Dash Diet Menu

A Dash diet menu can give you a good idea of how to eat using the DASH Diet.

What is DASH?

DASH or Dash stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. It's a diet plan devised by the National Institutes of Health and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The basics of the plan involve eating more fruits and vegetables and low-fat or non-fat dairy products while limiting sodium.

Specific food group amounts equalling 2,000 calories a day include seven or eight servings a day of grains and grain products (at least three of which should be whole grain), four or five servings each of fruit and vegetables, two or three servings of low-fat or non-fat dairy products, two or fewer servings of meat and fish and four or five weekly servings of nuts, legumes and seeds. The use of fats and sweets is also limited on the diet.

While these guidelines are a big help, it is good to have a Dash diet menu to give you a better idea of how you might fit these goals into your life.

Sample Dash Diet Menu

Here's an idea of how you might incorporate a Dash diet menu into your life:

• Breakfast: Start your day with bran cereal, low-fat milk and a banana. You could also throw in a slice of whole-grain toast with margarine and a small glass of orange juice.
• Lunch: Keep going with chicken salad on wheat bread served with tomato and cucumber slices, sunflower seeds and some light fruit cocktail or a piece of fruit.
• Dinner: For the evening meal, try a vegetarian pasta sauce on whole-wheat pasta with a spinach salad loaded up with vegetables. You could also try lean meat, sauteed vegetables and whole-wheat bread.
• Snacks: Use nuts such as almonds for snacking. Or try dried fruit, low-fat yogurt, graham crackers with peanut butter, juice if you didn't have some with breakfast, or a glass of milk.

For more menu ideas, check out the PDF of the Dash Diet from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. This has a detailed description of how to use the Dash diet and includes recipes that will get you started when preparing your menu.

More Dash Diet Tips

Adding more fruits and vegetables to the diet is a key part of the Dash plan.

It's important to cut down on processed foods when taking part in the Dash diet. Because packaged foods tend to have a lot of sodium added, they aren't a good choice for someone trying to lower their blood pressure.

• Get lots of calcium, magnesium and potassium while cutting back on sodium. Enjoy lots of low-fat dairy, broccoli and other sources of calcium, pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts or bran cereal for magnesium, and bananas, sweet potatoes and tomato paste for potassium. These three nutrients are thought to be beneficial in lowering blood pressure, while sodium raises blood pressure.

• Think about cutting back on meat. The Dash Diet plan says you can have meat twice a day, but cutting back even further to just one meal a day or several times a week will have an even more dramatic effect on your blood pressure, not to mention cholesterol levels.

• Add exercise. If you're trying to lose weight and get healthier while preventing future heart problems, working out regularly is a great addition to your routine. Even something as simple as going for a half hour walk most days can make an impact on your weight and your overall health. Always talk to your doctor before starting an exercise program so the two of you can decide what is best for you.

• Load up on fiber. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains are all full of fiber, which makes you feel full longer, keeps your blood sugar levels regular and can help clear out your system. Most Americans don't get enough fiber, and adding fiber is a good way to ensure heart health and lower cholesterol levels.