Posted on December 26, 2007 in Latest News
Indeed ‘Dash Diet’ is the most important diet for people who suffer from high blood pressure. ‘Dash’ means ‘Dietary approach to stop High blood pressure’. A certain amount of servings daily reduces or normalizes the high blood pressure level of your body.
A normal diet that pays more attention on low-fat dairy products, fruits and vegetables and whole grains is a Dash Diet.
Dash Diet in Detail:
Dash diet generally emphasizes more on the proportion of the food items you take in a day. There are in fact certain points that you should keep in mind before we discuss in detail about Dash Diet.
Points to Remember:
There are certain points that you should remember if you want to follow a Dash Diet. These are:
- Stop consuming herbal supplements like ginseng, ephedra, licorice and feverfew. They have properties that can increase your blood pressure level. On the other hand, you can go for garlic and flax seed. They can lower your blood pressure.
- Research has found out that potassium and calcium, plays an important role in regulating high blood pressure. Bananas, tofu, beans and potatoes are all rich sources of potassium. Bake, roast or steam your vegetables. Do not boil them as they will loose the potassium content. As for calcium, an average adult needs at least 1000mg of calcium daily. Dairy products, canned fish like salmon. Sardine etc are very rich in calcium.
- Try to eat more fruits and vegetables and low-fat dairy products.
- Avoid those food items that are rich in cholesterol, total/saturated fat.
- Try to avoid whites and harp more on whole grain products, nuts, fish and lean poultry.
- Sweets and red/marbled meat are a complete no no for you.
Diet to Dash on:
Whenever you are starting with a dash diet, try to go slow in the beginning with the diet plan. Gradually as your body starts adopting the diet, pick up the speed.
- To begin with reflect on a diet plan that allows 2,400 milligrams of salt per day (about 1 teaspoon) and then once your body has adopted the diet, lower your salt intake to 1,500 mg per day (about 2/3 teaspoon).
- Your lunch and dinner should never go without green vegetables.
- Fruits are a must for you. So whenever you think of snacking, take fruits. You can use canned or dried fruits for this purpose.
- As a medium of cooking or for salad dressing, use only extra virgin olive oil or margarine.
- You should take dairy products three times a day. But, make sure you are consuming only fat free/skimmed dairy products.
- Try to limit your meat to only six ounces a day.
- Add more rice, vegetables, pasta, and beans to your diet.
- Instead of taking general snacks that contain salt, eat unsalted nuts or pretzels, graham crackers, raisins, low-fat and fat-free yogurt and frozen yogurt, unsalted popcorn without butter, and raw vegetables.
- While buying food items from outside, make sure the label says low-sodium.
These are certain tips on how to follow a dash diet. For detailed help please consult your dietation.
» Filed Under Latest News
Comments
Leave a Reply
