DASH 1 & 2 Diet

DASH 1 & 2 Diet

The DASH 1 & 2 Diet

A landmark study called DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) looked at the effects of an overall eating plan in adults with normal to high blood pressure. Researchers found that in just eight weeks, people following the DASH 1 diet saw their blood pressure decrease. A subsequent study called DASH 2 looked at the effect of following the DASH diet and restricting salt intake to 1500 mg per day. Under the DASH 2 diet, people with Stage 1 hypertension had their blood pressure decrease as much or more than any anti-hypertensive medication had been able to lower it.

What are the benefits of the DASH eating plan?

Following the DASH eating plan and eating less sodium (salt) can reduce your risk of high blood pressure. If you already have high blood pressure, following the DASH eating plan and eating less sodium can lower your blood pressure.

Results from the DASH research showed that following a DASH plan containing 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium per day lowered blood pressure. Following a DASH plan containing 1,500 mg of sodium lowered blood pressure even more (systolic blood pressure was lowered by about 7 to 12 mmHg).

One important note: If you take medicine to control high blood pressure, you should keep taking it. However, you should tell your doctor that you’re now following the DASH eating plan.

Following the DASH eating plan

The DASH eating plan is easy to follow using common foods available in your grocery store. The DASH eating plan includes daily servings from different food groups. The number of servings you should have depends on your daily calorie (energy) needs.

To figure out your calorie needs, you need to consider your age and physical activity level. If you want to maintain your current weight, you should eat only as many calories as you burn by being physically active. This is called ‘energy balance’.

If you need to lose weight, you should eat fewer calories than you burn or increase your activity level to burn more calories than you eat.

Consider your physical activity level. Are you sedentary, moderately active, or active?

  • Sedentary means that you do only light physical activity as part of your typical daily routine.
  • Moderately active means that you do physical activity equal to walking about 1.5 to 3 miles a day at 3 to 4 miles per hour, plus light physical activity.
  • Active means that you do physical activity equal to walking more than 3 miles per day at 3 to 4 miles per hour, plus light physical activity.

Recommended by the American Heart Association and the National Cancer Institute, the DASH diet is an overall eating plan that focuses on what people should eat, rather than what not to eat. Rick in rich in fruits, vegetables, complex carbohydrates, and low-fat dairy products, the DASH diet is lower in fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium, and higher in potassium, magnesium, and calcium than the typical American diet. The high levels of potassium, magnesium, and calcium in the DASH diet are thought to be at least partially responsible for its results. Table 3 below outlines the DASH eating plan.

Table 3: The DASH Diet

Food Group

Daily Servings

Significance to the DASH Diet

Grains and grain products
7-8
Carbohydrates and fiber
Vegetables
4-5
Potassium, magnesium, and fiber
Fruits
4-5
Potassium, magnesium, and fiber
Low-fat or fat-free milk or milk products
2-3
Calcium, protein, potassium, and magnesium
Meats, poultry, and fish
2 or less
Protein and magnesium
Nuts, seeds, and beans
4-5 a week
Magnesium, potassium, protein, and fiber
Source: A Clinical Trial of the Effects of Dietary Patterns on Blood Pressure. New England Journal of
Medicine. 1997.336:1117-1124.

 

Table 2: Sodium, calorie, calcium, and potassium content of foods.

Food

Amount

Food energy
Kcalories

Sodium (Na)
mg

Potassium (K)
mg

Calcium (Ca)
mg

BEVERAGES
Fruit drinks, dehydrated, reconstituted:
Lemonade
1 cup
102
13
33
71
Orange
1 cup
115
12
49
61
Fruit juices, unsweetened:
Apple cider or juice
1 cup
117
5
250
15
Grapefruit juice
1 cup
75
4
360
32
Orange juice
1 cup
120
5
498
25
Grape juice, bottled
1 cup
159
8
279
27
Prune juice
1 cup
192
5
588
35
Cocoa mix, water added (Carnation)
1 cup
110
232
176
107
Coffee, freeze-dried (using 2 tsp.)
1 cup
6
2
166
6
DAIRY PRODUCTS
Natural cheese:
Cheddar
1 ounce
112
176
23
211
Colby
1 ounce
110
171
35
192
Cottage, 4 1/2% milk fat
1/2 cup
120
457
260
108
Cream
1 ounce
99
84
34
23
Monterey Jack
1 ounce
105
152
23
209
Mozzarella, part skim milk
1 ounce
72
132
24
183
Cream, sour
1 tablespoon
26
6
17
14
Milk
Skim
1 cup
89
126
406
296
Whole
1 cup
149
120
370
290
Ice Cream:
1 cup
290
112
193
208
Vanilla Yogurt:
Regular plain
1 cup
152
105
323
272
Fruit flavored with nonfat milk solids
1 cup
231
133
442
345
EGGS, FISH, MEAT, POULTRY AND RELATED PRODUCTS
Eggs, whole (boiled)
1
78
59
62
26
Fish
Salmon, broiled
3 ounces
156
99
378
127
Sardines, canned
3 ounces
174
552
501
372
Trout, brook, raw
3 ounces
86
67
319
12
Tuna, canned in water
3 ounces
108
288
237
14
Shellfish
Clams, raw, hard
3 ounces
68
174
264
58
Crab, canned
3 ounces
86
425
94
38
Lobster, boiled (northern)
3 ounces
80
212
153
55
Scallop, steamed
3 ounces
95
225
405
98
Shrimp, canned
3 ounces
324
1,955
122
9
Meat
Beef, lean hamburger, cooked
1 patty
140
55
480
14
Pork
Bacon, cooked
2 strips
96
274
34
2
Ham
3 ounces
298
1,114
284
4
Poultry
Chicken, roasted, breast without skin
1/2 breast
142
63
220
13
Turkey, roasted, breast with skin
3 1/2 ounces
189
67
289
21
FRUITS
Apples, medium (2 1/2 inches in diameter)
1 apple
87
2
165
10
Apricots
3 apricots
51
1
281
17
Avocado, raw, peeled
1
167
22
604
10
Banana, raw, medium
1
127
2
550
12
Strawberries, raw
1 cup
55
2
244
31
Cherries, raw, sweet
1 cup
82
150
223
26
Grapefruit, pink, raw, medium
1/2
40
1
135
16
Oranges, raw
1
71
1
311
65
Grapes
10
31
1
72
7
Cantaloupe
1/2 melon
60
24
502
28
Peaches, raw
1
38
1
202
9
Pears, raw
1
122
1
260
16
Pineapple, raw
1 cup
69
1
195
23
Plums, raw
1
33
1
150
9
Raisins
1 cup
462
17
1,221
99
Watermelon
1/16 melon
152
10
560
38
GRAIN PRODUCTS
Bread
White
1 slice
62
114
24
20
Whole Wheat
1 slice
56
132
63
23
Cereals:
Cream of Wheat, Regular
3/4 cup
100
3
17
10
Oatmeal
3/4 cup
111
1
98
16
Crackers
Graham
1
27
48
27
3
Saltine
2
28
70
7
1
Whole wheat
1
16
30
120
1
Macaroni, cooked, no salt
1 cup
151
2
85
11
Muffin, English (Wonder)
1 medium
131
293
N.L.
80
Noodles, egg, cooked, no salt
1 cup
200
2
70
16
Rice, brown, cooked, no salt
1 cup
178
10
105
18
Snacks
Corn chips, Fritos
1 ounce
154
231
23
35
Popcorn with oil and salt
1 cup
41
175
256
1
Potato chips
10
114
200
226
8
Pretzel sticks, Frito Lay
3
324
17
99
21

DESSERTS AND SWEETS

Cookies
Brownies, iced, frozen
1
126
69
54
12
Chocolate chip (commercial)
2 cookies
104
69
30
8
Oatmeal and raisins
2
126
55
104
6
Sandwich type (round)
2
99
96
8
5
Sugar
1
89
108
15
16
Doughnut, cake (plain)
1
125
160
29
13
Cakes, from mix
Angel
1/12
121
134
40
4
White
1/12
187
238
38
31
Pies, frozen
Apple
1/8 of pie
160
208
76
13
Cherry
1/8 of pie
100
169
82
12
LEGUMES AND NUTS
Almonds, roasted and salted
1 cup
984
311
1,214
369
Beans, baked, no pork
1 cup
236
606
832
100
Beans and peas, dry, cooked:
Northern
1 cup
118
5
416
50
Blackeye, cooked
1 cup
178
12
625
40
Pinto, calico, raw
1/2 cup
349
4
984
135
Split, cooked
1 cup
208
5
536
20
Kidney, canned
1 cup
225
844
660
72
Cashews, roasted
1 cup
561
1,200
464
38
Peanuts
Dry, roasted, salted
1 cup
838
986
1,009
104
Unsalted
1 cup
838
8
1,009
104
Peanut butter
1 tablespoon
86
81
123
11
Pecans
1 cup
696
1
420
74
Pistachios
1 cup
594
6
972
131
Walnuts, English
1 cup
781
3
540
119
VEGETABLES
Asparagus, canned
4 spears
14
298
127
14
Snap beans, canned
1 cup
43
326
227
81
Beets, cooked, fresh
1 cup
54
73
344
24
Broccoli, raw
1 stalk
32
23
382
103
Cabbage, green, raw
1 cup
24
8
233
49
Carrots, raw, grated
1 cup
46
34
375
41
Cauliflower, raw, flower pieces
1 cup
27
17
295
25
Celery, raw
1 stalk (outer)
8
25
170
20
Corn
Cooked, fresh
1 ear
70
1
151
2
Frozen
1 cup
130
7
304
5
Cream style, regular, canned
1 cup
210
671
248
8
Cucumber
7 slices
4
2
45
7
Lettuce, iceberg, chopped
1 cup
7
4
96
11
Mushrooms, raw
1 cup
20
7
290
4
Onions
1 medium
38
10
157
27
Peas
Cooked
1 cup
106
2
294
34
Frozen, regular
3 ounces
58
80
116
16
Potatoes
Baked or boiled without skin
1 medium
139
5
755
14
French fried
10 strips
137
15
427
8
Mashed with milk and salt
1 cup
137
632
548
50
Pumpkin, canned
1 cup
76
12
552
58
Spinach
Raw, chopped
1 cup
14
49
259
51
Frozen, chopped, cooked
1/2 cup
23
65
333
113
Squash, summer, cooked
1 cup
28
5
282
50
Squash, winter, baked, mashed
1 cup
126
2
922
56
Sweet potatoes:
Baked or boiled
1 sm. potato
141
20
300
40
Canned, solidly packed
1 sm. potato
108
48
200
25
Tomato, raw
1 med. tomato
33
14
366
20
Tomato paste
1 cup
215
77
2,237
71
Tomato sauce
1 cup
97
1,498
1,060
32
CONDIMENTS, FATS AND OILS
Catsup
1 tablespoon
16
156
55
3
Mustard, prepared, yellow
1 teaspoon
4
65
7
4
Olives, green, large
4 olives
18
323
8
10
Pickles, dill
1 lg. pickle
11
928
200
26
Sauces
A-1
1 tablespoon
12
275
51
3
Barbecue
1 tablespoon
15
130
28
3
Worcestershire
1 tablespoon
12
206
120
15
Butter, regular
1 tablespoon
108
116
4
4
Margarine
1 tablespoon
108
140
3
3
Salad dressing
Blue cheese
1 tablespoon
71
153
5
11
French, bottled
1 tablespoon
57
214
11
2
Italian, bottled
1 tablespoon
77
116
2
2
Mayonnaise
1 tablespoon
61
78
1
2
Thousand Island
1 tablespoon
70
109
16
2