The DASH diet is a diet that focuses on eating foods rich in potassium, calcium,and magnesium,along with fiber, protein,and healthy fats,and reducing the intake of foods rich in sugar and salt.This system aims to lower blood pressure and improve heart health.The DASH diet encourages eating fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds,whole-grain pastas,low-fat dairy products,and proteins from sources such as chicken, fish,and legumes.
Health benefits of the DASH diet
The DASH diet is a low-sodium diet, which has a number of health benefits, including:
- Preventing high blood pressure.
- Maintaining heart health.
- Preventing type 2 diabetes.
- It helps reduce the risk of breast, colon and rectal cancer.
Types of DASH diet
The DASH diet is divided into two types, which can be chosen according to the person’s health needs:
1- Consume 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, known as the standard DASH diet.
2- Consume 1,500 milligrams of sodium daily, called the low-sodium DASH diet.
Example of a day of the week for the DASH diet:
breakfast
1 cup of oatmeal without salt.
1/4 cup of raisins.
1 medium-sized banana.
1 cup of skimmed milk.
Coffee, tea or water.
lunch
A dish of hummus consisting of:
1/2 cup of chickpeas.
1/2 medium-sized red pepper.
1/2 medium-sized cucumber.
10 small carrots.
3 falafel discs (about 2 inches in diameter).
1 loaf of whole grain pita bread.
water
Dinner
Grilled salmon consisting of:
4 ounces of salmon.
Maple balsamic sauce.
1 cup whole grain wild rice mixture.
3/4 cup of green beans with red sweet pepper.
1/2 cup canned pear slices in juice.
Tea, hot or cold and unsweetened
An important note:
You must consult a specialist doctor or nutritionist when following a specific diet to find out what suits your unique body nature so that you are not exposed to health problems
