Dash Diet Guidelines

Lowering the High Blood Pressure

The dash diet guidelines are very important steps in order to execute the diet plan correctly. Dash is short for dietary approaches to stop hypertension. 

The American Heart Association recommends that anyone suffering from high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases should follow this diet. This nutritional plan follows a diet based on a 2000 calorie day intake but can very accordingly to the persons need. 

One of the main ideas behind this plan is to ensure a high consumption of certain nutrients that lower blood pressure. Calcium and potassium are the main elements in this nutritional plan.

The dash diet guidelines recommend approximately 7 servings per day of whole grains. Lots of cereals with high fiber content like whole grain bread are the base of the diet. This group contains the main carbohydrate source you should take every day. That way unhealthy carbohydrates sources like sugars and fats are strictly limited. The second most important group of foods you should consume is the fruits and vegetables.

Shopping For A Healthy Hypertension Diet

- The first thing you must know is to never go the supermarket hungry. If you do most of the things you will buy are unhealthy snacks filled with sugar and very high fat.

- Preparing a list before you go can help you to save money and be healthier. Plan for all meals during the week including any snacks that you might crave during that time.

- Once you are in the supermarket direct yourself where the natural products are located. Fresh vegetables and fruits are winners always so get them. Try to avoid canned products especially if they are rich in fat and sodium. When getting dairy products and meats remember to make sure they are low in fat so read all labels on the food carefully.

- Keep a good stock of the food that you will eat. Fruits like apples, bananas, oranges and vegetables like carrots, broccoli and spinach must be in your refrigerator at all times.

Drinking Water and Hypertension

If you do buy canned vegetables and fruits makes sure they are very low in sodium and any other food preservative. Meats like skinless chicken and fish should be of the highest quality possible with the less amount of fat you can find. When seasoning the food get the low calorie ones.

If you are a person suffering hypertension, want to lose weight or simply be healthy following the dash diet guidelines is a nice step toward achieving your goal.

The Biggest Danger Associated With High Blood Pressure Is That It Causes No Symptoms

When following this plan approximately 4 servings each day from fruits and vegetables should be good enough to keep you going. The next part of the plan of the dash diet guidelines talks about the dairy products and the meat. Dairy products consumed should be with a very low amount of fat like skim milk. The portion of meats to be eaten is small and has to be very lean with a very low percent of fat.

Here are some easy recipes:

Shrimp macaroni salad

Turkey breast casserole