean cuts of meat and remove skin from poultry
• Some healthy snacks include unsalted rice cakes, nuts, raisins, graham crackers, fat-free or low-fat yogurt, and raw vegetables
• Choose whole grain foods for most grain servings to get more nutrients

Tips to reduce salt and sodium:

• Limit or substitute the use of condiments such as ketchup, mustard, hoarseradish, pickles or other sauces
• Cook rice, pasta and hot cereals without salt
• Boost flavor with herbs, spices, lemon, lime, vinegar or salt-free seasoning blends. You can start by cutting your salt in half and work your way towards healthy substitutes

Here are some easy DASH diet meals to jump start your journey to a healthy heart and body overall:

• Breakfast ideas: A cup of unsalted oatmeal, a banana, a cup of mixed fruit, a whole-wheat bagel with low-fat cream cheese, avocado toast, an orange, coffee, tea or water
• Lunch ideas: A hummus plate with fresh vegetables, spinach salad with a whole-wheat roll, tuna salad on crackers, apple slices and peanut butter
• Dinner ideas: Roasted salmon with wild rice, whole-wheat pasta with summer squash, vegetable stir fry with brown rice
• Snacks: A peach, 1/4 cup of almonds, 1/4 cup of unsalted trail mix, 1 cup low-fat yogurt

Overall, a healthy diet is not too difficult to obtain with the right information. Even a few small changes can make a huge impact. Start small, and build your own pathway to a healthy body! Always stay informed as well. Deaths due to heart failure have been increasing over time. In 2020, it was the leading cause of death in America with 695,602 deaths.