The DASH diet can save your life, literally. High blood pressure is the leading preventable cause of death. 54% of strokes and 47% of heart attacks are caused by it. And the DASH diet is clinically proven to decrease blood pressure and help keep you alive.
I first mentioned the DASH diet in episode 237, which is about the kind of diet that can help prevent dementia. You can find it at runningafever.com/237. I mentioned it because it is part of the MIND diet. It’s an acronym within an acronym. MIND stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Nerogenerative Delay.
The DASH diet is designed to help people with hypertension. To say that hypertension is common is a gross understatement. Half of all adults in the United States suffer from it. And 30% of the world’s adult population has high blood pressure. One article published by the National Institutes of Health called it the leading preventable cause of death in the world. It can be controlled by medication, diet, and exercise. Get an annual checkup and ask your doctor if you need medication.
Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury. It’s represented by two numbers separated by a slash or a line. The top number is systolic blood pressure, the bottom number is diastolic. If your systolic bp is higher than 140 and your diastolic is higher than 90, or both, you have high blood pressure.
Proponents of the DASH diet believe it is a good step in controlling hypertension. DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, and the diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy foods.
A study was commissioned in 1992 and carried out by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). It was the largest study of dietary effects on blood pressure at that time and included 479 participants. The study found that compared to a typical American diet, DASH lowered blood pressure by 5.5 and 3.0 (systolic and diastolic) overall. For people with high blood pressure, the results were more dramatic,11.4 and 5.5.
Okay, so it’s important, and it works. What exactly does this diet consist of? Well, first of all, this is not a fad diet. And it’s not what I call a “no” diet, one that just tells you what not to eat. The DASH diet tells you good things to eat, and there are even a bunch of recipes available, from the NIH, NHLBI, and elsewhere. A search at RunningAFEVER.com/Amazon for “dash diet” came back with over 1000 results.
Based on a 2000 calorie diet, DASH calls for:
6-8 servings of whole grains
4-5 servings of fruits
4-5 servings of vegetables
2-3 servings of low-fat dairy foods
2-3 servings of fats and oils
2 or fewer servings of meat, poultry or fish
Also, you should have no more than 4-5 servings of nuts, seeds, or dry beans per week, and a maximum of 5 servings of sweets and foods with added sugars.
So this is all like reading a textbook. What does a typical DASH meal day look like
Breakfast:
3/4 cup bran flakes cereal with 1 cup low-fat milk
1 medium banana
1 slice whole-wheat bread with 1 tsp margarine
1 cup orange juice
Lunch:
chicken salad sandwich on whole-wheat bread
salad with cucumber, tomato, sunflower seeds, and Italian dressing
fruit cocktail
juice
Supper:
roast beef with fat-free beef gravy
green beans sauteed with canola oil
baked potato with fat-free sour cream, reduced-fat cheddar cheese, and chopped scallions
whole wheat roll with margarine
apple
low-fat milk
Snacks:
almonds
raisins
fat-free, no-sugar-added-yogurt
This came from the NIH’s free ebook, but as I said, this diet has been around for almost 30 years and there are thousands of recipe books out there.
Can I do this? I think so. I already eat whole-wheat bread, buns, and crackers, have for a long time. I have quite a bit of fruit in my diet, though it is all citrus. I have to look at the fine print to see what kinds of fruits and veggies are better. I eat lite yogurt. I love salads, just started eating them again after almost a year of COVID madness. I personally think that Smart Balance is better than margarine. That’s one thing that has come about since 1992, margarine I believe contains about as much fat as butter, the difference being that margarine is based on plant oil. But smart balance, well it might technically be margarine. Don’t take any of this for accurate, it’s just top of my head. Smart Balance has fewer calories than butter and contains the good kind of fat, though of course, it’s still fat. That’s the only buttery spread I use now. So I’m not far off. I like baked potatoes and tomatoes, and lettuce. Maybe broccoli. So I’m pretty close I think.
I do have hypertension and I take medication for it. But I am always looking for a way to reduce or get rid of medication if it’s safe to do so.
Lots of references including links to the menu I outlined and more, all found at http://RunningAFEVER.com/254.
Save your life! Check out this diet. It could help you live a long healthy, happy, active life right up to the very end. And that’s what Running:A FEVER is all about.
NIH DASH Recipies:
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/all-publications-and-resources/week-dash-eating-plan
“Your Guide to Lowering Your Blood Pressure with DASH” download the pdf here:
References:
https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/facts.htm#:~:text=Nearly%20half%20of%20adults%20in,are%20taking%20medication%20for%20hypertension.&text=Only%20about%201%20in%204,have%20their%20condition%20under%20control.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4979614/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/dash-diet/art-20048456
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5509411/#R1
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199704173361601
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5059018/#:~:text=High%20blood%20pressure%20(BP)%20is,the%20leading%20cause%20of%20mortality.&text=Approximately%2054%25%20of%20strokes%20and,are%20attributable%20to%20high%20BP.