What Is the Dash Diet and How Does It Work

The health issue of high blood pressure is a burgeoning case in over a billion people across the globe. The number of people suffering from higher BP has doubled in the past forty years, which is a serious health condition. This is because high blood pressure is linked to heart failure risks. Stroke and kidney damage.

For this case, diet plays a major role in reducing the effects of high blood pressure, and for that scientists and dietitians have created better diet strategies to help people.

WHAT IS THE DASH DIET?

DASH is the short form of Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. This dietary system is recommended for people who are suffering from high BP and want to get a cure for it.

This DASH diet mainly concentrates on fruits, lean meats, vegetables, and whole grains. Researchers have noticed after a long study that the effect of high blood pressure is not very common who follow a plant-based diet. High BP is less common in people who are vegetarian and vegan. This is the reason this particular diet system is based on vegetables and fruits and people can even have lean meat like chicken, fish, and beans for better protein intake. This diet will not give much result if the person eats added sugar, salt, and red meat. Scientists believe that one of the main reasons for high blood pressure is the higher intake of salt. So, in this diet, the amount of salt in food is reduced.

The regular diet program consists of more than one teaspoon of salt every day, and this is the rule in most authorized guidelines. The lower salt part of the diet only allows three to four teaspoons of salt every day.

POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF DASH DIET

Other than reducing high blood pressure, the diet provides several health benefits like reduced cancer risk and weight loss. However, you must not expect that the Dash diet is proper for weight loss, as this is mainly meant for lowering high blood pressure. The weight loss is just a side benefit. This diet impacts your body in various ways.

LOWERS BLOOD PRESSURE

Blood pressure is a force that is put on the blood vessels in your body as the fluid passes through them. This has two count numbers,

* SYSTOLIC PRESSURE: This is the pressure on your blood vessels when the heartbeats.
* DIASTOLIC PRESSURE: This is the pressure on the blood vessels when the heart is resting.

The normal blood pressure should be the highest 120 mmHg and the diastolic is the below pressure which should be 80 mmHg. This is normally written when the pressure is checked and the rate will show 120/80. People who have a BP of 140/90, are suffering from high blood pressure.

Fortunately, the Dash diet is useful for people who have healthy blood pressure and the ones with higher BP. In further studies, it has been found that people still had lower blood pressure but they didn’t lower the intake of salt and they didn’t lose weight. However, when the intake of salt is reduced it will result in lower blood pressure and it can increase as well.

This low salt diet in people who are suffering from high blood pressure has been impressive, as their BP has lowered 12 mmHg and the lower by 2 mmHg. This is the line that other researchers also found out and the main thing here is restricting salt will help lower blood pressure. However, it’s important to keep in mind that lower blood pressure doesn’t mean it will reduce the chances of heart disease.

MAY HELP IN WEIGHT LOSS

Dash diet is mainly efficient for lowering blood pressure, but it may help in weight loss, which is not guaranteed. However, if you are already suffering from high blood pressure, then your physician will normally advise you to lose weight. This is because if you are overweight your BP will rise automatically. Other than this, when you lose weight, your blood pressure will go down. Some researches showed that the people who were able to lose weight following the Dash diet were also in restriction for calories. This means their dietitian has advised them to mind their calorie intake.

Understandably, this diet system reduces a lot of fat and sugary food, and it will automatically reduce the calories and you will lose weight too. Others who are not in the risk of high BP have to mainly restrict their intake of calorie. If you are looking for the solution for overweight then you have to lose it while you are already following the diet and you have to maintain a calorie-reducing food system.

OTHER DASH DIET BENEFITS

Dash diet also helps in other health issues such as,

* LOWERS THE RISK OF CANCER: recent research has found out that this diet will help in lowering the risks of cancer. The type of disease it can protect you from such as breast and colorectal cancer.
* REDUCES METABOLIC SYNDROME: In other studies, it was noted that the Dash diet is useful to prevent metabolic syndrome risk up to eighty-one percent.
* REDUCES DIABETES: If you are suffering from diabetes type 2 or have the risk of getting it, then the Dash diet will help lower the symptoms.
* DECREASE THE RISKS OF HEART DISEASE: heart disease is common in both men and women and the Dash diet can bring a better solution to it. It will lower the risk of heart failure to 29%.

The benefits of the Dash diet mainly come from the intake of fruits and vegetables. Normally, the intake of more veggies and fruits will lower the chances of other diseases too.

DOES THIS DIET WORK FOR EVERYONE?

Scientists and experts who believe in the Dash diet are strict on their mindset. It’s mainly for the high blood pressure people and if they follow the same routine, they will get better health benefits with normal blood pressure. However, if a healthy person follows this diet their salt intake will not be as rigid as the high BP ones. The main thing is people like to eat salt and for that lowering the intake will always help them gain better health.

If you are restricting salt too much then it can cause some other health issues. So, it’s best to consult with your doctor first and then opt for the Dash diet.