DASH Diet Meal Plan and How To Run DASH Diet – Hypertension (high blood pressure) and heart disease can actually be controlled by eating healthy foods. Applying a healthy diet every day can also trigger you to eat healthier foods more regularly and become a habit in the end. Read also: Isolated systolic hypertension: The causes and How to treat it.
Well, to help maximize the prevention of risk of heart disease and hypertension that can be present at any time. It’s good to try to follow a healthy diet from DASH diets. What is a DASH diet? What is a DASH diet meal plan that is easy and can be tried at home?
What is DASH Diet?
DASH diet is a dietary arrangement designed to prevent blood pressure spikes, and even reduce blood pressure in patients with hypertension. If the DASH diet is run disciplined, blood pressure can be dropped in just two weeks.
The menus composed in the DASH diet consist of low-salt foods, the DASH diet also focuses on nutrients that are effective in lowering blood pressure.
Salt (sodium) is the main enemy of patients with hypertension as it can give direct effect on the increase in blood pressure. While magnesium, calcium, and potassium are effective in lowering blood pressure.
The research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) showed the benefits of the DASH diet to lower blood pressure as effectively as the doctor’s medicines. The results shown are also quick. Many people who undergo a DASH diet experience a decrease in blood pressure in just fourteen days.
This is because a diet rich in minerals, high in fiber, low in saturated fat and sodium can help lower blood pressure. Many beneficial nutrients are found in fruits and vegetables, along with low-fat foods and milk.
Although this diet is not actually designed to lose weight but it turns out this diet is also effective in losing weight. The study also showed that older people that following the DASH diet experienced a decrease in body weight during the period of 8-24 weeks compared to those undergoing a low-calorie diet.
Do I not have to take hypertension medication if I have a DASH diet?
When run well, the DASH diet can help lower your blood pressure within 2 weeks. The decrease in the number is not too much, but if the routine continues to be done, the DASH diet is very potent to lower blood pressure in large quantities.
DASH Diet Meal Plan
DASH diet is a flexible meal plan that prioritizes natural and Whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole cereals. In addition to other healthy eating guidelines, this diet also encourages us to increase fish consumption, choose poultry, nuts, and healthy fats such as olive oil.
While for dessert, you can try to mix banana chocolate by combining frozen bananas with unsweetened chocolate powder.
The following list of intake materials can be prepared if you want to apply a DASH diet, The DASH Diet Meal Plan
- Wheat.
- Vegetables.
- Fruit.
- Meat, poultry and fish.
- Nuts.
How to Run DASH Diet
The DASH Diet should be done gradually, so you don’t have to directly reduce your sodium intake drastically. After knowing what the maximum sodium intake you can consume, here’s how to do it:
Reduce sodium intake.
You need sodium to maintain the balance of body fluids, but if the level of this substance is too high, it will cause hypertension. In addition to the salt, the nutrients are also found in canned food, instant food, dried foods, sweets, sauces, salad dressings, and junk food.
To reduce sodium intake, start by limiting the amount of salt you consume, so it does not exceed 1 teaspoon in a day. Also note the number and percentage of sodium adequacy on the packaging label when you buy food or drink.
Choose the right ingredients.
In order to have a low salty diet that you do not in vain, you should also pay attention to the type and portion of foodstuffs. Of course, choose a healthy diet and avoid processed food products. Here are some examples of DASH diet meal plan that you can try:
Breakfast:
- 150 grams of oatmeal cook with cinnamon powder.
- 1 slice of whole wheat bread with low fat butter.
- 1 Banana fruit.
- 150 ml of milk without the fat.
Lunch:
- Tuna salad made from 50 grams of tuna without salt, 2 tbsp mayonnaise, 15 grapes, celery, and 50 grams of lettuce.
- Biscuits.
- 150 ml of milk without the fat.
Dinner:
- 150 grams of wheat spaghetti with 100 grams of marinara sauce without additional salt.
- 100 gram Mixed salad.
- 1 slice of small wheat bread with 1 tsp of olive oil.
Monitor incoming calories.
Monitoring daily calorie intake will help optimize the function of low-salt diets. To do so, you do not need to scale out your meal. You can do a safer way as follows:
- Consume fruits as a snack.
- Change the proportion of foodstuffs to more vegetables than meat.
- Replace the ice cream with yogurt.
- Using a low-fat sauce and salad dressing.
- Check the packaging label between two or three similar products to-get the product with the least amount of calories.
- Eat with smaller portions gradually.
- Other factors that are also important for weight loss with a low salt diet are adequate need of fluid, both from drinking water and other fluid sources. However, avoid consuming sweet drinks that contain high amounts of sugar.
Thank you very much for reading DASH Diet Meal Plan and How run DASHI diet, hopefully useful.
