Whether you are new to the DASH diet or looking to tune up your meal plan, here's everything you need to know about the best foods to eat for hypertension. Includes, daily guidelines, food lists, serving sizes, and a sample menu!
DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension - and hypertension is really just a fancy way of saying high blood pressure. So a DASH Diet is designed specifically to help lower your blood pressure through changes in eating habits and food choices.
The DASH diet originated in the early 1900’s when the National Institute of Health (NIH) started funding research to examine which foods and styles of eating impact blood pressure. What they found was that certain dietary approaches were extremely effective in helping to control blood pressure in people with hypertension and those without (1)! In fact, the results were so influential, that experts often recommend a DASH diet as the first line of defense in controlling hypertension, even before medication.
It is crucial to note that the DASH diet is intended to be a lifelong approach to healthy eating, not a quick-fix solution.
Besides the potential to lower blood pressure, a DASH diet is associated with other positive health benefits like lowered LDL "bad" cholesterol (2). Additionally, because it is built on healthy eating habits and emphasizes nutritious food choices and portion control, a DASH diet looks similar to suggested dietary approaches for weight loss, and reduced risk of diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer, and heart disease (3,4).
The relationship between food and health is complex to say the least. It is extremely difficult to prove that certain foods or diet styles directly effect the incidence of disease or vice versa. This is because we are all extremely different and lifestyle factors account for a wide range of variables, not to mention the need to consider age, gender, and genetics. Regardless, with enough quality studies, we can get fairly close to knowing which diet styles and specific foods are most strongly associated with increased risks.
For hypertension, it is well understood that sodium intake and potassium intake strongly impact blood pressure. Additionally, blood pressure strongly impacts overall heart health and risk factors, so including more heart healthy foods is key.
Thus, the DASH diet emphasizes the following food types:
Salt is a common ingredient found in just about all prepared and packaged foods, making it easy to come by. It is also the most common source of sodium in the diet. And while some sodium is needed for health, too much sodium can negatively impact your heart health.
Scientists agree that sodium impacts blood pressure, but how this happens is not well understood - mainly because blood pressure is regulated through multiple complex systems (5).
It is thought that consuming excess sodium can signal your kidneys to set off a hormonal and vascular response that contributes to increased blood pressure. Moreover, these effects may even be harmful to your vascular health, even when blood pressure is not impacted (6).
The easiest way to cut back on salt is to eat more of your meals at home where you can control the ingredients. This means cooking more things from scratch and using whole, fresh ingredients wherever possible. You can also limit your intake of packaged foods and eating out at restaurants. Additionally, getting more savvy at digesting nutrition facts labels can help you control your sodium intake by selecting more low sodium foods.
The most common sources of sodium in the diet are:
A DASH Diet recommends to keep your sodium intake below 2,300 mg for most, and in some cases as low as 1,500 mg or less.
Potassium works to counteract and balance out sodium negative effects. Which is why it’s no wonder, higher intakes pf potassium are associated with positive heart health benefits, and potential to help lower blood pressure (7,8). However, the foods that are highest in potassium - mainly fruits and vegetables - are often the least consumed in the typical American diet (9).
Potassium can be found in the following types of foods:
The recommended potassium intake for an average adult is 4,700 mg per day.
Reducing sodium intake and increasing the intake of potassium-rich foods can have major heart health benefits for some people. However, consideration should also be paid to dietary fat, added sugar, and fiber.
The American Heart Association recommends a balanced diet with emphasis on unsaturated fats, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and suggests to limit the intake of the following:
A DASH diet includes heart health principals by encouraging plant-based foods, lean protein choices, low fat dairy, low-fat desserts, and limited sweets.
A DASH diet plan can be customized to you based on your unique food preferences and daily needs. This starts by understanding how many calories you need to eat a day.
Once you have that, you can use the chart below to balance your food choices each day. Find the column associated with your daily calorie needs and note how much of each food group you should consume. Then use the food list below to build your eating plan - spreading out your choices throughout each day and week accordingly.
Portion control is key for any successful DASH meal plan, so if you are not familiar with weighing and measuring your food, you may want to consider getting a food scale or using measuring cups and spoons over eyeballing it. This will help you limit certain foods accordingly and control your overall calorie intake better.
Here is a breakdown of how many servings of each food group are suggested on a DASH Diet, based on your individual calorie needs.
|
1,400 Calories |
1,600 Calories |
1,800 Calories |
2,000 Calories |
2,600 Calories |
Daily Sodium Limit |
<2,300 mg |
<2,300 mg |
<2,300 mg |
<2,300 mg |
<2,300 mg |
Grains and Starches Servings |
5 to 6 per day |
6 per day |
6 per day |
6 to 8 per day |
10 to 11 per day |
Veggie Servings |
3 to 4 per day |
3 to 4 per day |
4 to 5 per day |
4 to 5 per day |
5 to 6 per day |
Fruit Servings |
4 per day |
4 per day |
4 to 5 per day |
4 to 5 per day |
5 to 6 per day |
Low-fat Dairy Servings |
2 to 3 per day |
2 to 3 per day |
2 to 3 per day |
2 to 3 per day |
3 per day |
Protein Servings |
3 to 4 per day |
3 to 4 per day |
6 per day |
6 per day |
6 per day |
Nuts, Seeds, Beans, and Legumes Servings |
3 per week |
3 to 4 per week |
4 per week |
4 to 5 per week |
1 per week |
Butter and Oil Servings |
1 per day |
2 per day |
2 to 3 per day |
2 to 3 per day |
3 per day |
Sweets and Added Sugar Servings |
<3 per week |
<3 per week |
<5 per week |
<5 per week |
≤2 per week |
Here is a complete food list, including portion sizes, that you can use to create a DASH meal plan. Be sure to pick and choose the foods you enjoy eating most, as this will not only help you stick the diet better, but also makes it more likely to become a lifestyle change for the long-haul.
Opting for more low sodium food choices is a great start at reducing your intake, but staying below 2,300 mg a day can still feel like a challenge. Sodium is found in a lot of different foods - and almost every recipe on the planet calls for salt. Here are some simple tricks to help you cut your intake and stay on top of your DASH eating plan:
To help you visualize further what a DASH eating plan looks like, here is a sample menu for a 2,000 calorie diet. This one day menu contains:
Work with your doctor and nutritionist on creating the best hypertension diet plan to meet your needs. Then, curate the menu to fit your lifestyle.
Need more help? Here are pre-cooked proteins, grains, and veggies with little to no salt added to help you build your own DASH diet meal plan with ease.